"It is indeed a marvellous recovery, my dear Court Godmother!" chimed in Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson. "We've all been _so_ anxious! We should have sent to inquire, only we couldn't--because--well, you'll hardly _believe_ it, but we've been imprisoned (and very nearly _executed_, too!) on a ridiculous charge of having made away with our dear young Queen here! When, as _you_ know, I had actually gone out of my way to have her sent to Clairdelune as soon as I found you were too ill to see to it yourself." "And well for you that you did so!" said the grim old Fairy, "for if you had played--or even sought to play--her false, I would have seen to it--old and ailing as I am--that such treason did not go unpunished!" Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson shivered inwardly under the implacable old eyes; she knew well that she could expect no mercy if the Fairy discovered that these secret orders had ever been handed to the Baron. Only, as the Baron had never received them, he could tell her nothing, and as the Council now believed them to be a forgery of the Marshal's, Mrs. Stimpson felt herself fairly safe. "Yes, dear Court Godmother," she said sweetly; "but you see, I haven't--so we needn't discuss that _now_, need we? When you came in just now, I was just telling her Majesty that we had no desire to stay on at the Palace longer than is unavoidable, but that, naturally, we were anxious to know where accommodation would be found for us--nothing grand, of course, _any_ fairly large _chateau_ would suit us." "I'm sorry," said Daphne, after stooping to kiss Ruby, "but that is quite impossible." "Impossible?" cried Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson. "I can't believe that your Majesty would turn us out of our own Palace, without a home to go to!" "You have 'Inglegarth,'" said Daphne, "and as soon as the Baron returns with the car he shall take you there." "I am much obliged to your Majesty," returned Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, her complexion deepening to a rich purple, "very much obliged for such truly generous treatment! Some people might think that, considering that you wouldn't be Queen at all but for our kindness in taking you with us, when we were brought here--by no seeking of _ours_--to reign over this ridiculous country--I say, _some_ people might call this rather shabby and ungrateful. Especially when we gave way the moment we were told there had been a mistake--sooner than make any fuss or trouble--as few Sovereigns in our position would have done! And now it seems we're to be rewarded by being bundled back to a suburban residence which, whatever else may be said for it, is absurdly inadequate for any retired Royalties! But you will find we are not to be got rid of quite so easily. I absolutely decline to go back to Gablehurst to be an ordinary nobody after what I have been. Nothing in the world shall induce me to!" "My love," said her husband, "we can't stay here if we're not wanted." "No, Mater," said Clarence, "we've got to clear."