The hapless maiden sat at my foot and waited for her true love to return. He had gone into the world to get his father’s blessing. I doubted that he would ever find his way back.

The sun set and rose again, set and rose, and rose again. On the fourth day, the maiden found her spirit. “Some accident has surely happened,” she said. “I will not return home until I find him.”

I watched her leave the garden. I watched her leave her magnificent castle. She brought only what she could carry, and she set off into the world.

Lime-Tree in The True Bride, Grimms. Illustration, “The Knight’s Farewell,” Edward Burne-Jones.