presence. When next you rode up to the cottage, it was empty, and none
could inform you whither your bride had gone. That, sire, I can now
tell you,' and the young man paused and looked at the king, who
coloured deeply. 'She went back to her father the old duke, once your
chamberlain, and the cross on her breast revealed at once who you were.
Fierce was his anger when he heard his daughter's tale, and he vowed
that he would hide her safely from you, till the day when you would
claim her publicly as your queen.

'By and bye I was born, and was brought up by my grandfather in one of
his great houses. Here are the rings you gave to my mother, and here is
the cross, and these will prove if I am your son or not.'

As he spoke the young man laid the jewels at the feet of the king, and
the nobles and the judges pressed round to examine them. The king alone
did not move from his seat, for he had forgotten the hall of justice and
all about him, and saw only the apple-orchard, as it was twenty years
ago, and the beautiful girl playing at ball. A sudden silence round him
made him look up, and he found the eyes of the assembly fixed on him.

'It is true; it is he who is my son, and not the other,' he said with
an effort, 'and let every man present swear to acknowledge him as king,
after my death.'

Therefore one by one they all knelt before him and took the oath, and
a message was sent to the false prince, forbidding him ever again to
appear at court, though a handsome pension was granted him.

At last the ceremony was over, and the king, signing to his newly found
son to follow him, rose and went into another room.

'Tell me how you knew all that,' he said, throwing himself into a carved
chair filled with crimson cushions, and the prince told of his meeting
with the old woman who had brought him the jewels from his mother, and
how he had sworn before a priest to marry her, though he did not want to
do it, on account of the difference in their ages, and besides, he would
rather receive a bride chosen by the king himself. But the king frowned,
and answered sharply:

'You swore to marry her if she saved your life, and, come what may,
you must fulfil your promise.' Then, striking a silver shield that hung
close by, he said to the equerry who appeared immediately:

'Go and seek the priest who lives near the door of the prison, and ask
him where you can find the old woman who visited him last night; and
when you have found her,