A Little Princess

Sara and Becky spend the rest of the evening eating the hot meal before the cozy fire. The next morning, the school staff and students have heard that Sara is in disgrace. Becky would be fired, except that Miss Minchin cannot easily find another girl to work for such little pay. Jealous Lavinia pried the girls’ party secret out of little Lottie and nastily informed Miss Minchin.

Miss Minchin expects to see Sara broken down after her previous night’s scolding and the deprivation of meals. When Sara appears with joy in her eyes, Miss Minchin is shocked and accuses her of impertinence. Jessie declares that Sara is different from other people. Sara realizes that the wonders she found may have been lent to her for only one night, but she knows that “whatever happens somewhere in the world there is a heavenly kind person who is my friend” (219).

After another miserable, hungry day, Sara enters her attic room. The Magic has brought even more than before! A new supper is on the table for both Sara and Becky, and new decorations beautify the room. Sara always wanted to see a fairy tale come true and now she feels as if she is living in one. Becky asks where it all comes from, and Sara replies that it is more beautiful to not know. From then on, more wonderful comforts and new suppers arrive every evening. Miss Minchin disapprovingly sees Sara looking better: “She seems as little subdued as if […] she were a princess” (224).

One day, two packages addressed to the little girl in the right-hand attic are delivered. When Miss Minchin orders Sara to open them, she finds new, warm clothing with a note stating that the items will be replaced when necessary. Miss Minchin agitatedly wonders if Sara has a powerful, eccentric relation who might be offended if he learned about the mistreatment of Sara. Miss Minchin tells Sara to put on the clothing and come to the schoolroom as a student. All the students stare with curiosity as “Princess Sara” enters the class, dressed in beautiful clothing again. Lavinia scathingly comments that perhaps the diamond mines have materialized.

That evening, Sara decides to write a thank-you note to the mysterious friend. While she is reading to Becky, she hears the monkey on the roof from the house next door. The monkey escaped and is shivering in the snow. Sara knows that it is too cold for the delicate monkey and coaxes the animal to come into her attic room. Sara lets the monkey sleep at her feet and plans to return him the next day.

Three of the so-called Large Family children, Janet, Nora, and Donald, try to cheer up the ill gentleman in his library while he anxiously awaits their father’s return from Moscow. The children tell Mr. Carrisford that they named the lost child “the little un-fairy princess” (234) because she is not a fairy, but she will be like a fairy-tale princess when she is found and given her fortune. When Mr. Carmichael arrives, his children run to kiss him. Mr. Carmichael tells Mr. Carrisford that the child adopted by the Russian couple was Emily Carew, not the child they are seeking. The gentleman miserably declares that a new search must begin. He is unhappy that he inadvertently wronged Captain Crewe’s daughter. Mr. Carmichael searched all the Paris schools and now plans to search London schools. Mr. Carrisford recalls the school next door, but he does not imagine that the servant girl in the attic could be connected to Captain Crewe.

Then, the Magic begins to work. Ram Dass announces that the child in the attic arrived to return the escaped monkey. Ram Dass thought Mr. Carrisford would like to speak with her. Mr. Carrisford explains to Mr. Carmichael that to occupy his long days, he and Ram Dass invented a romantic plan to help this poor child. When Sara speaks thoughtfully about the monkey and asks if she should give it to the servant, the Indian gentleman questions how she knows that Ram Dass is a “Lascar.” Sara explains that she was born in India. The gentleman suddenly sits upright and asks her to come closer. When he asks about Miss Minchin’s seminary, Sara explains that initially she was a pupil, but now she runs errands for the cook. The Indian gentleman asks Mr. Carmichael to question Sara, who tells him about her father’s death and the loss of his fortune through trusting a dear friend. When Sara reveals her father’s name, the Indian gentleman gasps and appears to be dying before Ram Dass gives him medicine.

Sara is bewildered until Mr. Carmichael reveals that Mr. Carrisford was her father’s friend. They have been looking for her for two years. Sara is shocked that all this time she was “just on the other side of the wall” (242).

Janet, Nora, and Donald are very glad that Sara has been found; Donald reproaches himself that he did not ask Sara’s name when he gave her his sixpence. Their mother, Mrs. Carmichael, arrives to take Sara into her warm arms and explain everything. Sara asks if the Indian gentleman was her father’s wicked friend. Mrs. Carmichael kisses Sara and clarifies that Mr. Carrisford was not wicked; he only thought he lost the money and almost died out of grief over the misfortune before he learned that Sara’s papa died. When Sara discovers that Mr. Carrisford was the one who told Ram Dass to make her dream in the attic come true, Sara is overjoyed. She kneels next to Mr. Carrisford and kisses his hand: “Then it is you who are my friend” (245).

Mr. Carrisford decides that Sara will not return to the seminary. She is relieved because she knows the schoolmistress does not like her, although she thinks, “Perhaps it is my fault, because I do not like her” (246). Suddenly, Miss Minchin arrives to find out why Sara is at the Indian gentleman’s house. She tells Sara that she will be severely punished for the intrusion and to go home at once, but Mr. Carrisford announces that Sara’s future home will be with him. He tells his lawyer, Mr. Carmichael, to explain everything to the indignant Miss Minchin, who is shocked to learn that Sara inherited a diamond-mines fortune. The greedy schoolmistress protests that Captain Crewe left Sara in her charge, and she has done everything for the girl; Sara must return to her school. Sara tells Miss Minchin that she knows why Sara will not go back with her. After Miss Minchin threatens that Sara will never see her friends again, Mr. Carmichael firmly informs the schoolmistress that Sara can invite any of her friends to her guardian’s house. Miss Minchin warns Mr. Carrisford that Sara is not truthful or grateful and acidly tells the girl that she supposes Sara feels like a princess again. Embarrassed, Sara quietly answers that she tried not to be anything else, even when she was the “coldest and hungriest” (252).

At the seminary, Miss Minchin’s sister, Miss Amelia, finally has the courage to tell the schoolmistress that she mistreated Sara, who was a clever and good child: “The fact was, she was too clever for you, and you always disliked her for that reason […] though she behaved herself like a little princess even when she was a beggar” (253). That evening in the schoolroom, Ermengarde reads from Sara’s letter to her, announcing to the amazed pupils that Sara will be even richer than before. Ermengarde will visit her tomorrow. When Becky goes up to the attic room, glad for Sara’s sake but sad to be alone, she is astonished to find supper waiting for her and Ram Dass standing in the room with a letter from Sara. He tells Becky that Sara did not want her to go to sleep unhappy, and tomorrow Becky will move to the Indian gentleman’s house to be Sara’s attendant.

The so-called Large Family’s children want to repeatedly hear Sara tell the story of her sufferings and adventures in the attic with the sparrows and Melchisedec. Their favorite part is when Sara’s dream came true. Sara asks, “Uncle Tom,” the name that Mr. Carrisford asked her to call him, to tell his part of the story. He explains that Ram Dass’s description of Sara’s situation and how it might be secretly improved caught his interest when he was ill. Ram Dass witnessed the disastrous ending of the pretend banquet and silently crept into the room while Sara was asleep to receive the things his companion handed through the skylight.

Sara and Uncle Tom become wonderful friends. Uncle Tom’s health is restored as “the magician” enjoys inventing new gifts to surprise her, including a new dog who serves “Princess Sara.” One evening, Sara thinks about the hungry child she saw begging. Uncle Tom says that she can do anything she wants with her money, so Sara plans to go to the bakery and tell the shopkeeper that if she sees hungry children, she should call them in, give them something to eat, and send the bills to Sara.

The next morning, Miss Minchin is annoyed to see Sara, warmly dressed in furs and attended by a healthy looking Becky, get into the Indian gentleman’s carriage. The bakery woman eventually recognizes the transformed Sara, never having forgotten that she gave five of her buns to the starving child “as if you was a princess” (264). After Sara makes her proposal, the bakery woman is delighted, since she cannot afford to do much on her own. She has been trying to give away some bread since she witnessed hungry Sara’s generosity. The woman tells Sara that she has hired the child, Anne, to help her in the shop and given her a home. Anne is now clean and neatly clothed; she immediately recognizes Sara. Sara extends her hand to Anne and asks if Anne would be the one to give the buns to hungry children because she knows what it feels like to be hungry. Anne agrees, and the girls understand each other.