"And now for the next trial!" exclaimed the dwarf, briskly
breaking in upon his drab-colored meditations, and bustling past.
"We will get it over at once, and have done with it!"
"You will do no such thing!" said the imperious voice of the
queenly shrew. "We will have neither trials nor anything else
until after supper, which has already been delayed four full
minutes. My lord chamberlain, have the goodness to step in and
see that all is in order."
One of the gilded and decorated gentlemen whom sir Norman had
mistaken for ambassadors stepped off, in obedience, through
another opening in the tapestry - which seemed to be as
extensively undermined with such apertures as a cabman's coat
with capes - and, while he was gone, the queen stood drawn up to
her full height, with her scornful face looking down on the
dwarf. That small man knit up his very plain face into a bristle
of the sourest kinks, and frowned sulky disapproval at an order
which he either would not, or dared not, countermand. Probably
the latter had most to do with it, as everybody looked hungry and
mutinous, and a great deal more eager for their supper than the
life of Sir Norman Kingsley.
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