One day the princess said she was becoming alarmed; their ugliness was
so intense she feared it might be contagious and spread. Then, with a
most comical seriousness, she added:
"Mon Dieu! Sir Edwin, what if I should catch it? Master Charles would
not take me."
"No danger of that, my lady; he is too devoted to see anything but
beauty in you, no matter how much you might change."
"Do you really think so? He says so little about it that sometimes I
almost doubt."
Therein she spoke the secret of Brandon's success with her, at least
in the beginning; for there is wonderful potency in the stimulus of a
healthy little doubt.
We had a delightful canter over to Windsor, I riding with Mary most of
the way. I was not averse to this arrangement, as I not only relished
Mary's mirth and joyousness, which was at its height, but hoped I
might give my little Lady Jane a twinge or two of jealousy perchance
to fertilize her sentiments toward me.
Mary talked, and laughed, and sang, for her soul was a fountain of
gladness that bubbled up the instant pressure was removed.
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