"Have I not ordered you to pull down the palace and hang the builder?" he said.
Yes, they could not deny that; but then the Colonel himself stepped forward and reported what had happened and how many soldiers the Duke had, and how wonderfully grand the palace was.
And next he told him what the Duke had said, and how he had asked him to give his greetings to the King, and all that sort of thing.
The King felt quite confused, and had to put his crown on the table and scratch his head. He could not understand all this, although he was a king; for he could take his oath it had all been built in a single night; and if the Duke were not the evil one himself, he must in any case have done it by magic.
While he sat there pondering, the Princess came into the room.
"Good morning to you, father!" she said. "Just fancy, I had such a strange and beautiful dream last night!" she said.
"What did you dream then, my girl?" said the King.
"I dreamed I was in the new palace over yonder, and that I saw a Duke there, so fine and handsome that I could never have imagined the like; and now I want to get married, father," she said.
"Do you want to get married?—you, who never cared to look at a man! That's very strange!" said the King.
"That may be," said the Princess; "but it's different now, and I want to get married, and it's the Duke I want," she said.