The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-04-12
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8 THE PRINCESS LOVER. 3
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ed like a child Of six instead of an al
most grown-up young lady of rs.
This attitude of hers caused the deep
est pain 10 the crown princess, her
mother, and her gOverness. They dis
| cussed II In solemn conclave and de-
| ci0ed that. for the young princess own
| sake, the revolt must be instantly nip
ped I'm the bud. Her good-natured nus
| bands appeal not TO be too severe with
| poor little TOmmie was disregarded by
| that strict disgiplinarian, the crown
| princess. The feins were drawn tight
| er than ever. Punishment lessons be-
came the order of the day; and ths
| Princess Thomaslpa was given plainly
| 20 understand that this course OF treat-
ment would be continued until she re-
turned to proper, oocile and dutiful
| frame OF mind.
The method was conscientious. IL
| was well, Il was even kindly meant.
Further, IL appeared TO be successful.
/ For finding herself tn assailed, with
| mamma and gOverness in line against
| her, and her easy-gOing papa not ven
| turing TO take her part. little Miss Roy
atty soon caved In, and returned 10
| the ways of duty and obedience. But
| alas. the submission was only on the
| surface; the duty and obedience lay
| but skin deep. And while the mother
| and governess were congratulatlng
| themselves on how good a girl Thomas
| ina had become, rebellion, hayward
| ness and even worse were lurking Sc
| cretly in the young princess heart.
| Even worse do / say? Aye! Infinitely
worse. For that a girl In her exalted
| rank and of her tender age should have
| been so lost TO ali sense OF what was
| fitting an modest - to correspond
clandestineiy with "A secret lover, was
| surely the very height of misconduct.
| Yet this was what our sixteen year-old
| princess demeaned herself by ! coping
10.
How long Il went on before IL was
| found out. goodness knows. Probably
! Judging by the letter which was the
! occasion Of the discovery-for a consid-
erable time That letter came into the
| hands OF the Princess Thomasina's
gOVerness by "A piece OF inadvertence
| on the part Of her pupil, who left II ly-
| ing, one fine day, between the pages OF
! her French exercise book. quite uncon-
| sciOus of what she had done. The gov
erness found IL and read II. Her face
! grew grave and stern. She went. with
! the letter in her hand, straight TO the
| crown princess.
IL was too ong TO be quoted in
| extenso. Suffice II to say that il was
| live better, couched in the most ardent
terms. addressing the princess in the
| expressive idiOm OF the country, as
| my darling pet" and breathing eX-
| travagantly amorous sentiment in eV-
| cry line; IL contained illusions 10 clan
! destine meetings between the lovers i'm
| the past; IL implored for one TO be fix
| ed in the future, as soon az possible,
| since. so the lover expressed tx, he was
pining for the sweet. enhancing rap
! ture of another kiss from her adorable
| lips-"like the last one you gave me.
! These concluding words were peculiar
| ly damning. They might be said to
give away the young princess COM
| pletely If she had merely allowed
! this impudent stranger to make love
! TO her and TO kiss her. IL would have
| been bad enough; but that she should
| actually have kissed him betokened an
| excess OF immodesty too disgraceful
| and shocking. for words. The letter. IL
, may be added, bore no genuine sigma
| ture, only the name "Lancelot.'
when the crown princess read it,
she experienced such a snock Of horror
| as nothing mad ever before caused her
! during her whole life. For "A while,
| indeed. she could not believe the thing.
| Impossible One OF her daughters
| one Of her own well brought-up girls
behave so? It was surely out OF the
! question Certainly. Thomasina had
been a little rebellious about her les
sons, and so forth. But that was wide-
! ly different from anything SO disgrace
! full as this. An affair-at her age
with some common fellow, clandestine-
| ly conducted Was ever such a gross
violation OF the most elementary prin-.
| ciples of truth, virtue, modesty and
| self-respect? Had IL occurred in a girl
of the middle classes, ii would have
been sufficiently scandalous; but in
young princess-the daughter of the
heir to the thr0ne--it was neither more
nor less than appalling. And who. was
this lover--this artful scoundrel who
skulked behind a fancy name? Who was
this Lancelot? Thomasina must be in
terrogated on the subject and be made
to give up his real name and designa-
tion at once.
So Thomasina was sent for. Know
ing nothing OF the discovery OF her
guilt. the young lady entered her moth
er's sanctum jauntily enough. Bui
when she sa wthe stern, angry look on
her mothers face, her expression
quickly changed to one of mingled fear,
uneasiness and defiance.
"Thomasina." began the crown prln-
graceful letter. Is 1t addressed to your"
eyes, mamma
The girl spoke Ina a low voice; her
face had grown very white.
WHO wrote it?" demanded her
mother.
No answer.
who wrote it?" repeated her royal
highness. still more sternly.
Il can't tell you. mamma
Princess Thomasina's tone was low,
as before. but IL was nevertheless, res
! olute. not 10 say defiant
II command YOU to answer my ques A