Дом ста дорог

[585] Waif squirmed in Charmain's arms because Charmain was clutching her so tightly as she followed the butler along a broad stone corridor. It was cold inside the Mansion and rather dark. Charmain was surprised to find that there were no ornaments anywhere and almost no hint of royal grandeur, unless you counted one or two large brown pictures in dingy gold frames. There were big pale squares on the walls every so often, where pictures had been taken away, but Charmain was by now so nervous that she did not wonder about this. She just became colder and thinner and more and more unimportant, until she felt she must be about the size of Waif.

[586] The butler stopped and creakily pushed open a mighty square oak door. "Your Majesty, Miss Charming Baker," he announced. "And dog." Then he doddered away.

[587] Charmain managed to dodder into the room. The shakiness must be catching! she thought, and did not dare curtsy in case her knees collapsed.

[588] The room was a vast library. Dim brown shelves of books stretched away in both directions. The smell of old book, which Charmain normally loved, was almost overpowering. Straight in front of her was a great oak table, piled high with more books and stacks of old, yellow papers, and some newer, whiter paper at the near end. There were three big carved chairs at that end, arranged around a very small charcoal fire in an iron basket. The basket sat on a kind of iron tray, which in turn sat on an almost worn-out carpet. Two old people sat in two of the carved chairs. One was a big old man with a nicely trimmed white beard and—when Charmain dared to look at him—kindly, crinkled old blue eyes.

She knew he had to be the King.

[589] "Come here, my dear," he said to her, "and take a seat. Put the little dog down near the fire."

[590] Charmain managed to do as the King said. Waif, to her relief, seemed to realize that one must be on one's best behavior here. She sat gravely down on the carpet and politely quivered her tail. Charmain sat on the edge of the carved chair and quivered all over.

[591] "Let me make my daughter known to you," said the King. "Princess Hilda."

[592] Princess Hilda was old too. If Charmain had not known she was the King's daughter, she might have thought the Princess and the King were the same age. The main difference between them was that the Princess looked twice as royal as the King. She was a big lady like her father, with very neat iron-gray hair and a tweed suit so plain and tweed-colored that Charmain knew it was a highly aristocratic suit. Her only ornament was a big ring on one veiny old hand.

[593] "That is a very sweet little dog," she said, in a firm and forthright voice. "What is her name?"

[594] "Waif, Your Highness," Charmain faltered.

[595] "And have you had her long?" the Princess asked.

[596] Charmain could tell that the Princess was making conversation in order to set her at her ease, and that made her more nervous than ever. "No…er…that is," she said. "The fact is she was a stray. Or…er…Great-Uncle William said she was. And he can't have had her long because he didn't know she was…er…a bi…er…I mean a girl. William Norland, you know. The wizard."

[597] The King and the Princess both said, "Oh!" at this and the King said, "Are you related to Wizard Norland, then, my dear?"

[598] "Our great friend," added the Princess.

[599] "I—er—He's my aunt Sempronia's great-uncle really," Charmain confessed.

Somehow the atmosphere became much more friendly. The King said, rather longingly, "I suppose you have had no news of how Wizard Norland is yet?"

[600] Charmain shook her head. "I'm afraid not, Your Majesty, but he did look awfully ill when the elves took him away."

[601] "Not to be wondered at," stated Princess Hilda. "Poor William. Now, Miss Baker—"

[602] "Oh—oh—please call me Charmain," Charmain stammered.

[603] "Very well," the Princess agreed. "But we must get down to business now, child, because I shall have to leave you soon to attend to my first guest."

[604] "My daughter is sparing you an hour or so," the King said, "to explain to you what we do here in the library and how you may best assist us. This is because we gathered from your handwriting that you were not very old—which we see is the case—and so probably inexperienced." He gave Charmain the most enchanting smile. "We really are most grateful to you for your offer of help, my dear. No one has ever considered that we might need assistance before."

[605] Charmain felt her face filling with heat. She knew she was blushing horribly. "My pleasure, Your—," she managed to mutter.

[606] "Pull your chair over to the table," Princess Hilda interrupted, "and we'll get down to work."

[607] As Charmain got up and dragged the heavy chair over, the King said courteously, "We hope you may not be too hot in here with the brazier beside you. It may be summer now, but we old people feel the cold these days."