bride! As King Charming did not know what had happened to the
Princess, he looked forward impatiently to meeting her again, and
he tried to talk about her with the courtiers who were placed in
attendance on him. But by the Queen's orders they would say
nothing good of her, but declared that she was vain, capricious,
and bad-tempered; that she tormented her waiting-maids, and that,
in spite of all the money that the King gave her, she was so mean
that she preferred to go about dressed like a poor shepherdess,
rather than spend any of it. All these things vexed the King very
much, and he was silent.

'It is true,' thought he, 'that she was very poorly dressed, but
then she was so ashamed that it proves that she was not
accustomed to be so. I cannot believe that with that lovely face
she can be as ill-tempered and contemptible as they say. No, no,
the Queen must be jealous of her for the sake of that ugly
daughter of hers, and so these evil reports are spread.'

The courtiers could not help seeing that what they had told the
King did not please him, and one of them cunningly began to
praise Fiordelisa, when he could talk to the King without being
heard by the others.

King Charming thereupon became so cheerful, and interested in all
he said, that it was easy to guess how much he admired the
Princess. So when the Queen sent for the courtiers and questioned
them about all they had found out, their report confirmed her
worst fears. As to the poor Princess Fiordelisa, she cried all
night without stopping.