The Rumpelstiltskin Problem (11 page)

"Certainly not," Carleen said. Then she asked, "Very wealthy?" She smiled tightly. "How nice for him. Though surely he is not so wealthy as you, my sweet?"

Gregory made an airy gesture of dismissal. "Oh, very-much more so," he said. "I am doubly fortunate to have found you because, in truth, this kingdom is rather poor, and your being able to spin straw into gold will come in very handy."

"I..." Carleen said, "hadn't realized you'd intended me to keep on spinning straw into gold after we were married. I assumed, as queen, I'd have other important duties."

Gregory said, "Well, of course King Norvin's wife—if he had a wife, which, naturally, he doesn't—King Norvin's wife could concentrate on more frivolous queenly duties such as hosting parties and arranging charity balls and socializing with the nobles, but naturally you won't have time for that lesser kind of responsibility." Gregory smiled encouragingly and added, "Though I'll certainly do my best to see that you have a day off from spinning every once in a while, say on your birthday, maybe, or Christmas." He frowned as though deep in thought. "Well, maybe not every Christmas." He kissed her hand once again and said, "So I thank you for your generous offer to help out my kingdom, and you can go ahead now and start the wedding arrangements, if you think you have time."

Carleen was fanning herself with her hand. "Certainly," she said, "certainly. The first thing I need to do is see about getting the invitations, but I'll need to borrow the royal carriage to go to town to order them."

"Of course," Gregory said. "Take as long as you like to choose just the right ones. There will be plenty of time for spinning straw into gold after we're married."

"Yes," Carleen said. "I can see that."

She seemed in an incredible hurry to get started, so Gregory didn't delay her.

But the funny thing was that she never came back from that shopping trip.

The footman and the driver went into the printer's shop looking for her after she'd been gone for more than an hour, but the printer said she'd gone out the back door, and she was last seen heading off toward the west.

By coincidence, within a month King Gregory was invited to the wedding of King Norvin, who was marrying—according to the invitation—a foreign princess by the name of Carleen.

"I'm so sorry matters of state prevent me from attending," Gregory wrote to the happy couple. But as a wedding gift he sent a golden handle, a golden doorknob, and ten golden buttons.