Seizing this, the first
opportunity, Miranda, with a glance of displeased dignity st
Caliban, immediately struck in:
"Who are you, sir, and by what right do you dare to come here?"
Her tone was neither very sweet nor suave; but it was much
pleasanter to be cross-examined by the owner of such a pretty
face than by the ugly little monster, for the moment gasping and
extinguished; and Sir Norman turned to her with alacrity, and a
bow.
"Madame, I am Sir Norman Kingsley, very much at your service; and
I beg to assure you I did not come here, but fell here, through
that hole, if you perceive, and very much against my will."
"Equivocation will not serve you in this case, sir," said the
queen, with an austere dignity. "And, allow me to observe, it is
just probable you would not have fallen through that hole in our
royal ceiling if you had kept away from it. You raised that flag
yourself - did you not?"
"Madam, I fear I must say yes!"
"And why did you do so?" demanded her majesty, with far more
sharp asperity than Sir Norman dreamed could ever come from such
beautiful lips.
"The rumor of Queen Miranda's charms has gone forth; and I fear I
must own that rumor drew me hither," responded Sir Norman,
inventing a polite little work of fiction for the occasion; "and,
let me add, that I came to find that rumor had under-rated
instead of exaggerated her majesty's said charms.
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