they discovered that a marriage which would bring everlasting happiness to themselves would also bring pleasure to the people of their countries! This and other stories were told of the king and his bride; and when the princess sent a picture of herself, done by her own court painter, as a gift to King Perivale, all who saw the picture said that indeed she was the loveliest lady in the world, and that His Majesty was blessed above all men in taking her to wife. But Perivale was not reconciled to his happiness. For, in truth, he had not yet seen the Princess Lilia; and though it was the custom of his family to marry in this way, yet he would have preferred to choose for himself the lady who he would wed.
It had been his father’s wish, and the wish of his people, that Wistaria and the country of Princess Lilia should be united by his marriage, and Perivale was ready enough to do what it seemed to be his duty; but, as he wandered through the palace on the day before the royal wedding, he was a little melancholy, feeling that the happy life which he had known until now was over. And, wandering thus, his thoughts in the past, carelessly opening a chest here or a cupboard there, he came suddenly upon a silver key.
NOT for a moment did he doubt. It was the key to the little green door. And as he held it between his fingers all his childish memories of the green door came back to him—the fears, the wonders and the fancies; and suddenly he knew that if ever he was to go through that door it must be now, before his fate was linked with that of the Princess Lilia. As yet she had not seen him. If she never was to see him now, how could she grieve for him?
He hurried through the palace and into the garden. None saw him go save a waiting maid, who watched him idly. The trees had hung new branches over the little door, and he had to force his way through, but in the end he came to it; and with a thrill of anticipation, half fearful, half eager, he turned the lock, and so passed through the green door into the unknown world beyond.
And there was nothing there—no dragons, no robbers, no bottomless pits! Alas, not even an enchanted forest! The door shut with a click behind him, and he was on the outside of the palace wall, with the royal deer park in front of him. He moved a dozen paces away, looked about him and saw that he was still in the world he knew. A little amused, a little angry, he came back again. Better to have gone on imagining than to have found the reality so commonplace.
Yet, perhaps, not entirely commonplace. For now that he looked for the door he could not find it. That was curious. Yet the explanation might be simple enough. The door, no doubt, had been made of stone on this side, the same color as the wall, so that it should not be seen by the passer-by. For a little while Perivale amused himself by searching for it, and then, remembering that in any case he had left the key on the other side of the door, he laughed and set out leisurely on his walk round the palace walls, until he should reach the main gate of the castle.
The waiting maid, watching idly, had seen His Majesty push through the trees which fringed the wall; watching eagerly, had seen him come to a little green door and put a key to its lock; watching fearfully, had seen him open the door and pass beyond her sight. Breathlessly she ran to tell the others.
AS PERIVALE came to the main gate, he remembered that it was on this afternoon that the princess was to set foot in the palace for the first time, and for the first time to see him. Looking down at his clothes, torn and dirtied by the trees through which he had pushed his way, he smiled to think how she would regard him if she met him thus, and he made the more haste to reach the privacy of his room.
But he was never to reach it. A soldier at the gate barred the way. “Well,” he asked gruffly, “what do you want?”
“Nothing, my man, but to get to my own chamber,” said Perivale mildly.
“Then right about turn and get to it,” said the soldier, lowering his pike.
“I perceive that you are new to your duties,” said Perivale pleasantly. “I am the king.”
Other soldiers lounged up from the courtyard. “What’s this?” said one, who seemed to be in some authority.
“The silly fellow says he’s the king. What shall we do with him?”
“Fool, I am the king!” thundered Perivale.
At this declaration there was a roar of laughter.
One of the soldiers came and looked at him more closely “Aye, you’re not unlike,” he said, “save that a king is a king, and a common man is a common man. Take my advice, friend, and get along home before trouble comes to you.”
AT THIS moment one of the women came running into the courtyard.
“The king!” she cried. “The king! He went through the green door! The green door! He will never come back!”
Many of the soldiers ran to her, eager to hear more, but he who was in authority came and looked again at Perivale.
“Aye, he will never come back,” he murmured to himself, “but one who is like the king comes in his place, saying that he is the king. My friend,” and he put a hand on Perivale’s
“PERHAPS AS LOVERS,” SAID PERIVALE GENTLY. “FOR THAT IS AGAIN TO BE KING AND QUEEN”
(Continued on Page 116)
