shed and turned her eyes away and said nothing; then the
Queen took her in her arms and kissed her, for she loved the Princess
very much and knew that she would soon lose her, for it wanted only
three months to her fifteenth birthday.

When the Prince knew that he could not have his dear Princess Desiree
until three months had passed, he became very sad, and could not sleep
at night, until at last his strength gave way and he was near to death.
Doctors were called in, but they could do nothing at all, and the King
was in a dreadful state, for he loved his son very much.

Now the other messenger, who was sent to the Black Princess to tell her
that the Prince had changed his mind and was going to marry another, was
admitted to her presence and soon explained his errand.

'Mr. Messenger,' she said when he had finished, 'is it possible that
your master does not think I am beautiful or rich enough? Look out over
my broad lands and you will find that they are so vast that you cannot
see where they end; and, as for money, I have large coffers full to the
brim, as any one will tell you.'

'Madam,' replied the messenger, 'I blame my master as much as a humble
subject may. Now if I were sitting on the greatest throne in the world,
I would think it the highest favour from heaven if you would share it
with me.'

'That speech has saved your life,' said the Black Princess, 'you may
go.'

When the Fairy of the Fountain heard this she was extremely angry and
she looked in her book to make sure that the Warrior Prince had really
left the Black Princess in favour of the Princess Desiree. Yes, it was
quite true.

'What!' cried the Fairy of the Fountain, 'this ill-omened Desiree is
always in some way upsetting my plans. No! I will not allow it to
happen: why should I?'

Now the messenger Becafigue hurried along to the court of Desiree's
father and mother, and threw himself at their feet, and told them that
his master was very ill and likely to die if he did not see the
Princess.

The King and Queen agreed that it would be best to go and tell the
Princess about the Prince; so the Queen went and told her daughter all
she knew, not forgetting to mention the evil wish that had been laid
upon her at the time of her birth. But the Princess asked her mother if
it were not possible to defeat this wish by taking steps to send her to
the Prince in a carriage with all the light shut out.

This was agreed upon and a carriage was made on a