Matilda was filled with joy when the count said he loved her, but immediately after she became sad, for she thought that if he learned she was only a kitchen-maid in his castle, he would no longer care for her.
“Look, I beg of you,” she said, “and see whether there is not some one listening at the door.”
The count thought Matilda wished to tell him some secret, and he at once went to the door to make sure that no one could overhear it.
Matilda drew the wooden ball from her pocket and whispered:
“Light to guide me,
Dark to hide me,
Let no harm nor ill betide me.”
At once she became invisible, and she slipped past the count and hurried back to the castle.
When the count turned, he was very much surprised to find that his beautiful partner had disappeared. He could not imagine what had become of her. He hunted for her everywhere, and asked every one which way she had gone, but no one had seen her.