manner, of the prince's indulgence."

"Silence, wretch!"

"Oh, your excellency will hear me out. At the beginning, my poor mother
found herself surrounded by the tenderest care: the princess could not be
parted from her for a moment; the most flattering words, the finest
clothes, the richest ornaments were hers; the servants paid her as much
respect as though she were a daughter of the house. When her parents went
to see her and to inquire whether she did not at all regret having left
them, they found her so lovely and so happy, that they blessed the
princess as a good angel sent them from God. Then the prince conceived a
remarkable affection for my mother; little by little his manners became
more familiar and affectionate. At last the princess went away for a few
days, regretting that she could not take with her her dear child, as she
called her. Then the prince's brutality knew no further barriers; he no
longer concealed his shameful plans of seduction; he spread before the
poor girl's eyes pearl necklaces and caskets of diamonds; he passed from
the most glowing passion to the blackest fury, from the humblest prayers
to the most horrible threats. The poor child was shut up in a cellar
where there was hardly a gleam of daylight, and every morning a frightful
gaoler came and threw her a bit of black bread, repeating with oaths that
it only depended upon herself to alter all this by becoming the prince's
mistress. This cruelty continued for two years. The princess had gone
on a long journey, and my mother's poor parents believed that their
daughter was still happy with her protectress. On her return, having; no
doubt fresh sins for which she needed forgiveness, she took my mother
from her dungeon, assumed the liveliest indignation at this horrible
treatment, about which she appeared to have known nothing, wiped her
tears, and by an abominable refinement of perfidy received the thanks of