SCENE III.

_A ball-room. People walking about._ LUCY _and_ MABEL, _in ball-dresses, sitting one on each side of their mother_.

L.--How very odd it is that nobody comes and asks us to dance!

MAB.--I can't understand it at all.

L.--It isn't as if we were not beautiful.

MAB.--It seems so strange we are not singled out.

M.--My dear girls, the fact is, you are so beautiful, and so well dressed, that people don't dare to ask you. I am sure that is what it is.

L.--I saw the prince looking longingly at me a little while ago, but just as he was going to invite me to dance, he was called away to meet a foreign princess.

MAB.--Of course, if she were a princess, he couldn't help going to meet her. I wonder who she was? She had on the most beautiful silver shoes.

M.--Here is the Court herald, passing through the hall, ask him her name. Oh, sir! I beg your pardon!--

(HERALD _stops_.)

Can you tell me who the lady in silver was, who was dancing with the prince just now?

HERALD.--She was announced as the Princess of the Silver Mountain.

M.--The Princess of the Silver Mountain! Indeed!

L.--She looked like it, I am sure.

M.--The reason why I ask is, the prince had been going to dance with my daughter, and he was obliged to leave her for this lady.

H.--Oh, indeed!

L.--So, you see, I have no partner in consequence.

H.--What a pity!

M.--My girls are both passionately fond of dancing.

H.--Indeed! that is a charming taste.

MAB.--It is not surprising we should like it, we dance very beautifully.

H.--I congratulate you. I hope I shall have an opportunity of seeing your performance.

(_Bows and passes on._)

L.--Oh, what a very rude man!

MAB.--I can't understand it at all. I quite thought we should have been the belles of the ball.

M.--Then suppose, my children, we go to the refreshment-room and have some ices? Perhaps we may find some partners there. (_Gets up._)

L.--Come, then.

M.--Oh, here comes the princess, leaning on the prince's arm.

(_Enter the_ PRINCE _and_ CINDERELLA. LUCY, MABEL, _and the_ MOTHER _make sweeping curtseys_.)

CINDERELLA.--What strange-looking ladies!

(_Mother and daughters start._)

PRINCE.--They are, indeed! But let us talk of yourself, princess. (_They go on speaking in low voices._)

MAB.--Did you hear her, Mother? Did you hear those insulting words?

M.--Never mind, it's no good quarrelling with princes. Come and have some strawberry ice.

(_They go out._)

P.--Now, tell me about this wonderful place where you live, for I have not heard of it before. The Silver Mountain! What an enchanting spot it sounds! It must be Fairy-land!

C.--It is, indeed, in Fairy-land!

P.--I was sure of it--a fit abode for so ethereal a being as yourself. You were nourished, I feel sure, on no mortal food--your dainty, beautiful clothes were woven by no mortal hands--they were spun by elves and fairies in some enchanted, far-away spot.

C.--Indeed, I believe they were.

P.--Adorable creature! Come, tell me where this Silver Mountain is, that I may find my way to it over every obstacle.

C.--But there is the music beginning again! We should be dancing, your highness.

P.--What delicious simplicity! Are you then so fond of dancing?

C.--I love it, but I so seldom get a chance.

P.--Of course, yes, you are hedged in, I daresay, by the etiquette of your court.

C.--Precisely.

(_Dancers waltz in._)

P.--Come, then, let us join the dance too.

(_They dance._ _The_ MOTHER, LUCY, _and_ MABEL _look enviously at the dancers_. _They curtsey as the_ PRINCE _passes them_. _The clock begins to strike twelve._ CINDERELLA _starts_.)

P.--What, tired already!

C.--No, no, but I must go at once! instantly!

(_She rushes out, leaving a slipper behind her._)

P.--What! she has gone! and in such haste, that she has left one of her dainty slippers behind her. I must fly to restore it to her. Princess! Adored one! come back! (_Rushes out._)

CURTAIN.