And he hastened down to the water . But when he got there , the princess , for she indeed it was , had disappeared completely , and he began to wonder if his eyes had deceived him . The next morning he went to the false bride 's room , but her ladies told him she would neither speak nor get up , though she ate everything they set before her . The prince was sorely perplexed as to what could be the matter with her , for naturally he could not guess that she was expecting her mother to return every moment , and to remove the spell the doves had laid upon her , and meanwhile was afraid to speak lest she should betray herself . At length he made up his mind to summon all the court physicians ; he did not tell her what he was going to do , lest it should make her worse , but he went himself and begged the four learned leeches attached to the king 's person to follow him to the princess 's apartments . Unfortunately , as they entered , the princess was so enraged at the sight of them that she forgot all about the doves , and shrieked out : ` Dirty creatures ! dirty creatures ! ' which so offended the physicians that they left the room at once , and nothing that the prince could say would prevail on them to remain . He then tried to persuade his wife to send them a message that she was sorry for her rudeness , but not a word would she say . Late that evening , when he had performed all the tiresome duties which fall to the lot of every prince , the young man was leaning out of his window , refreshing himself with the cool breezes that blew off the sea . His thoughts went back to the scene of the morning , and he wondered if , after all , he had not made a great mistake in marrying a low-born wife , however beautiful she might be . How could he have imagined that the quiet , gentle girl who had been so charming a companion to him during the first days of their marriage , could have become in a day the rude , sulky woman , who could not control her temper even to benefit herself . One thing was clear , if she did not change her conduct very shortly he would have to send her away from court . He was thinking these thoughts , when his eyes fell on the sea beneath him , and there , as before , was the figure that so closely resembled his wife , standing with her feet in the water , holding out her arms to him . ` Wait for me ! Wait for me ! Wait for me ! ' he cried ; not even knowing he was speaking . But when he reached the shore there was nothing to be seen but the shadows cast by the moonlight . A state ceremonial in a city some distance off caused the prince to ride away at daybreak , and he left without seeing his wife again .
` Perhaps she may have come to her senses by to-morrow , ' said he to himself ; ` and , anyhow , if I am going to send her back to her father , it might be better if we did not meet XXXXX the meantime !
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