to be so?" As she uttered these words, she felt she had said too much. She stopped in great confusion, and if anything could have crushed the Prince, it was the state in which he saw her.
From that moment, they both fell into a profound melancholy, without further explanation. They partly perceived what was passing in their souls, and studied to conceal from every one the secret which they would willingly have been ignorant of themselves, and which they never spoke of to each other. Still it is so natural to flatter oneself, that the Princess built much upon the fact that Cheri alone had neither a star on his forehead nor a chain round his neck, although he had long ringlets, out of which jewels fell when they were combed, the same as his cousins.
The three Princes having one day gone out hunting together, Belle-Etoile shut herself up in a small cabinet which she was partial to because it was gloomy and she could muse in it at more liberty than elsewhere. She sate there perfectly still and silent. This cabinet was divided from Corsine's chamber only by the wainscot, and she imagined that the Princess was out walking. The latter, therefore, heard her say to the Corsair, "Belle-Etoile is now of an age to be married. If we knew who she was we would endeavour to provide a suitable match for her; or if we could ascertain that those who pass for her brothers were not so, we would give her to one of them, for where could she ever find any so perfectly handsome?"
"When I fell in with them," said the Corsair, "I saw nothing that could give me any idea of their birth. The jewels that were tied to their cradle showed that they belonged to wealthy people. What was most singular, they appeared from their ages to have been all born at the same time, and four at a birth is by no means a common occurrence." "I suspect also," said Corsine, "that Cheri is not their brother, he has neither star nor neck-chain." "That's true," replied her husband; "but diamonds fall from his hair, as they do from that of the others. After all the wealth we have amassed through the means of these dear children, the only wish I have left is to discover their origin." "We must leave it to the gods," said Corsine; "they gave them to us, and in their own good time they will no doubt develop the mystery."
