Page:Margaret sherwood--The Princess Pourquoi.djvu/123

 she added hastily; and, in truth, hers were no longer gray.

"It 's got to be killed," said the Princess sturdily. "It 's a pest."

"But what is it?" whispered Lady Marie, blushing through her rouge. "Is it a thing that a young girl ought to know about?"

There was hubbub in the court for ten days. Counts, marchionesses, dukes, and earls gathered in corners and talked under their breath. Some thought that the Princess should be imprisoned in a dungeon; others spoke of her with pity, believing her mad. One party, headed by old Lord Jean and the Countess Madeline, said that it was all nonsense. Everybody knew that there was no such thing as the Microbe; it was