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the cave was strewn with them. "Sire," she exclaimed, "some one has robbed me of my good wine, and put this rubbish in its place." "Rubbish, madam! Why, such rubbish would buy my whole kingdom." "It is yours, sire," replied the duchess, "if you will make me your queen." The king, who was a great lover of money, replied eagerly, "Certainly, madam, I'll marry you to-morrow if you will." Grognon, highly delighted, made but one other condition--that she should have the Princess Graciosa entirely in her own rule and power, just as if she had been her real mother; to which the foolish king consented, for he thought much more of riches than he did of his child. So he and Grognon departed hand in hand out of the cave, very well pleased. When the king returned home, Graciosa ran out with joy to welcome her father, and asked him if he had had good sport in his hunting. "Yes, my child," said he, "for I have taken a dove alive." "Oh, give it me, and I will nourish and cherish it," cried the princess. "That is impossible; for it is the Duchess Grognon, whom I have promised to marry." "She a dove!--she is rather a hawk," sighed the princess in despair; but her father bade her hold her tongue, and promise to love her stepmother, who would have over her all the authority of a mother, and to whom he wished to present her that very day. The obedient princess went to her apartment, where her nurse soon found out the sorrow in her face, and its cause. "My child," said the good old woman, "princesses ought to show a good example to humbler women. Promise me to do your best to please your father, and to make yourself agreeable to the stepmother he has chosen for you. She may not be so bad after, all." And the nurse gave so much good advice, that Graciosa began to smile, and dressed herself in her best attire, a green robe embroidered with gold; while her fair, loose-falling hair was adorned, according to the fashion of the day, with a coronet of jasmine, of which the leaves were made of large emeralds. Grognon, on her part, made the best of herself that was possible. She put on a high-heeled shoe to appear less lame, she padded her shoulders, dyed her red hair black, and put in a false eye; then dressed herself in a hooped petticoat of violet satin trimmed with blue, and an upper gown of yellow with green ribands. In this costume, she wished to enter the city on horseback, as she understood the queens were in t
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