Queen Selina saw her way to an absolutely crushing rejoinder. "Well, this particular piece of jewellery," she said, "happens to be a paltry ornament which I bought from Miss Heritage before I ever heard of Maerchenland." Her shot had certainly told. "What?" faltered the Court Godmother, obviously out of countenance. "Did I understand you to say you _bought_ that jewel--and from the Lady Daphne?" "I prefer to call her Miss Heritage--the other is merely a courtesy title. Yes, I did buy it from her. She was in difficulties at the time, and I gave her thirty pounds for it, which was a good deal more than anybody else would have done." "And--and--have you told this to any other person--the--the Marshal, for instance?" "My dear Court Godmother, I am not in the habit of _proclaiming_ my acts of charity--for it _was_ an act of charity!" "An act of charity," said the Fairy drily, "which I should strongly advise you to keep to yourself." "I intend to," replied the Queen, as she rose with much dignity, though her face was redder than usual. "I should never have mentioned it at all, even to you, Court Godmother, if I hadn't felt it necessary. Of course, in my present position, I should never _dream_ of buying jewellery from one of my own ladies-in-waiting. But it was different then. I hadn't come into my Kingdom, and Miss Heritage was only my governess; and anyway, it was a perfectly fair bargain, so my conscience is absolutely clear. Still," she added, turning on the threshold, "perhaps you will admit _now_ that you were just a _little_ mistaken in attaching any importance to wearing that pendant?" "Yes," said the Fairy, completely crestfallen and subdued, "I made a mistake--a great mistake--I admit that." "I thought you would!" returned the Queen triumphantly. "And now I must go to dear Edna and tell her the news about Prince Mirliflor." She had no suspicion of the state of mind in which, by her unconscious revelation, she was leaving the unhappy Court Godmother, who was so stunned that it was some time before she could think out the situation at all clearly.