It was
a nice breakfast with steaming hot dishes, and jams, honey, and hot
rolls, and brightly polished silver, and sweet flowers.
Then the Beast appeared suddenly from behind a curtain; oh, he was
an awful Beast, and Beauty's heart beat fast! But he seemed a polite
Beast for all that.
He handed Beauty a chair, and when she had sat down said:
"I bid you welcome; which do you take, tea or coffee?"
"Tea please," answered Beauty.
"Then pour it out," he said, "and I'll take tea too, please. Eggs, do
you like eggs hard or soft?"
"I always cook mine three minutes and a half," replied Beauty.
"Half a minute too much, I think. But you shall have just what you
like."
And so she had; not only at the breakfast table but in everything. She
had only to express a wish and it was immediately gratified. She
had ponies to ride, and dogs and cats, and pet birds, and the most
beautiful dresses ever worn by real princesses.
And if it had not been that she was away from her father she would
really have been happy.
[Illustration: _Painted by Jennie Harbour_
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST]
The Beast was most kind and attentive to her, and told her that he
loved her, and three times a day he asked her to marry him, but Beauty
shook her head and said, oh no, she couldn't.
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