Just as she said this, in comes Mary Anne with Lord George and his friend. "Oh, mamma," says she, in a whisper, "you don't know who it is,--the Prince himself." "Ah, been and done it, marm," said he, addressing me with his glass in his eye. "What, sir?" said I. "Taken a 'header,' they tell me, eh? Glad there's no harm done." "His Serene Highness hopes you 'll not mind it, mamma," said Mary Anne. "Oh, is _that_ it?" said I. "Yes, mamma. Isn't he delightful,--so easy, so familiar, and so truly kind also." "He has just ordered up two of his own carriages to take us on." By this time his Serene Highness had lighted his cigar, and, seating himself on a log of wood in the corner of the hut, began smoking. In the intervals of the puffs he said,-- "Old gent took a wrong turning--should have gone left--water very high, besides, from the late rains--regular smash--wish I 'd seen it." K. I. now joined us, all dripping, and hung round with weeds and water-lilies,--as Lord George said, like an ancient river-god. "In any other part of the globe," said he, "there would have been a warning of some kind or other stuck up here to show there was n't a bridge; but exactly as I said yesterday, these little beggarly States, with their petty governments, are the curse of Europe." "Hush, papa, for mercy' sake," whispered Mary Anne; "this is the Prince himself; it is his Serene Highness--" "Oh, the devil!" said he. "My friend, Mr. Dodd, Prince," said Lord George, presenting him with a sly look, as much as to say, "the same as I told you about." "Dodd--Dodd--fellow of that name hanged, wasn't there?" said the Prince. "Yes, your Highness; he was a Dr. Dodd, who committed forgery, and for whom the very greatest public sympathy was felt at the time," said K. I. "Your father, eh?" "No, your Highness, no relation whatever," "Won't have him at any price, George," said the Prince, with a wink. "Never draw a weed, miss?" said he, turning to Mary Anne. I don't know what she said, but it must have been smart, for his Serene Highness laughed heartily and said,-- "Egad, I got it there, Tiverton!" In due time a royal carriage arrived. The Prince himself handed us in, and we drove off with one of the Court servants on the box. To be sure, we forgot that we had left K. I. behind; but Mary Anne said he 'd have no difficulty in finding a conveyance, and the distance was only a few miles. "I wish his Serene Highness had not taken away Lord George," said Mary Anne; "he insists upon his going with him to Venice." "For my part," said Cary, "though greatly obliged to the Prince for his opportune kindness to ourselves, I am still more grateful to him for this service." On that, my dear, we had a dispute that lasted till we got to our journey's end; for though the girls never knew what it was to disagree at home in Dodsborough, here, abroad, Cary's jealousy is such that she cannot control herself, and says at times the most cruel and unfeeling things to her sister.