Do not put on her faith
such trials as I have borne, lest her heart bend not under them, but
break at once."
When she had done speaking, she turned to her closet, where all these
years she had kept the simple russet gown which she had worn on the day
Duke Walter wooed her, and laying aside her velvet robes, her laces,
and jewels, she put it on, went before the duke again, ready to depart
from the palace forever. But he had one request to make of her. It
was that she would stay to superintend the bride's coming, to see that
the feast was prepared, the wedding chamber ready, and the guests made
welcome, because none so well as she knew the management of the affairs
in the palace.
Then Griselda went among the servants and saw that the feast was made,
and all things were in order, concealing her aching heart under a face
which tried to smile. When at evening she heard the fickle people
shouting in the streets, and saw the roses strewn as they had been on
her wedding-day, then the tears began to fall, and her soul sank within
her.
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