He did not say, 'If I can'; for he knew that what he was sent to do, that he could do.

'May I kiss your hand, little Princess ?' She was only between nine and ten, though indeed she looked several years older, and her eyes almost those of a grown woman, for she had had terrible trouble of late.
She held out her hand.
'I am not the little princess any more.

I have grown up since I saw you last, Mr Miner.' The smile which accompanied the words had in it a strange mixture of playfulness and sadness.
'So I see, Miss Princess,' returned Curdie; 'and therefore, being more of a princess, you are the more my princess.

Here I am, sent by your great-great-grandmother, to be your servant.

May I ask why you are up so late, Princess ?' 'Because my father wakes so frightened, and I don't know what he would do if he didn't find me by his bedside.