But they will have brought him tidings of the broken carriage , and he will have thought me dead , or devoured by wild beasts . And though he will mourn for me long -- I know that well -- yet in time they will persuade him to take a wife , and she will be young and fair , and he will forget me . ' And in all this the queen guessed truly , save that nine long years were to pass before he would consent to put another in her place . The frog answered nothing at the time , but stopped her game and hopped away among the cypress trees . Here she sat and thought and thought , and the next morning she went back to the queen and said : ' I have come , madam , to make you an offer . Shall I go to the king instead of you , and tell him of your sufferings , and that he has the most charming baby in the world for his daughter ? The way is long , and I travel slowly ; but , sooner or later , I shall be sure to arrive . Only , are you not afraid to be left without my protection ? Ponder the matter carefully ; it is for you to decide . ' ` Oh , it needs no pondering , ' cried the queen joyfully , holding up her clasped hands , and making Muffette do likewise , in token of gratitude . But in order that he may know that you have come from me I will send him a letter . ' And pricking her arm , she wrote a few words with her blood on the corner of her handkerchief . Then tearing it off , she gave it to the frog , and they bade each other farewell . It took the frog a year and four days to mount the ten thousand steps that led to the upper world , but that was because she was still under the spell of a wicked fairy . By the time she reached the top , she was so tired that she had to remain for another year on the banks of a stream to rest , and also to arrange the procession with which she was to present herself before the king . For she knew far too well what was due to herself and her relations , to appear at Court as if she was a mere nobody . At length , after many consultations with her cap , the affair was settled , and at the end of the second year after her parting with the queen they all set out . First walked her bodyguard of grasshoppers , followed by her maids of honour , who were those tiny green frogs you see in the fields , each one mounted on a snail , and seated on a velvet saddle . Next came the water-rats , dressed as pages , and lastly the frog herself , in a litter borne by eight toads , and made of tortoiseshell . Here she could lie at her ease , with her cap on her head , for it was quite large and roomy , and could easily have held two eggs when the frog was not in it .
The journey lasted seven years , and all this time the queen suffered tortures of hope , though XXXXX did her best to comfort her .
Court First Muffette days left toads tortoiseshell water-rats year years