To her surprise they seemed to be returning from the ball , and she had just time to hide from them by bending her knees and holding out her arms and pretending to be a garden chair . There were six horsemen in front and six behind ; in the middle walked a prim lady wearing a long train held up by two pages , and on the train , as if it were a couch , reclined a lovely girl , for in this way do aristocratic fairies travel about . She was dressed in golden rain , but the most enviable part of her was her neck , which was blue in colour and of a velvet texture , and of course showed off her diamond necklace as no white throat could have glorified it . The high-born fairies obtain this admired effect by pricking their skin , which lets the blue blood come through and dye them , and you can not imagine anything so dazzling unless you have seen the ladies ' busts in the jewellers ' windows . Maimie also noticed that the whole cavalcade seemed to be in a passion , tilting their noses higher than it can be safe for even fairies to tilt them , and she concluded that this must be another case in which the doctor had said , ` Cold , quite cold . ' -LSB- Illustration : An elderberry hobbled across the walk , and stood chatting with some young quinces -RSB- Well , she followed the ribbon to a place where it became a bridge over a dry puddle into which another fairy had fallen and been unable to climb out . At first this little damsel was afraid of Maimie , who most kindly went to her aid , but soon she sat in her hand chatting gaily and explaining that her name was Brownie , and that though only a poor street singer she was on her way to the ball to see if the Duke would have her . ` Of course , ' she said , ' I am rather plain , ' and this made Maimie uncomfortable , for indeed the simple little creature was almost quite plain for a fairy . It was difficult to know what to reply . ' I see you think I have no chance , ' Brownie said falteringly . ' I do n't say that , ' Maimie answered politely ; ` of course your face is just a tiny bit homely , but -- ' Really it was quite awkward for her . Fortunately she remembered about her father and the bazaar . He had gone to a fashionable bazaar where all the most beautiful ladies in London were on view for half a crown the second day , but on his return home , instead of being dissatisfied with Maimie 's mother , he had said , ` You ca n't think , my dear , what a relief it is to see a homely face again . ' Maimie repeated this story , and it fortified Brownie tremendously , indeed she had no longer the slightest doubt that the Duke would choose her . So she scudded away up the ribbon , calling out to Maimie not to follow lest the Queen should mischief her . But Maimie 's curiosity tugged her forward , and presently at the seven Spanish chestnuts she saw a wonderful light . She crept forward until she was quite near it , and then she peeped from behind a tree . -LSB- Illustration : A chrysanthemum heard her , and said pointedly , ` Hoity-toity , what is this ? ' -RSB- The light , which was as high as your head above the ground , was composed of myriads of glow-worms all holding on to each other , and so forming a dazzling canopy over the fairy ring . There were thousands of little people looking on , but they were in shadow and drab in colour compared to the glorious creatures within that luminous circle , who were so bewilderingly bright that Maimie had to wink hard all the time she looked at them .
It was amazing and even irritating to her that the Duke of Christmas Daisies should be able to keep out of love for a moment : yet out of love his dusky grace still was : you could see it by the shamed looks of the XXXXX and court -LRB- though they pretended not to care -RRB- , by the way darling ladies brought forward for his approval burst into tears as they were told to pass on , and by his own most dreary face .
Brownie Maimie Queen cavalcade chrysanthemum colour elderberry first glow-worms jewellers