“The children did not love me at first; I was such a sickly, awkward kind of a fellow then⁠—and I know I am ugly. Besides, I was a foreigner. The children used to laugh at me, at first; and they even went so far as to throw stones at me, when they saw me kiss Marie. I only kissed her once in my life⁠—no, no, don’t laugh!” The prince hastened to suppress the smiles of his audience at this point. “It was not a matter of love