then she would run down the cold stone steps and dress herself in her short skirt and her cap and apron, and begin the day's work. she swept the rooms and made the breakfast, she washed the dishes and she scoured the pans, and all this she did because she was a real princess. for of all who should have served her, only one remained faithful her old nurse, who had lived with her in the tower all the princess's life. and, now the nurse was old and feeble, the princess would not let her work any more, but did all the housework herself, while nurse sat still and did the sewing, because this was a real princess with skin like milk and hair like flax and a heart like gold.