Violet Jacob > Stories told by the miller

THE TREE OF PRIDE
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fiercely and so long that life seemed almost to
have come to an end. He mounted his horse,
and, bidding the old man farewell, determined
to return to his kingdom and his soldiers, putting
the thought of the Princess from him for ever.
Before he went he gave him a thousand gold
pieces, and made him promise to return to the
Tree of Pride and cut it down. As the city walls
faded behind him, he looked back at them with
a sigh. For the first time he had lost interest in
everything, and he knew that it was no longer
his pleasure to which he was returning; but
he had not forgotten that it was still his
duty.
Now, it chanced that, while the Princess
refused the crown, there stood by the chair a
certain lady-in-waiting. She was no longer
young, but she had been a beauty in her day
and had seen much of men and matters. She
had been at the Court for years and her heart
was heavy at the change she saw in her mistress.
She was a shrewd woman, and it did not escape
her notice that the person who offered the crown
wore a hood like those she had seen on the
heads of magicians; besides this, she marvelled
that two strangers, one of whom did not even