ility and gentry of Crim Tartary, so admirably had Her Majesty
profited by her studies while in exile.

The old Marquis of Spinachi said he could answer for them all; that the
whole country groaned under Padella's tyranny, and longed to return to
its rightful sovereign; and late as it was, he sent his children, who
knew the forest well, to summon this nobleman and that; and when his
eldest son, who had been rubbing the horse down and giving him his
supper, came into the house for his own, the Marquis told him to put his
boots on, and a saddle on the mare, and ride hither and thither to such
and such people.

When the young man heard who his companion in the cart had been, he too
knelt down and put her royal foot on his head; he too bedewed the ground
with his tears; he was frantically in love with her, as everybody now
was who saw her: so were the young Lords Bartolomeo and Ubaldo, who
punched each other's little heads out of jealousy; and so, when they
came from east and west at the summons of the Marquis degli Spinachi,
were the Crim Tartar Lords who still remained faithful to the House of
Cavolfiore. They were such very old gentlemen for the most part that Her
Majesty never suspected their absurd passion, and went among them quite
unaware of the havoc her beauty was causing, until an old blind Lord who
had joined her party told her what the truth was; after which, for fear
of making the people too much in love with her, she always wore a veil.
She went about privately, from one nobleman's castle to another; and
they visited among themselves again, and had meetings, and composed
proclamations and counter-proclamations, and distributed all the best
places of the kingdom amongst one another, and selected who of the
opposition party should be executed when the Queen came to her own. And
so in about a year they were ready to move.

The party of Fidelity was in truth composed of very feeble old fogies
for the most part; they went about the country waving their old swords
and flags, and calling 'God save the Queen!' and King Padella happening
to be absent upon an invasion, they had their own way for a little,
and to be sure the people were very enthusiastic whenever they saw the
Queen; otherwise the vulgar took matters very quietly, for they said,
as far as they could recollect, they were pretty well as much taxed in
Cavolfiore's time, as now in Padella's.

XIII. HOW QUEEN ROSALBA CAME TO THE CASTLE OF THE BOLD C