Oldal 201 [201]
KING BIZÁRRE AND PRINCE CHARMING
mien the expressions of affection which were lavished on
him. He was doubtless weighed down with grief, but
this grief appeared very much lightened after the visit of
the countess.
The good lady was very sad, and had a great desire to
see her poor child, but she was so old, and found herself
so weak and sensitive, that she entreated the king to spare
her a heartrending spectacle. She threw herself into
the arms of Charming, who tenderly embraced her, and
withdrew, saying that she placed all her hope and trust
in the love of the king and the talent of the chief physician
of the court.
She had scarcely left the room when the physician whis¬
pered a few words in Charming’s ear which called to his
face a smile quickly repressed. The countess pacified,
there was nothing more to fear; the vengeance was sure.
Doctor Wieduwillst was a great physician. Born in the
country of Dreams, he had early quitted his native land to
seek his fortune in the kingdom of Wild Oats. He was too
able a man not to find it. In the five years that he had
spent in the celebrated University of Lugenmaulberg, the
medical theory had changed twenty-five times, and, thanks
to this solid education, the doctor had a firmness of prin¬
ciple which nothing could shake. He had the frankness
and bluntness of a soldier, 1t was said; he swore at times,
even with ladies, a rudeness which left him at liberty
161