The first thing he did was to go into the courtyard, for he thought he might just be in time to see her before her carriage drove away. When he got there, however, he was astonished to hear that the carriage, with all its horses and footmen, had absolutely disappeared. No one had seen the carriage drive away, yet not a sign of it was to be seen.
Very much puzzled, the Prince sent a servant to ask the guards at all the other gates whether they had seen the Princess go out; for he thought she might perhaps have sent her carriage away early, and gone home on foot. But the guards were positive that nobody had passed out of the gates except a shabbily dressed girl, whom they took to be one of the scullery-maids.
Now the Prince was not only a very handsome young man, but he was fairly clever also, and in this case love made him sharp. He thought immediately that this poorly dressed maid seen by the guards might be the lady he sought, who had disguised herself for some reason of her own.
“If she went on foot,” he said to himself, “she cannot be very far away, and in that case I can certainly discover her.” That night he hardly got a wink of sleep, but in the morning he had thought of a plan.
First of all he gave orders that every lady at the Court must come and try on the slipper which Cinderella had left behind. Not one of them was left out.
