Read The Very Large Princess for Free Online

 
     
     
The Very Large Princess
    King Piers of Sidslund oft lamented
his late Queen. “Whilst your mother lived, I longed to escape her
clattering tongue,” he told his daughters. “Yet now would I give
all my wealth to hear her speak again.”
    “Bestow your gold upon me, Father, and
I vow that your ears shall ring with my scolding,” said Princess
Drusilla. The younger princess, Margery, said nothing, but smiled
sweetly and slipped her slender hand into her father’s.
    “You shall have wealth enough, my
girl,” the King replied to his eldest daughter. “You are richly
dowered, and surely you shall be wed before many weeks have
passed.”
    Drusilla flushed, thinking of her
suitor, Prince Aubrey of Langley.
    Each morn, Drusilla swept into the
Great Hall to meet the Prince and receive his attentions. The
Prince bowed low over her hand and suggested a walk in the garden,
if the weather were fine, or a game of chess, if it were not. Then
they would talk as old friends, and never did the Prince fail to
smile and make jests, and never did Drusilla fail to
laugh.
    But as day followed day, the Prince
did not tell his love. More troublesome yet, the times when he drew
the Princess aside for private conversation became less and less
frequent. Instead he seemed content to sit with her in the presence
of Sober John, his companion, who watched them with a stern eye,
and little Margery, who quietly worked her embroidery, peeping up
at them now and then, with a shy smile.
    “Shall he ever speak?” Drusilla asked
herself one night, as she prepared for sleep. “I can wait no
longer. Tomorrow, in word or gesture I shall let him know the
fullness of my heart.”
    When she entered the Great Hall the
following morn, Drusilla knew she looked her best. She had dressed
with special care in a gown of crimson brocade, and adorned her
brown hair with a jeweled comb.
    Yet her father met her with a frown.
“Read this,” he said, holding out a piece of parchment.
    Excellent and most honored
King Piers, the letter began. I beseech your forgiveness for departing in such
haste. Although I honor and admire Princess Drusilla, I regret that
I am unable to offer for her hand. I am of only middling size, and
Drusilla is such a very large princess.
    Farewell,
    Aubrey
    Drusilla looked at her trembling
hands. They were indeed very large, but she had hoped, nay
believed, that he did not find them so. Had he always perceived her
thus…e’en during the times he had seemed most tender? How soft his
dark eyes had seemed to be when they looked on her.
    “His Highness is a rogue who hath
fooled us all,” said the King, seating himself at the high table
and selecting a pear from a platter of fruits. “Think no more of
it, my dear.”
    But Drusilla could think of little
else, and when a second message was brought, she took it from the
servant blindly, not knowing what she did.
    “What is this?” asked his Majesty
impatiently.
    Drusilla dropped her eyes to the
parchment.
    Dear Father, she read. He hath asked
me to go with him in the coach, and I cannot say him nay. I hope
the journey is not long. I shall miss you and Drusilla very
much.
    Your loving
daughter,
    Margery
    “What!” shouted the King, pushing
himself up from the table so violently that his heavy chair nearly
overturned.
    “Sire, what would you?” asked the
bewildered servant.
    “Summon my Chamberlain!” shouted the
King, and the man hastened to do his bidding.
    Presently the Hall rang with loud
voices. The Chamberlain, and all the King’s ministers proclaimed
that Aubrey must be brought to earth, like the villainous fox he
was.
    “But where is he to be found?!” his
Majesty exclaimed.
    “Surely, Sire, in church,” said the
Chamberlain, and several heads nodded.
    “Nay,” croaked an elderly
minister, running a thin hand over his grey beard. “They shall
travel to his father’s kingdom, and there be wed in proper style.
And indeed, it may not be a bad match, though