Page 17 - Princess Belle-Etoile and Prince Cherie

which annoyed her excessively, for she was the
elder sister of Brunette and Blondine, and had
made the least brilliant match of the three.
The King sent his grand Equerry to inform the
Queen, his mother, of what had taken place,
and to order out his most magnificent coaches
to fetch Blondine and her two sisters. The
Queen-Mother was the most cruel and

passionate woman in the world. When she
heard that her son had married without
consulting her, and moreover a girl of obscure
birth, and that the Prince, his brother, had
done the same thing, she flew into such a rage
that she frightened the whole Court. She
asked the Grand Equerry what motive could

possibly have induced the King to make so
degrading a match. He answered, the hope of
becoming the father of two boys and a girl
who should be born with long curly hair, stars
on their foreheads, and gold chains round
their necks, and that the idea of such
wonderful things had enchanted him. The
Queen-Mother smiled contemptuously at the
credulity of her son, and made several

offensive observations upon it, which
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