'Pray do not ask anything for any man at present.'

'It is not anything for any man.'

'Nor for any woman.'

'It is for a woman,--but one whom I think you would wish to
oblige.'

'Who is it?' Then she curtsied, smiling at him drolly, and put
her hand upon her breast. 'Something for you! What on earth can
you want that I can do for you?'

'Will you do it,--if it be reasonable?'

'If I think it reasonable, I certainly will do it.'

Then her manner changed altogether, and she became serious and
almost solemn. 'If, as I suppose, all the great places about her
Majesty be changed, I should like to be Mistress of the Robes.'

'You!' said he, almost startled out of his usual quiet demeanour.

'Why not? Is not my rank high enough?'

'You burden yourself with the intricacies and subserviences, with
the tedium and pomposities of the Court life! Cora, you do not
know what you are talking about, or what you are proposing for
yourself.'