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THE PRINCESS POURQUOI
"What say you, my daughter?" asked the King, his delight shining through his face.
"Is it not a noble prince and a fair offer?"
"My Lord and Father," said the Princess Pourquoi, bending in courtesy, then standing erect, more haughty than before, "it is no prince, but a man with a lackey's soul. He may come to reign, but a king he can never be. As for my hand, he may not again touch it. I go to make it clean."
Then she turned and walked, in a great silence, between the parted lines of frightened people, out of the audience-chamber and away.
How Prince Ludwig Jerome Victor Christian Ernst went away in great anger, how the royal apologies were presented in vain, how the Princess Pourquoi was imprisoned
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