The Knight smiled:
‘I could save you from them,’ he said.
But the Princess said reflectively:
‘I don’t know so much about that, for you see they’re very strong—and how dark it’s getting; it must be past five, and it will soon be night.’
I daresay if she had been alone she would have had a good cry, but that wouldn’t do before strangers.
It was still getting darker and she began to feel very uncomfortable, for the howl of a wolf came down on the breeze, and a squirrel that had been searching for nuts darted home to its hole, scuttling along as fast as it could.
So she said:
‘Come, let us be quick and get away.’
‘Promise to marry me first.’
But she only said: