“I can’t tell you about where I come from,” said the White Létiche, “it is against rules. But I could tell you other things, things which I did not know when I slept in this room.”
“What sort of things?” asked Philomène; “stories?”
“Why, yes, some of them are stories,” said the White Létiche. “I wonder now would you care to hear the story of the very strangest christening that ever befell?”
“What made it so strange?” asked Philomène, eagerly; “and what was the baby’s name?”
“Wait a bit,” said the White Létiche.
CHAPTER XXI
IN WHICH THE WHITE LÉTICHE TELLS HER STORY
Upon the outskirts of a village there once lived a weaver, who was very skilful at his loom, and wove many fine and beautiful stuffs, while in a wretched cabin out in the fields beyond the village dwelt a certain poor widow woman, who had to earn her livelihood by spinning. It was from her that the weaver bought his flax, but indeed he often went to the cabin when there was still a plentiful store of flax at home, in the hope of seeing the widow’s only daughter.
Now the maiden was not the widow’s own child, for the poor woman as she came home one evening through the fields had found a little baby lying among the stubble, and having no children of her own, she had brought it home with her and adopted it. And because she had found it under the Michaelmas moon, she had it christened Micheline.
Micheline was very beautiful, and in the spring time when the weaver would walk by her side, and watch her break a sprig of blackthorn from the hedge to place it in her hair or in the folds of her ragged green dress, it seemed to him that all the world could not hold another maid so fair as she. But she was indifferent to his suit, and this made him very sad. Also there was a mystery about her which he could not solve, for often she would disappear from home altogether, sometimes for a few days only, sometimes for months at a time, and when he questioned her fostermother she only made excuses and gave evasive answers.
One day the weaver went into the neighbouring city to offer some of his stuffs for sale at court, and it happened that just as he entered the gateway of the palace, a gallant prince came riding forth, with a plume in his hat and a sword by his side, mounted upon a splendidly accoutred horse.