And the King ordered the Page to come and lead the Queen 's horse . Percinet and the Princess looked at one another , but said never a word , and then he did as the King commanded , and the procession started in great pomp . The Duchess was greatly elated , and as she sat there in state would not have wished to change places even with Graciosa . But at the moment when it was least expected the beautiful horse began to plunge and rear and kick , and finally to run away at such a pace that it was impossible to stop him . At first the Duchess clung to the saddle , but she was very soon thrown off and fell in a heap among the stones and thorns , and there they found her , shaken to a jelly , and collected what was left of her as if she had been a broken glass . Her bonnet was here and her shoes there , her face was scratched , and her fine clothes were covered with mud . Never was a bride seen in such a dismal plight . They carried her back to the palace and put her to bed , but as soon as she recovered enough to be able to speak , she began to scold and rage , and declared that the whole affair was Graciosa 's fault , that she had contrived it on purpose to try and get rid of her , and that if the King would not have her punished , she would go back to her castle and enjoy her riches by herself . At this the King was terribly frightened , for he did not at all want to lose all those barrels of gold and jewels . So he hastened to appease the Duchess , and told her she might punish Graciosa in any way she pleased . Thereupon she sent for Graciosa , who turned pale and trembled at the summons , for she guessed that it promised nothing agreeable for her . She looked all about for Percinet , but he was nowhere to be seen ; so she had no choice but to go to the Duchess Grumbly 's room . She had hardly got inside the door when she was seized by four waiting women , who looked so tall and strong and cruel that the Princess shuddered at the sight of them , and still more when she saw them arming themselves with great bundles of rods , and heard the Duchess call out to them from her bed to beat the Princess without mercy . Poor Graciosa wished miserably that Percinet could only know what was happening and come to rescue her . But no sooner did they begin to beat her than she found , to her great relief , that the rods had changed to bundles of peacock 's feathers , and though the Duchess 's women went on till they were so tired that they could no longer raise their arms from their sides , yet she was not hurt in the least . However , the Duchess thought she must be black and blue after such a beating ; so Graciosa , when she was released , pretended to feel very bad , and went away into her own room , where she told her nurse all that had happened , and then the nurse left her , and when the Princess turned round there stood Percinet beside her . She thanked him gratefully for helping her so cleverly , and they laughed and were very merry over the way they had taken in the Duchess and her waiting-maids ; but Percinet advised her still to pretend to be ill for a few days , and after promising to come to her aid whenever she needed him , he disappeared as suddenly as he had come . The Duchess was so delighted at the idea that Graciosa was really ill , that she herself recovered twice as fast as she would have done otherwise , and the wedding was held with great magnificence . Now as the King knew that , above all other things , the Queen loved to be told that she was beautiful , he ordered that her portrait should be painted , and that a tournament should be held , at which all the bravest knights of his court should maintain against all comers that Grumbly was the most beautiful princess in the world . Numbers of knights came from far and wide to accept the challenge , and the hideous Queen sat in great state in a balcony hung with cloth of gold to watch the contests , and Graciosa had to stand up behind her , where her loveliness was so conspicuous that the combatants could not keep their eyes off her .
But the Queen was so vain that she thought all their admiring glances were for herself , especially XXXXX , in spite of the badness of their cause , the King 's knights were so brave that they were the victors in every combat .
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