The Princess laughed aloud. "You're all trouble enough, I can well believe," she said carelessly, "though you particular three are certainly amusing little duds--for an afternoon. But for a steady diet--I'm afraid I'd get a bit tired of you, eh?" She tapped their cheeks lightly with a cool, sweet-smelling finger. Miss Honey smiled uncertainly, but Caroline edged away. There was something about this beautiful tall lady she could not understand, something that alternately attracted and repelled. She was grown up, certainly; her skirts, her size, and her coiled hair proved that conclusively, and the servants obeyed her without question. But what was it? She was not like other grown-up people one knew. One moment she sparkled at you and the next moment she forgot you. It was perfectly obvious that she wanted the General only because Delia had not wanted to relinquish him, which was not like grown people; it was like--yes, that was it: she was like a little girl, herself, even though she was so tall and had such large red and blue rings on her fingers. Vaguely this rushed through Caroline's mind, and it was with an unconscious air of patronage that she said, as one making allowances for inexperience, "When you get married, then you'll _have_ to get tired of them, you know." "But you'll be glad you've got 'em, when they're once in bed," Miss Honey added encouragingly. "My mother says I'm a real treasure to her, after half-past seven!" The Princess flushed; her straight dark eyebrows quivered and met for an instant. "But I _am_ married," she said. There was an utter silence. "I was married five years ago yesterday, as it happens," she went on, "but it's not necessary to set up a day nursery, you know, under those circumstances." Still silence. Miss Honey studied the floor, and Caroline, after an astonished stare at the Princess, directed her eyes from one tapestry to another. "I suppose you understand that, don't you?" demanded the Princess sharply. She appeared unnecessarily irritated, and as a matter of fact embarrassed her guests to such an extent that they were utterly unable to relieve the stillness that oppressed them quite as much as herself. The Princess uttered an angry exclamation and paced rapidly up and down the room, looking more regal and more unlike other people than ever. "For heaven's sake, say something, you little sillies!" she cried. "I suppose you want me to lose my temper?" Caroline gulped and Miss Honey examined her shoe-ties mutely. Suddenly a well-known voice floated toward them. "Was his nice bottle all ready? Wait a minute, only a minute now, General, and Delia'll give it to you!" The procession filed into the room, Delia and the General, Ellis deferentially holding a tiny white coat, the man in livery bearing a small copper saucepan in which he balanced a white bottle with some difficulty. His face was full of anxious interest.