bring her to the palace.'

It took some time to discover the whereabouts of the old woman, but at
length it was accomplished, and when she arrived at the palace with the
equerry, she was received with royal honours, as became the bride of
the prince. The guards looked at each other with astonished eyes, as the
wizened creature, bowed with age, passed between their lines; but they
were more amazed still at the lightness of her step as she skipped up
the steps to the great door before which the king was standing, with the
prince at his side. If they both felt a shock at the appearance of the
aged lady they did not show it, and the king, with a grave bow, took her
band, and led her to the chapel, where a bishop was waiting to perform
the marriage ceremony.

For the next few weeks little was seen of the prince, who spent all his
days in hunting, and trying to forget the old wife at home. As for the
princess, no one troubled himself about her, and she passed the days
alone in her apartments, for she had absolutely declined the services of
the ladies-in-waiting whom the king had appointed for her.

One night the prince returned after a longer chase than usual, and he
was so tired that he went up straight to bed. Suddenly he was awakened
by a strange noise in the room, and suspecting that a robber might have
stolen in, he jumped out of bed, and seized his sword, which lay ready
to his hand. Then he perceived that the noise proceeded from the next
room, which belonged to the princess, and was lighted by a burning
torch. Creeping softly to the door, he peeped through it, and beheld
her lying quietly, with a crown of gold and pearls upon her head, her
wrinkles all gone, and her face, which was whiter than the snow, as
fresh as that of a girl of fourteen. Could that really be his wife--that
beautiful, beautiful creature?

The prince was still gazing in surprise when the lady opened her eyes
and smiled at him.

'Yes, I really am your wife,' she said, as if she had guessed his
thoughts, 'and the enchantment is ended. Now I must tell you who I am,
and what befell to cause me to take the shape of an old woman.

'The king of Granada is my father, and I was born in the palace which
overlooks the plain of the Vega. I was only a few months old when a
wicked fairy, who had a spite against my parents, cast a spell over
me, bending my back and wrinkling my skin till I looked as if I was a
hundred years old, and making me such an object