King Cuthbert could not believe his ears, nor trust his eyes, for the
Princess Myrtle had great vaults of gold under the thousand-year-old
turrets of her castle; and pearls like pigeon eggs in the renowned
diadem with which the generations of her royal race were crowned kings
or queens.

"My uncle sends me as a beggar-maid so that I can make a true marriage. I
desire to be loved for myself alone. Speak not of me to the court, but
deal with me as I appear to be."

King Cuthbert gazed in admiration at her, for she had the voice of one
who thinks more than she speaks and feels more than she thinks, which is
the proper order for great and little ladies. "Here," thought he, "is the
child I have been seeking. I will not tell the three straight-limbed lads
so beautifully mannered who or what she is, but I will say that a friend
hath sent an orphaned girl to be protected by me; then I will watch how
they treat her, and learn at last what my sons are."

"Princess Myrtle," he said, "I will henceforth treat you as an orphaned
and poor girl. Is that to your liking?"

"It is my wish, Sir," she answered, and suddenly a rising wind blew all
the strands of her hair into a cloud of gold, so that her coarse wool
dress appeared brocaded; and while she was thus sumptuously clothed a
great peacock in iridescent array strutted by her, and she placed her
gloved hand for a moment on his shining feathers, looking, indeed, a
princess. Back of her the courtiers stared and rubbed their eyes. The
three slim boys on the lawn were smiling.