So the prince came riding through the park with his knights all jingling behind him, each of them bearing a golden casket containing a present for the princess. When the prince reached the foot of the little hill on which the Rondel stood and saw the princess under the trees, he dismounted from his horse and came on foot to where she sat. The knights waited at the bottom of the hill. The princess received him graciously, and he stood before her in the shadow of the ash-trees and asked if she would marry him. “I have a great kingdom,” said he, “great riches and great power, and my enemies all fear me.” “I am much honoured,” said the princess, “but I should like to ask you one question. What do you most desire in a wife?” “Obedience,” said the prince without an instant’s hesitation, for he was obliged to speak the truth. The princess smiled a little. “And what would you do if your wife disobeyed you?” she asked. “Whip her,” said the prince. “I am much obliged to you,” said the princess, “but I am afraid that I might not always be obedient, and I should not like to be whipped. Good-day.” So the prince rode away home again with his knights, and the princess went on with her sewing. Before long she again heard a whispering among the trees. “Another suitor is riding along the road,” they said. “Oh, and what is _he_ like?” said the princess. “He rides on a white horse,” said the ash-trees, “and he wears a blue velvet cap with a white feather in it. He carries a bunch of roses in his hand, and behind him ride six gentlemen in gaily coloured mantles with guitars slung over their shoulders. He has auburn hair and blue eyes. They ride at the trot.” “He sounds rather pleasing,” said the princess, and she picked a flower from the syringa bush which grew at the entrance to the Rondel and stuck it in her hair. [Illustration: “IF YOU WILL MARRY ME,” HE SAID, “I WILL SPEND MY DAYS MAKING VERSES ABOUT YOU.”] The blue-eyed prince was also bidden to come out to the Rondel, and he too dismounted from his horse at the foot of the little hill and came gaily walking up the path till he stood beneath the branches of the ash-trees. He bowed low before the princess and laid his bunch of roses on the table in front of her. She smiled graciously, for he was a comely young man, and he thereupon offered her his hand in exceedingly beautiful language. “If you will marry me,” he said, “I will spend my days making verses about you. They will be sung throughout my kingdom. I will make a whole book of them. It shall be called ‘Songs of Queen Golden-bright.’” The princess thought this sounded rather attractive. One does not so often come across a prince who is also a poet. But the ash-trees rustled softly above her head, and she remembered the question that she was to ask. “Will you tell me what you most desire in a wife?” she said. “Beauty,” said the prince promptly.