(BEING AN EXTRACT FROM HER DIARY--PICKED UP BEHIND THE SCENES)
TUESDAY.--Sometimes I think I am a very lucky girl having two big
sisters to look after me. I expect there are lots of young girls who
have nobody at all, and I think they must be so lonely. There is
always plenty of fun going on in our house. Yesterday I heard Sister
Fred telling Sister Bert something about her old man coming home
very late one night--I didn't quite understand who the old man was,
or what it was all about, but I know Sister Bert thought it was very
funny, and I seemed to hear a lot of people laughing; perhaps it was
the fairies. And then whenever Sister Bert sits down she always
pulls her skirt right up to her knees, so as people can see her
stockings. I mean there's always SOMETHING amusing happening.
Of course I have a good deal of work to do, and all the washing up,
but my sisters are so big and strong that one can't expect them to
bother themselves with niggling little things like that. Besides,
they have so many other things to do. Only this morning, when Sister
Bert was just going to sit down, Sister Fred pulled away her chair,
and she sat on the floor and her legs went up in the air. She said
it was a "grand slam," which some of us thought very funny. I didn't
laugh myself, because I never go out anywhere, and so I don't
understand topical remarks, but I do think it is nice to live in
such an amusing house.
(LATER.)--A wonderful thing has happened! Two messengers came from
the Prince an hour ago to invite us to the ball to-night! I'd never
seen a messenger in my life, so I peeped out of the chimney corner
at them and wondered if they would stay to tea. But instead of that
my sisters put up what they call a "trapeze" (I never knew we had
one before), and the messengers did some EXTRAORDINARY things on it,
I thought they would kill themselves. After it was over, Sister Fred
told them a lot of stories about the old man, and altogether it was
quite different from what I expected. Ours IS a funny house.
As soon as the messengers had gone, my sisters began to get ready
for the ball. I knew I shouldn't be able to go, because I haven't
got a frock, and I simply COULDN'T wear anything of theirs, they are
so much bigger than I am. They finished dressing DOWNSTAIRS for some
reason, where anybody might have seen them--they are so funny about
things like that--and we had a lot of laughter about the clothes
being too tight and so on. I think anything like that is so amusing.
Then they went off, and here I am all alone. It is getting dark, and
so I am going to cheer myself up by singing a little.
(LATER).--I AM GOING TO THE BALL! My Fairy Godmother, whom I had
often heard about, suddenly came to see us. I told her my sisters
were out, and she asked where they had gone, and wouldn't I like to
go too, so of course I said I should LOVE it. So I am going, and she
has got a frock for me and everything. She is very kind, but not
quite so FAIRY-LIKE as I expected.
WEDNESDAY.--I have had a LOVELY time, and I think I am in love. I
got to the Ball just as the juggling and the ventriloquism were
over--it must be a delightful Court to live in--and there was SUCH a
sensation as I appeared. The Prince singled me out at once. He has
the pinkest cheeks and the reddest lips of any man I know, and his
voice is soft and gentle, and oh! I love him. One wants a man to be
manly and a woman to be womanly, and I don't think I should love a
man if he were at all like Sister Fred or Sister Bert. The Prince is
QUITE different. We were alone most of the time, and we sang several
songs together. My sisters never recognized me; it was most
surprising. I heard Sister Fred telling a very fine-looking
gentleman a story about a lodger (whatever that is) who had a bit of
a head; it sounded very humorous. Wherever Sister Fred goes there is
sure to be fun. I am indeed a lucky girl to have two such sisters
and to be in love with a Prince. Sister Bert sat down on the floor
twice--it was most amusing.
A terrible thing happened just as the clock struck twelve. All my
clothes turned into rags, and I just RAN out of the room, I was so
frightened. Then I remembered what my Fairy Godmother had said about
leaving before twelve o'clock. I suppose she knew what would happen
if I didn't. I'm afraid I left a glass slipper behind--I hope she
won't mind about it.
Well, I've had a lovely time. Even if I never see the Prince again,
I shall always have this to look back to. I don't mind WHAT happens
now.
THURSDAY.--I AM GOING TO MARRY THE PRINCE! I can't believe it is
true. Perhaps it is only a dream, and I shall wake up soon, but even
if it's a dream it's just as good as if it were real. It was all
because of the slipper I left behind. The Prince said that he would
marry the person whom it fitted, because he had fallen in love with
the lady who wore it at the ball (ME!), and so everybody tried it
on. And they came to our house, and Sister Bert tried it on. She
pulled her skirt up to her knees and made everybody laugh, but even
then she couldn't get into it. And Sister Fred made a lot of faces,
but SHE couldn't. So I said, "Let ME try," and they all laughed, but
the Prince said I should, and of course it fitted at once. Then they
all recognized me, and the Prince kissed me, and a whole lot of
people came into the house who had never been invited, and we had
the trapeze out again, and there was juggling and ventriloquism, and
we all sang songs about somebody called Flanagan (whom I don't think
I have ever met), and Sister Bert kept sitting down suddenly on the
floor. (But the Prince didn't think this was at all funny, so I
expect I must have been right all the time when I have only
PRETENDED to laugh. I used to think that perhaps I hadn't a sense of
humour.) And then the Prince kissed me again, and my Fairy Godmother
came in and kissed us both. Of course we do owe it all to her
really, and I shall tell Charming so.