And then, at the thought of the grief of the miller, her face was again
clouded; but it again cleared when she considered of the great triumph
that she had won, and how she would enjoy a victory over the King, and
would have the finest bracelet in all Strelsau as a gift from him.
Thus she arrived at the Castle in the height of merriment and
exultation.

It chanced that the King came to Zenda that night, to spend a week
hunting the boar in the forest; and when Osra, all blushing and
laughing, told him of her success with the Miller of Hofbau he was
greatly amused, and swore that no such girl ever lived, and applauded
her, renewing his promise of the bracelet; and he declared that he
would himself ride with her to Hofbau on the wedding-day, and see how
the poor miller bore his disappointment.

"Indeed I do not see how you are going to excuse yourself to him," he
laughed.

"A purse of five hundred crowns must do that office for me," said she.

"What, will crowns patch a broken heart?"

"His broken heart must heal itself, as men's broken hearts do, brother!"

"In truth, sister, I have known them cure themselves. Let us hope it
may be so with the Miller of Hofbau."

"At the worst I have revenged the wrongs of women on him. It is
unendurable that any man should scorn us, be he king or miller."

"It is indeed very proper that he should suffer great pangs," said the
King, "in spite of his plaster of crowns. I shall love to see the
stolid fellow sighing and moaning like a lovesick courtier."

So they agreed to ride together to the miller's at Hofbau on the day
appointed for the wedding, and both of them waited with impatience for
it. But, with the bad luck that pursues mortals (even though they be
princes) in this poor world, it happened that early in the morning of
the Thursday a great officer came riding post-haste from Strelsau to
take the King's commands on high matters of state; and, although Rudolf
was sorely put out of temper by this untoward interruption, yet he had
no alternative but to transact the business before he rode to the
miller's at Hofbau. So he sat fretting and fuming, while long papers
were read to him, and the Princess walked up and down the length of the
drawbridge, fretting also; for before the King could escape from his
affairs, the hour of the wedding was already come, and doubtless the
Miller of Hofbau was waiting with the priest in the church. Indeed it
was one o'clock or more before