'Madam, your incomparable beauty needs no adornment.'

'Sire,' answered the Princess, 'I assure you that I am not in the
habit of wearing dresses as crumpled and untidy as this one, so I
should have been better pleased if you had not seen me at all.'

'Impossible!' cried King Charming. 'Wherever such a marvellously
beautiful Princess appears I can look at nothing else.'

Here the Queen broke in, saying sharply--

'I assure you, Sire, that Fiordelisa is vain enough already. Pray
make her no more flattering speeches.'

The King quite understood that she was not pleased, but that did
not matter to him, so he admired Fiordelisa to his heart's
content, and talked to her for three hours without stopping.

The Queen was in despair, and so was Turritella, when they saw
how much the King preferred Fiordelisa. They complained bitterly
to the King, and begged and teased him, until he at last
consented to have the Princess shut up somewhere out of sight
while King Charming's visit lasted. So that night, as she went to
her room, she was seized by four masked figures, and carried up
into the topmost room of a high tower, where they left her in the
deepest dejection. She easily guessed that she was to be kept out
of sight for fear the King should fall in love with her; but
then, how disappointing that was, for she already liked him very
much, and would have been quite willing to be chosen for his