Page 33 - Princess Belle-Etoile and Prince Cherie

if her sorrow had deprived her of words. The
King, trembling from hand to foot, dreaded to
ask what had happened, for he could not
doubt that some great disaster had befallen
him. At length she made a great effort, and
told him that his wife had given birth to three
puppies. They were immediately produced by
Feintise; and the Admiral's wife, all in tears,

flinging herself at the King's feet, implored
him not to put the Queen to death, but to
content himself with sending her back to her
mother; that she was already resigned to such
a fate, and that she would consider that
sentence a great mercy.
The King was so thunderstruck he could

scarcely breathe. He gazed on the puppies, and
observed with astonishment the star which
each had in the middle of its forehead, and the
different colour of the hair which formed a
ring round each of their necks. He sank into a
chair, revolving a thousand fancies in his mind,
and unable to come to any resolution; but the
Queen-Mother pressed him so strongly that at
length he pronounced the sentence of

banishment upon the innocent Queen.

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