she saw a light and went
towards it, and when she was near it, she saw that it was over the door
of a palace where a king lived. She entered and sat down on the
stairway, and fell asleep. The servants came later to put out the light,
and saw the pretty girl asleep on the stone steps; they awakened her,
asking her what she was doing there. She began to make signs, asking
them to give her a lodging. They understood her, and said they would ask
the king. They returned shortly to tell her to enter, for the king
wished to see her before she was shown to her room. When the king saw
the beautiful girl, with hair like gold, flesh like milk and wine, teeth
white as pearls, and little hands that an artist could not paint as
beautiful as they were, he suddenly imagined that she must be the
daughter of some lord, and gave orders that she should be treated with
all possible respect. They showed her to a beautiful room; then a maid
came and undressed her and put her to bed. Next morning, Diana, for so
she was called, arose, saw a frame with a piece of embroidery in it, and
began to work at it. The king visited her, and asked if she needed
anything, and she made signs that she did not. The king was so pleased
with the young girl that he ended by falling in love with her, and after
a year had passed he thought of marrying her. The queen-mother, who was
an envious person, was not content with the match, because, said she, no
one knows where she came from, and, besides, she is dumb, something that
would make people wonder if a king should marry her. But the king was so
obstinate that he married her; and when his mother saw that there was no
help, she pretended to be satisfied. Shortly after, the queen-mother put
into the king's hands a letter which informed him of an imminent war, in
which, if he did not take part, he would run the risk of losing his
realm. The king went to the war, in fact, with great grief at leaving
his wife; and before departing, he commended her earnestly to his
mother, who said: "Do not be anxious, my son, I shall do all that I can
to make her happy." The king embraced his wife and mother, and departed.

Scarcely had the king gone when the queen-mother sent for a mason, and
made him build a wall near the kitchen-sink, so that it formed a sort of
box. Now you must know that Diana expected soon to become a mother, and
this afforded the queen-mother a pretext to write to her son that his
wife had died in giving birth