Page 68 - Princess Belle-Etoile and Prince Cherie

illustrious heirs! The succession to my crown is
certainly well secured.“ The Queen-Mother
listened to these words with dreadful
uneasiness. The brilliant stars and the age of
these strangers, agreeing so well with the
peculiarities and date of birth of the Princes and
their sister, that she strongly suspected she had
been deceived by Feintise, and that instead of

killing the King's children she had saved them.
As she had great self-possession, she gave no
sign of what was passing in her mind; she would
not even send that day to inquire about several
things she was anxious to ascertain; but the next
morning she desired her secretary to go to the
strangers, and under the pretext of giving

orders in the house for their accommodation,
examine everything, and observe whether they
really had stars upon their foreheads. The
secretary departed early in the morning; he
arrived as the Princess was at her toilet: in those
days they did not purchase their complexions at
shops—those who were fair, remained fair,
those who were black did not become white, so
that he saw her having her hair dressed. They

were combing it; her fair tresses, finer than gold
thread, fell in ringlets to the ground.

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