It was not until the next week that the mask finally arrived. Linda Branca had grown very impatient and was almost in despair lest she should never receive it. When at last the girl brought it one could easily see why it had taken a whole week to prepare it. So like a human face it was that it was plain that the making of it had called forth great patience and skill as well as necessary time.
"It is even uglier than I had hoped it would be!" cried Linda Branca in delight when she saw it.
Surely, when she tried it on no one of her suitors would ever have recognized the fair Linda Branca of their songs.
Now Linda Branca had no mother, and her father was away on business, so it was an easy matter to prepare for her departure.
Linda Branca's father was a man of wealth who spared no money in giving his daughter beautiful gowns to enhance her rare beauty. She had one dress of blue trimmed with silver and another of blue embroidered in gold. As she packed up a few belongings to take with her, she decided to add these two favorite garments.
"Who knows but I may need them sometime?" she mused as she rolled them up carefully.
With the ugly mask upon her face, and dressed in a long dark cloak, she quietly stole out of the house. She went to the king's palace in a neighboring city and inquired if they were in need of a maid.
