pearls and opals. On her dress was no ornament whatever, neither was there a ring on her hand, or a necklace or carcanet about her neck. But her slippers glimmered with the light of the Milky Way, for they were covered with seed-pearls and opals in one mass. Her face was that of a woman of three-and-twenty.
The princess was so bewildered with astonishment and admiration that she could hardly thank her, and drew nigh with timidity, feeling dirty and uncomfortable. The lady was seated on a low chair by the side of the fire, with hands outstretched to take her, but the princess hung back with a troubled smile.
“Why, what’s the matter?” asked her grandmother. “You haven’t been doing anything wrong—I know that by your face, though it is rather miserable. What’s the matter, my dear?”
And she still held out her arms.
“Dear grandmother,” said Irene, “I’m not so sure that I haven’t done something wrong. I ought to have run up to you at once when the long-legged