, the
lord almoner married them in the chapel of the castle, and the chief
lady of honor drew the curtains. They had but very little sleep--the
Princess had no occasion; and the Prince left her next morning to return
to the city, where his father must needs have been in pain for him. The
Prince told him:

That he lost his way in the forest as he was hunting, and that he had
lain in the cottage of a charcoal-burner, who gave him cheese and brown
bread.

The King, his father, who was a good man, believed him; but his mother
could not be persuaded it was true; and seeing that he went almost every
day a-hunting, and that he always had some excuse ready for so doing,
though he had lain out three or four nights together, she began to
suspect that he was married, for he lived with the Princess above two
whole years, and had by her two children, the eldest of which, who was
a daughter, was named Morning, and the youngest, who was a son, they
called Day, because he was a great deal handsomer and more beautiful
than his sister.

The Queen spoke several times to her son, to inform herself after
what manner he did pass his time, and that in this he ought in duty to
satisfy her. But he never dared to trust her with his secret; he feared
her, though he loved her, for she was of the race of the Ogres, and the
King would never have married her had it not been for her vast riches;
it was even whispered about the Court that she had Ogreish inclinations,
and that, whenever she saw little children passing by, she had all the
difficulty in the world to avoid falling upon them. And so the Prince
would never tell her one word.

But when the King was dead, which happened about two years afterward,
and he saw himself lord and master, he openly declared his marriage; and
he went in great ceremony to conduct his Queen to the palace. They made
a magnificent entry into the capital city, she riding between her two
children.

Soon after the King went to make war with the Emperor Contalabutte, his
neighbor. He left the government of the kingdom to the Queen his mother,
and earnestly recommended to her care his wife and children. He was
obliged to continue his expedition all the summer, and as soon as he
departed the Queen-mother sent her daughter-in-law to a country house
among the woods, that she might with the more ease gratify her horrible
longing.

Some few days afterward she went thither herself, and said to her clerk
of the kitchen: