"All the girls had odd names... Dutch names. They were odd for Americans, but maybe quite normal for Dutch girls."

Nina nodded. "Did they all have blond hair and wooden shoes?"

"I always stop there?" I asked.

"Yes," she said. "I don't know how the rest of the story goes."

"I'm sorry," I said, turning back to the story. "I'll finish it. There wasn't much left anyway."

"No," she said. "Why don't you read your favorite story?"

"Which one is that?"

"See if you can guess," she said, and smiled.

I closed the book and was about to turn to the table of contents, when I looked again at the cover: Princess Marcelline. I remembered that Cassie had called me that name earlier, and I smiled. Nina smiled as well, and I knew that I'd hit the right one. It was the first story in the book.

"Ready?" I asked Nina.

"Ready," she agreed, but then stopped me. "I have a question. You know that girl on the plane?"

"What plane?"

"When you were going to Hawaii?" I nodded. "Why did you call her Piggy?"

"I didn't call her Piggy. Her friends called her Wiggy."

"Why? Did she wear a wig?"

"No." I smiled. I had liked Wiggy, and I wish I'd gotten to know her better. Now it would never happen. I wouldn't even get to meet her. "It was short for Hedwig."

"Head-wig?" Nina repeated in disbelief. "Like a wig for your head?"

"No," I said. "It's kind of an old-fashioned name. Actually, all the girls had odd names... Dutch names. They were odd for Americans, but maybe quite normal for Dutch girls."

Nina nodded. "Did they all have blond hair and wooden shoes?"

"Yes to the blond hair, but no to the wooden shoes. They were cheerleaders."

"Hmmph."

"They all had terrible nicknames, like Donkey and Ding-Dong... I forget the others."

Nina smiled but didn't laugh. "Okay, I'm ready for the story now."

There was once a king and queen who had only one child, a daughter. She was a beautiful, brave, and lively girl, and her name was Marcelline. Each day when she woke, she was given a lovely new dress, sometimes silk, sometimes gold brocade, sometimes velvet or satin, but all her fine clothes never made her vain or haughty. She spent her mornings with her tutors, and her afternoons were spent helping and working near her mother the Queen, who loved her dearly. At lunch time there were always bowls overflowing with sweets and more than twenty kinds of jam.

Certainly, she was the happiest princess in all the world.

At the same time, at that same court, there was a very rich old maid, the Duchess Grognon, who lived a life of torment. But not because she was ill or helpless or ugly. She was none of those things. Her health was good, her will was strong. Her home was a large, imposing castle. She possessed all manner of riches in abundance: gold, silver, jewels, art, furniture, and clothes. She wanted for nothing, but she was never happy, because her heart was full of jealousy. And since her heart was full to the brim with jealousy, envy, and greed, there was no room for love or joy or simple happiness.

In addition, the Duchess Grognon was sensitive to a fault: she was quick to feel offended, slow to forgive, and boundless in her hate.

In times past, the Duchess was greatly admired and praised for her beauty, but in recent years the meanness in her heart began to show upon her face. Many noblemen had come to woo her, but quit as soon as they glimpsed her hard, ungracious character.

As the Duchess grew to be more and more of a monster in her heart, she came to hate the Princess Marcelline with a deep and deadly hatred. She left the court because she was tired of hearing Marcelline's praises sung, and kept to her own castle, just a little way off. When anyone paid her a visit, if they made the mistake of mentioning the Princess' charms, the Duchess would fly into a rage shouting, "It's a lie! It's all one great lie! The girl is neither pretty nor clever nor good! Why, I have more charm in the smallest toe of my left foot than she has in her whole foolish body!"

And then it happened that the Queen fell ill and died.

"Do you know what I think?" Nina interjected. "I think the Duchess Grow-non poisoned the Queen."

"Maybe," I said. "But the book doesn't say."

Princess Marcelline felt as if she, too, might die of grief at having lost so good a mother. The King himself fell into deep distress for the loss of such a wife. For nearly a year he kept to the palace until he was so thin, distracted, and pale that his doctors began to fear for his health. They ordered him to go outside, to get some air, and find a way to amuse himself. So one day he mounted his horse and went riding.

He had not ridden far, but the day was intensely hot, so when he spied a great castle nearby, he entered its courtyard to rest in its shade.

The castle belonged to none other than the Duchess Grognon, and as soon as she heard of the King's arrival, she came down herself to receive him.

She told the King that the coolest place in the castle was in her great arched cellar. It was very clean, and she begged him to accompany her.

"Oooh! She's going to lock the King in the cellar!"

"Why would she do that?"

"Because she's evil!"

"People don't just lock people up for no reason," I said.

"Maybe she doesn't like boys," Nina offered.

"The story doesn't say that," I said again. "Let's go on."

The King went along, and everything was just as she had said. While they took some refreshment in the cool cellar, the King couldn't help but notice the many barrels, stacked one above another. He quickly calculated that there must be 200 in all.

"Is all that wine for you, my lady?" he jested, but she replied, "Yes, my lord, for myself alone. But I would be delighted to share it with you. Which wine do you prefer? Saint Laurent, Hermitage, Pouilly Fuisse, Champagne..."

"Since you offer me the choice," the King answered, "I must say that there is nothing I enjoy so much as a glass of Champagne."

"Now she's going to poison him!" Nina said, all big-eyed.

"Wait and see," I said.

Grognon took a little hammer and tip-tapped on the barrel. Out fell a bushel of golden coins!

"How strange!" she said, with a little smile. "I'd better try another!"

She went to a second barrel, and tip-tap! out flowed a stream of pearls.

"Extraordinary!" she murmured with a larger smile, "I can't understand this at all!"

On she passed to a third barrel, and this time her tip-tap brought forth so many diamonds, in all sizes and colors, that they covered her feet.

"Your majesty!" she cried, "I'm completely mystified. Someone must have made off with all my wine and left these knicknacks in its place!"

"Knicknacks?" the King echoed in astonishment.

"Trifles, then?"

"Trifles?" he repeated, "Madam, you call these trifles? With these, could you buy all of Paris, ten times over!" He raised his eyes and looked around him. "And these other barrels..." he scarcely dared finish the thought.

"My lord," she confessed, "all of these barrels are packed to the brim with gold and jewels. If you like them, you may have them all, if only you will marry me."

"Ha!" cried Nina. "Marry her? No way!"

As much as I liked Nina, I was getting a little irritated at her constant interruptions. This time I didn't reply. I just went on reading.

"Marry you, madam!" cried the King, "I will do so with the greatest pleasure! Tomorrow, if you like!" For the King loved nothing more than money.

"There is one other thing," Grognan told him. "If I marry you, you must promise me that I'll have full authority over your daughter, as if she were my own child. She must look to me for everything. You must leave all control of her to me."

"She will be entirely under your authority," the King promised, as he looked around at the barrels loaded with jewels. "So I promise, and so I vow. Here is my hand, and with it, my heart."

She put her hand in his, and when they left the room of treasures, Grognon locked it and handed him the key.

When he returned to his palace, Marcelline ran to meet him, and asked if he had good luck in the hunt.

"I daresay!" he replied. "I caught a dove, alive, in my bare hands!"

"Did you?" she replied, astonished. "Give it to me, then, and I shall feed it."

"I can't do that," he laughed. "What I really meant, is that I'm getting married, to none other than the Duchess Grognon!"

"Grognon!?" the Princess cried, and without thinking said, "You call her a dove? I'd call her an old bat!"

Nina laughed loudly.

"Hold your tongue!" the King told her in an angry tone. "She will be my wife and my queen, and I want you to love and respect her, as if she were your own mother. Go now and get dressed, for I wish to visit her with all the court in train, this very day."

The Princess obediently returned to her room, but she wept the entire way.

When her nurse saw the girl's distress, she asked what ever could be wrong.

"Oh, nurse, I've tried, but I cannot stop crying. The King my father, has decided to marry. Now I will have a step-mother, and that alone is hard enough to bear. What makes it worse is this: the creature he has chosen is my worst enemy, the hideous Grognon. How can I see a monster like her occupy the place where my mother has been? How can I show any affection for a woman who, I'm sure, would rejoice to see me dead?"

"Princess," the nurse replied, "you must understand that your high birth requires you to set a high example. As your father must often sacrifice his own will for the good of his people, so you must sacrifice yourself to please your father. You must maintain your dignity, and not let Grognon see how much this marriage dismays you."

The Princess didn't like this idea at all, but in the end the nurse convinced her, and she resolved to put a good face on the matter. Then she dressed in a golden gown and green robe. She left her hair free to fall softly on her shoulders, and on her head she wore a crown of roses and jasmines. When she was ready, she looked so fair you would never guess how great a sadness lay in her heart.

Nina sighed heavily.

"Nina," I said. "I've read this story to you before, haven't I?"

"Yes," she replied, "but I don't exactly remember what happens. It's kind of complicated and long."

Long? I echoed mentally. Then I glanced ahead and saw that it *was* a long story.

"We probably won't read it all today," Nina informed me.

"Okay," I said. "Let's see how far we can get."

Grognon, too, was preparing herself: she dyed her hair to make it blacker, and powdered her face to make it whiter. She put on a lovely dress of amaranth satin lined with blue and trimmed with violet ribbons. She decided to ride out to receive the King on horseback, for she'd heard the queens of Spain always did so.

Marcelline, once she was ready, found that the King was still busy preparing. She had nothing else to do but wait, so she went by herself into the garden. She found a lonely spot where she could sit down unobserved, and there she began to weep. She sighed and sobbed until she could cry no more.

When at last she began to calm herself, she looked up and saw a page coming toward her. He was dressed in green, and wore white feathers in his cap. Best of all, he had the most handsome face in the entire world. Kneeling before her, he said, "Princess, the King awaits you."

Her heart trembled at his voice, and she asked, "How long have you been one of the King's pages?"

"I am no page of his," the young man answered. "I am yours, and desire no other service."

"Mine?" she answered, astonished. "But I have never seen you before this moment."

"Oh, Princess!" he cried—

"He wants to get all kissy-face with her," Nina put in.

"Yes, I'm sure he does," I replied. "But he's only a page, so he can't."

"Could she have his head cut off?"

"Yes, I suppose...," I answered, and I began to think what *I* might do, if I were the Princess Marcelline, and had a handsome page in my service...

"Earth to Marcie!" Nina called. "Hello-oh! What about the story?"

"Oh, Princess!" he declared, "I had not dared until now to make myself known to you, but this coming marriage threatens to bring great evil upon you, and so I had to act! I had hoped that my constancy and devotion in service would reveal my love to you, but—"

"What!" cried the Princess. "A page declares his love to me! Such audacity! I am not yet reduced to such an extremity!"

"Fear not, fair Marcelline," the young man replied in a tone of great respect and tenderness. "I am Percinet, a prince well known for his wealth and accomplishments. I have loved you for a long time, and would have approached you earlier, but could not while you mourned your mother, the Queen.

"I thought to enter your service as a page, and win your affections and your heart. It was a bold and, yes, audacious plan, but now, I believe I can be of real help to you. The coming of Grognon puts you in real danger, and I will do all that I can to protect you from her schemes. I shall stand by your side today in this livery, and hope I may be of use to you. Now that you know who I am, please do not send me away."

As he spoke, Marcelline was both charmed and embarrassed. She had seen and admired Percinet's portrait, but now she knew it had not done him justice.

She replied, "So... you are Percinet. I have longed to meet you, for I've heard marvellous things told about you. Please do stay, and be the guardian of my safety."

"Hmm," I said, suspiciously.

"What's wrong?" Nina asked.

"This guy wants to hang around her, and she lets him, just like that!"

"He's a prince!"

"Still, she doesn't know him. And, he might wonder... does she really like him, or is he just handy, in case Grognon tries to hurt her?"

Nina said, "I don't think he'll mind being handy."

"No, I suppose not."

They returned to the palace, where Percinet had already prepared a fine horse for the Princess to mount. The horse was a little spirited, so her page — the brave Percinet — took it by the bridle and led it.

When the King and his court met Grognon on the road, the Duchess quickly observed that while her own horse was very fine, Princess Marcelline's horse was even finer. The King, who had many things to think about, didn't notice, but the eyes of everyone were on Marcelline and her handsome page.

Grognon greeted the King, saying, "Why should that girl have a horse so much better than mine? Am I truly to be Queen? I'm sure that I'd be better off turning back to my own castle, rather than allow you to treat me with such disdain."

The King immediately told Marcelline to dismount, and begged Grognon to take the better horse. The King's gentlemen came forward, and lifted her from one horse to other, but still she was not pleased, and muttered under her breath. The King asked what was the matter.

"As I shall be mistress of you all," she replied, "I will have the page in green come forward and hold the bridle of my horse, as he did when the girl was riding it."

Percinet looked at the Princess, and she looked at him, but neither said a word. Percinet obeyed, and walked before Grognon's horse, holding the bridle. The Duchess was enormously pleased to be the center of attention, and she told herself, "Certainly that silly Princess is choking with envy of me now."

Then, just when all seemed peaceful, and decorum had been restored, the beautiful horse began to rear and to buck. Percinet did all he could to keep the horse in check, but the horse managed to strike him in the chest, and the poor Prince fell to the ground.

Once the bridle fell free from the Prince's hand, the horse ran off, with the frightened Grognon still on his back. She clung to the saddle and the mane as well as she could, and cried for help at the top of her lungs. At last she fell, but her foot caught in the stirrup, and before it came free, the horse dragged her through mud and bushes and even over stones. When at long last they found her, she was bruised in every part, and had scratches all over her. She had a great lump on her head, and her arm was broken in two places. Her hat was deep inside a hedge, and her shoes were on the other side of a great ditch. She looked like a bundle of sticks and dirty rags, and nothing like a bride.

They carried her as gently as they could to the castle, and the best doctors were sent for.

And yet and still, though she barely had the strength to speak, she never stopped complaining. "This is one of Marcelline's tricks!" she said. "She brought that vicious horse on purpose, first to show me up, then to make me jealous, and finally to have it kill me. A great wrong has been done to me. To me, a harmless and generous woman! If the King does not set this right, I shall return to my castle! He shall never see me again!"

"The King should just let her go," Nina said.

"I don't think he will," I told her. "He wants her money."

She shook her head. "But that lady is so bad! He should put her in the dungeon. Then he could still have all her money, but he wouldn't have to marry her."

I wanted to point out how wrong that would be, but at the moment I couldn't think why.

When the King heard what Grognon said, his heart went out to the barrels packed with jewels and gold. As he thought about what had happened that day, he convinced himself that Grognon was correct, and that his daughter had done a great wrong. He ran to Grognon's bedside and begged her to stay. He swore that the moment she named a fitting punishment for the offense Marcelline had committed, he would have it carried out immediately.

Grognon replied, "That is not enough. I will deal with the girl myself. But do not worry. I'll treat the girl with both justice and mercy."

The King thanked her and made many promises. The moment he left, Grognon sent for Marcelline. The Princess grew pale and trembled with a mortal fear. She looked everywhere for Percinet, but as he was injured, he could not come, and so she sadly made her way to Grognon's chamber, alone.

"If I was that Princess, I'd jump out a window and run away!" Nina told me. "What would you do, Marcie?"

I looked at Nina, considering, as I rubbed the page between forefinger and thumb, getting ready to turn.

© 2008 by Kaleigh Way

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