everybody knew lucy lee.
she was the fairest maiden in the village.
they remembered the day the king had ridden through the village.
the king had pointed to lucy and exclaimed, that is the fairest maiden i have ever seen.
naturally, this gave the villagers ideas.
they nodded sagely to each other, and expected the king to return at any time to claim lucy and make her queen.
they expected that lucy, when she was crowned queen, would remember them and shower them with blessings and favors.
joshua smith, the miller’s apprentice, did not share in the enthusiasm.
joshua had strong opinions as to lucy’s destiny.
he had long indulged in visions of making lucy his own.
smitten with jealousy, joshua began going for long walks in the woods at night, heedless of bears or bandits or demons.
but he knew in his heart he was doomed, one way or another.
years passed. the villagers began to get restless.
lucy, fair as she was, did not get any younger.
but the remembrance of the king’s visit died hard.
at last, joshua could bear it no longer.
encountering lucy one morning, as he was returning from his restless night in the woods, and she was setting out on the high road to the county market with her basket, joshua confessed his burning passion.
i am very sorry, joshua, lucy replied plaintively, but i can not disappoint the devout hope of my poor widowed mother, that the king will return and make me his queen.
suddenly joshua and lucy both heard loud laughter coming from the woods beside the high road.
they had no idea who or what could be producing the mocking sounds.
an owl flew out of a tree, up into the blue morning sky.
joshua deduced that the creature was st matthew, laughing at lucy’s and her mother’s foolish faith in the king’s honorable intentions.
but lucy deduced that the owl was telling her to laugh at her fears, and that the king was even then on his way on a white horse, with a ring of gold for her finger…
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