She sometimes deplored the fact to Mrs.
Gibson that though Adalbert could now be trusted not to get into mischief by any act of will, he was so stupid that he needed a perpetual eye on him.
The Honourable John Ruffin sometimes enquired about his progress in morals, manners, and intelligence; Pollyooly's report on it was always dispirited.

But he was surprised, on returning home from Littlestone to tea one evening, to find Pollyooly entertaining royalty in the parlour of the flustered Mrs.Wilson.
The prince had come back from a walk through the marsh with her, tired; and she had thought it better that he should have tea before walking the length of the village to his own lodging.
The Honourable John Ruffin did not let his surprise be seen; he greeted his royal guest civilly and sat down.

Pollyooly questioned him closely and with genuine interest about his successes and reverses on the links.

Then the Honourable John Ruffin observed that his royal guest was flushed; then he discovered that Pollyooly was entertaining him in a fashion at once negligent and drastic: she made no effort to include him in their talk, but she was watching him with the eye of a lynx and giving him a lesson in table manners with the coldest serenity.
"What is the matter with our royal guest exactly ?" said the Honourable John Ruffin presently.
"He is so hard to teach," said Pollyooly plaintively.

"You'd be surprised.