No doubt they would have been still more impressed had they known that in prosperous times people had fresh rose petals to sleep on every night instead of feather beds or Ostermoor mattresses; that the pigs were fed on roses until their skins grew to be so fine and transparent that they were as clear as wax and the pigs themselves were red, white or yellow or pink, according to the color of the roses they ate; that housewives made rose petals into pies, cakes and candy, and even bread, and stewed them with sugar and lemons for jam. Of course this was only done with the surplus, as the real business of the kingdom was making perfume from them. On went our friends, the Duchess leading the way, until at last they came in sight of the palace. As they entered the grounds they were surprised to see that all the blinds were down and nobody seemed to be guarding the gates, or the door of the palace. In fact, the gates hung ajar, and one of them was off its hinges. The grass on the lawn was tall and rank. The gardens, or as little of them as they could see, were full of tall weeds, and everything was going to decay. The poor Duchess stood and wept at the sight, but Daimur cried, "Cheer up, cheer up, my dear Duchess, everything may be quite all right yet," and ordering the marines to keep everyone out he and Redmond led the weeping Duchess up to the great entrance and loudly rang the door bell. They could hear it echoing far inside, but no one came. They looked through the windows, but inside all was empty and dusty. The Duchess was by this time in a perfect sea of tears and Daimur had given up trying to comfort her. "Well, we'll try the back," he said, and taking the Duchess again by the arm he led the way around the wide drive towards the rear of the palace. As it was an immense building and very rambling it took them some time to reach a high gate in a wall, which, the Duchess moaned out, led to the kitchen. Inside was a courtyard all paved with red bricks, very neat-looking, no doubt, when kept in proper order, but now the weeds were growing up through the crevices in the bricks and the placed looked very neglected. They walked across the courtyard to the kitchen door, and after knocking several times and getting no response Daimur tried it, and to his surprise found that it was not locked. He pushed it open and they entered the great kitchen. There was not a soul in sight. They walked on through the rooms and found them almost bare. Carpets had been taken up, furniture removed, all of the best silver was missing, and the Royal Rose china was completely gone,--so the Duchess said. What could it mean? And where was Queen Amy, her court and her servants? It was the same throughout the whole palace. Everything that had any value had been removed, even the embroidered satin bedspreads.