fety of
the Queen, begged her to retire to a fortified castle, which he himself
had never visited but once. The Queen endeavoured, with many prayers and
tears, to persuade him to allow her to remain beside him and to share
his fate, and it was with loud cries of grief that she was put into her
chariot by the King to be driven away. He ordered his guards, however,
to accompany her, and promised to steal away when possible to visit her.
He tried to comfort her with this hope, although he knew that there was
little chance of fulfilling it, for the castle stood a long distance
off, surrounded by a thick forest, and only those who were well
acquainted with the roads could possibly find their way to it.

The Queen parted from her husband, broken-hearted at leaving him exposed
to the dangers of war; she travelled by easy stages, in case the fatigue
of so long a journey should make her ill; at last she reached the
castle, feeling low-spirited and distressed. When sufficiently rested,
she walked about the surrounding country, but found nothing to interest
her or divert her thoughts. She saw only far-spreading desert tracts on
either side, which gave her more pain than pleasure to look upon; sadly
she gazed around her, exclaiming at intervals, "What a contrast between
this place and that in which I have lived all my life! If I stay here
long I shall die! To whom have I to talk in these solitudes? With whom
can I share my troubles? What have I done to the King that he should
banish me? He wishes me, it seems, to feel the full bitterness of our
separation, by exiling me to this miserable castle."

Thus she lamented; and although the King wrote daily to her, and sent
her good news of the progress of the siege, she grew more and more
unhappy, and at last determined that she would return to him. Knowing,
however, that the officers who were in attendance upon her had received
orders not to take her back, unless the King sent a special messenger,
she kept her design secret, but ordered a small chariot to be built for
her, in which there was only room for one, saying that she should like
sometimes to accompany the hunt. She drove herself, and followed so
closely on the hounds, that the huntsmen were left behind; by this means
she had sole command of her chariot, and could get away whenever she
liked. Her only difficulty was her ignorance of the roads that traversed
the forest; but she trusted to the kindness of Providence to bring her
s