procession appeared in sight.

At the head of it rode Fanfaronade himself upon a white horse,
which pranced and caracoled to the sound of the trumpets. Nothing
could have been more splendid than the ambassador's attire. His
coat was nearly hidden under an embroidery of pearls and diamonds,
his boots were solid gold, and from his helmet floated scarlet plumes.
At the sight of him the Princess lost her wits entirely, and determined
that Fanfaronade and nobody else would she marry.

`It is quite impossible,' she said, `that his master should be half
as handsome and delightful. I am not ambitious, and having spent
all my life in this tedious tower, anything--even a house in the
country--will seem a delightful change. I am sure that bread and
water shared with Fanfaronade will please me far better than roast
chicken and sweetmeats with anybody else.'

And so she went on talk, talk, talking, until her waiting-women
wondered where she got it all from. But when they tried to stop
her, and represented that her high rank made it perfectly impossible
that she should do any such thing, she would not listen, and
ordered them to be silent.

As soon as the ambassador arrived at the palace, the Queen
started to fetch her daughter.

All the streets were spread with carpets, and the windows were
full of ladies who were waiting to see the Princess, and carried
baskets of flowers and sweetmeats to shower upon her as she
passed.