The Faery Tales of Weir | Page 3

"I am sent to make their acquaintance. I am the niece of King Luke, the
Princess Myrtle."
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.
Prince Hugh tossed the scarlet ball to her and she caught it lightly as if
she were making a curtsey.
"Take the ball back to him," said the King, "and tell him I sent you."
As she went down through the parterres of flowers she was as straight
as a delphinium and fresh-colored as a rose. Where the great trees
clouded into the sky she looked as little as a floating petal; but when
she stepped upon the sward, she seemed to grow tall like an upward
soaring flame.
Though she walked with such courage towards the three slim lads her
heart was beating fast, because she was afraid they would not be as

noble as they looked. For at court nearly everyone looks noble, and the
Princess Myrtle had learned how easy it is to keep your eyes level, and
your head high, and your bearing proud; and how hard it is to preserve
a sweet heart like a rose, within the shadow of this grandeur.
So she went to meet the princes with a shy, hopeful manner, the scarlet
ball in her hand, and her blue eyes addressed to theirs.
"I am commanded by your royal father to return to you this ball," she
said.
"I pray you tell me," said Prince Hugh, "how you, being a beggar-maid,
walk as if possessed of wealth?"
She smiled. "All people are rich. Some know it. Some do not."
The princeling gave a royal whistle, and smiled at his brother Richard,
who picked a white carnation and began to pull its petals. "Tell me,
maid, why you wear the blue glove?" he asked.
"To cover a hand still my own," she returned proudly.
Merlin said nothing at all. He took the scarlet ball, bowed, and turned
from her. She raised her eyes to the heights where the turrets cut the
sky, black against gold, and the whirling sea-birds beat down the
seaward rushing wind. Then stepping softly, she followed Merlin, who
walked on to a place where the arching trees made a green cave, and in
the depths of the cave was a fountain of marble sunk into a round of
ferns. At the edge the prince paused, then he dropped the ball into the
water, and it sank, for it was solid and heavy.
[Illustration: MERLIN DROPS THE BALL INTO THE FOUNTAIN]
"Why did you do that?" cried the Princess.
He wheeled about, and looked upon her coldly. "Why have you
followed me?" he asked.
"To pick up the ball, should you drop it."

"The ball is drowned," he said.
"Why did you put it in the water?" she asked.
"Because you touched it," he replied.
She was very sad then. "You scorn to touch what a beggar-maid has
handled?" she asked.
To this he made no reply, but strolled away into the green wood, while
wearily she turned back. The stag-hounds, with their collars of jade,
came to meet her, and the three enormous Persian cats whose tails