"No, really," said the girl, raising her clear eyes to Mrs. Belswin's face. "I should not think of marrying without gaining papa's consent." "Then you have not seen the prince yet?" "The prince?" "Yes, the fairy prince who is to awake the sleeping beauty." Kaituna blushed again, and laughed in rather an embarrassed manner. "Dear Mrs. Belswin, what curious things you say," she replied evasively. "I have not seen any one in New Zealand I cared about, and since my arrival in England I have lived so quietly that I can hardly have met the fairy prince you speak of." "When the hour arrives the fairy prince comes with it," said Mrs. Belswin, oracularly. "My dear, you are too charming to remain with your father all your life, as I am sure he must acknowledge himself. Have the young men of to-day no eyes or no hearts that they can see my Kaituna without falling in love with her?" "I'm sure I don't know. No one has spoken to me of love yet." "Ah! it's not the speaking alone, dear! You are a woman, and the instinct of a woman can tell what a man means without him using his tongue." "But you see I am not versed in love lore." "My dear, you are a delightful girl in the first days of innocence. I am glad to see that the bloom of maidenhood is not rubbed off you by premature wisdom in love-affairs. A girl who flirts from her teens upwards, loses that delightful unconsciousness which is the great charm of a maiden. You have lived secluded in New Zealand. You are living secluded in England, and the world has passed you by. But the fairy prince will arrive, my dear, and his kiss will awaken you from the sleep of girlhood into the real life of womanly existence." "I thought such things only happened in novels." "No, dear, no. They happen around us every day. When you see a girl with a blushing face and a dreaming eye, or hear a young fellow singing gaily for very joy of life, you will know that love has come to them both, and they are telling each other the beautiful story, in the full belief that such story is quite original, though Adam told it to Eve in the garden of Eden." "It sounds delightful," sighed the girl, pensively. "I suppose you are telling me your experience." "My experience," echoed Mrs. Belswin, flushing acutely. "No, child, no. I have had my romance, like all women, but it ended sadly." "I understand," said Kaituna quietly; "you are thinking of your lost child." Mrs. Belswin was about to make some passionate rejoinder, but checked herself suddenly, and went on eating her breakfast with forced composure. Kaituna also became silent, thinking over what had been said, and there was no further conversation until the butler entered and handed the girl a letter. "From the vicarage, miss," he said ceremoniously, and retired.