Note 2 — MARIA WOOD.1
Reading edition
The teacher, who by her fairy powers knew what mortals could not know, knew that the prince was no other than the devil,2 and that the marriage must be prevented at any price, but that it would be vain for her to give this information to the father, as he would have laughed in her face, and told her to go and rule copy-books and knit stockings. She must, therefore, set to work in a different way to protect her charge from the impending evil.