But Gerda herself was the fairest flower of them all. She watched and cared for her garden tenderly, and like the garden she grew fairer every day, she was so happy. She did not know how the other gardens grew, for she did not go to see. But sometimes the Lord Mayor"s son came, disguised as a gardener, to see how the flowers fared. And he said that she had the most beautiful garden in all Kisington-by-the-Sea, and he hoped that she would win the prize; which was very encouraging.
No one else knew about Gerda"s garden. It was far from town, and no one dreamed that a stranger had come to live there. Besides, the neighbors were so busy, each with her own affairs, that they had no time to go about or ask questions, or gossip; which was a good thing.
No, I am wrong. One person had discovered the open secret. In a villa not far from the Lord Mayor"s house dwelt a Countess who was very rich and proud. Until Gerda came she had boasted the finest garden in Kisington, after the Lord Mayor"s, made by a whole army of gardeners whom she kept at her command. She was quite sure of winning the prize, and it made her very gay, though she cared nothing at all about flowers.
She left all the care of her garden to her gardeners and scarcely ever wandered down its lovely walks. But she longed to marry the Lord Mayor"s son and live in a palace. It was the palace that she coveted as a prize, and the honor of being the Lord Mayor"s daughter; to ride in the golden coach!
She cared no more about Cedric himself than she did for her lovely flowers.
One day this Countess, who had very sharp eyes, spied the Lord Mayor"s son, in his disguise, going past her villa with his arms full of curious flowers such as were never before seen in Kisington-by-the-Sea. And because she had unusually sharp eyes the Countess knew who he was.
"Aha!" she said to herself. "This is strange! Cedric is meddling with some garden. I must look into this!" Secretly she followed Cedric through the village and out to the seash.o.r.e until he came to Gerda"s garden. And there she saw him walking with the fair stranger up and down among the flowers. The secret was discovered.
The Countess was a very wicked woman. When she looked over the transformed meadow and saw the beautiful garden which Gerda had made, she nearly died of rage. She knew at once that against this one her own garden had no chance of winning the prize. She stamped her feet in jealous fury and cried:--
"She shall not have the palace! She shall not ride in the golden coach!
She shall not marry the Lord Mayor"s son! I will see that she shall not!"
The Countess stole home with wicked wishes in her heart and wicked plans in her head. The next day but one was the day of the award, so she had no time to lose. That night when every one was asleep she crept out of her villa and along the road by which she had followed the Lord Mayor"s son, to Gerda"s garden. Everything was quiet and peaceful. The flowers looked very fair in the moonlight, breathing drowsy perfumes. But the wicked woman cared nothing at all for them. Taking a great pair of shears from her cloak she moved quickly in and out among the garden beds, cutting and slashing the precious flowers and trampling them under foot.
When she had finished her cruel work, not a single bud lifted its head from the ruin. The flower-beds looked as though a tempest had swept over them. Poor Gerda"s garden was quite destroyed! The Countess chuckled as she hurried home through the night: "We shall see now who wins the prize!"
The next day Cedric thought that he would visit the garden of sweet Gerda in which he had taken such an interest. Dressed in his gardener"s green smock he went through the town, whistling happily as any yokel.
But when he reached the little cottage by the sea, he ceased to whistle.
Gerda was sitting upon the doorstone weeping bitterly.
"What is the matter, Gerda?" asked Cedric anxiously, and he sought to comfort her. She could only sob:--
"Oh! My dear garden! Oh! My poor flowers!"
With a sinking heart Cedric ran to the garden close, and there he saw all the ruin that the wicked Countess had wrought.
"Alas! Who has done this?" he cried. But Gerda could not tell.
Cedric"s heart was nearly broken. For he loved Gerda so dearly that he thought he could not live if another should win the prize. To-morrow would be the day that would determine his fate. What could they do?
Suddenly he had an idea.
"Farewell, Gerda!" he cried, and without another word he strode away.
Then Gerda wept more bitterly than ever. She thought that the Lord Mayor"s son was angry with her because her garden was destroyed. This was worse even than the loss of her flowers.
But Cedric was far from angry with her. He had gone away in order to think and plan. He had one hope. He remembered that he had a friend who had once promised to help him in his time of trouble. The time had come.
That very night when the moon rose over the water, Cedric went down to the sea and stood upon a rock and recited this charm:--
"Mermaid, Mermaid, rise from the sea!
I am in trouble. Hasten to me!"
Hardly had he spoken the words when there was a little ripple in the water at his feet, and a beautiful Mermaid appeared, clinging to the rock over which the waves dashed prettily in the moonlight. And she said:--
"Lord Mayor"s son, you have spoken the charm which I taught you, and I have come from the bottom of the sea. I have not forgotten how once a cruel fisherman caught me in his net, and how you had pity on me and took me to the ocean and set me free. Then I promised to help you, if ever you should be in trouble. What is your grief, Lord Mayor"s son?"
Then Cedric told her about Gerda"s garden and its mishap. "Ah! She must be the sweet, ragged maid who used to sit upon the rocks and gaze down into my ocean," said the Mermaid. "She has a good heart and loves the sea. Early this morning I heard her weeping bitterly for her lost flowers and for you. She loves you dearly, Lord Mayor"s son, and I love you both. What shall I do to help you?"
"Dear Mermaid," said Cedric eagerly, "can you find out the cruel person who has destroyed Gerda"s garden? And can you restore the garden itself before to-morrow? I ask these two things of you."
"It is easy to find the jealous woman," said the Mermaid. "Her you will know at the right time. But the garden is another matter. However, I will do my best for the two whom I love. And now, farewell!" With that word she slid down the rocks, and in a little splash of spray vanished into the sea.
Now came the day when the Lord Mayor was to judge the gardens of Kisington-by-the-Sea. In all the towers the bells were ringing merrily, and on every side the flowers and the fair maidens were blooming their brightest. Through the town rode the Lord Mayor in his golden coach drawn by six prancing white steeds, their necks wreathed with flowers; and behind followed a great rout of townsfolk, eager to see the gardens judged. In the Lord Mayor"s coach sat Cedric by his father"s side. He was dressed all in white, as became a bridegroom, and in his hands he carried a huge bouquet of white roses. His cheeks were white, too, for he was anxious to know what this day should bring, and what maiden was to receive the bridal bouquet.
Through the town the merry procession moved, and stopped in turn before each garden, at the gate of which a sweet maid waited, her little heart going pit-a-pat beneath her prettiest gown. The Lord Mayor inspected each garden carefully, making notes in a little white-and-gold book. And each fair maiden gazed at the handsome Cedric and hoped that the Lord Mayor was writing down her name to be his daughter-in-law!
But all the gardens were so beautiful that it seemed impossible to choose between them. In each the Lord Mayor looked and looked, smiled and nodded,--"Very good! Very good, indeed! Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! I am truly proud of the fair flowers and the fair maids of Kisington-by-the-Sea. Surely, never such were seen before!"
Then he noted his little memorandum, made a low bow to the maiden, and mounting into the golden coach, whirled away to the next garden. At last, when they had gone quite around the village, they came to the villa of the wicked Countess. The crowd murmured admiringly. There was no doubt about it; hers was certainly the finest garden of all. When the Lord Mayor saw the gay parterres and fountains, the shady alleys and cool grottoes, the wonderful flowers and shrubs growing luxuriantly everywhere, he clapped his hands with pleasure and said:--
"Ah! This is Paradise, indeed! Here surely we must look for our bride.
Countess, I congratulate you!"
The Countess was dressed in a most costly gown of white satin and velvet, as though she were sure beforehand that she was to be the bride.
She arched her neck and smiled maliciously at the Lord Mayor"s son, in whose eyes was no love for her.
"I shall be proud, indeed, to ride in your golden coach!" she said.
Cedric had grown very white, and he looked at the Countess with disgust.
She was so much less fair than Gerda, and her eyes so wicked! Must he marry her, after all? Yes, unless the Mermaid had wrought a miracle in Gerda"s ruined garden. To that hope he still clung. "Father," he said earnestly, "before you judge that this lady has won the prize, remember that there is one more garden to visit. Have you forgotten the stranger maiden who lives beside the sea, and how you bade her make a garden as the other maids were doing? Let us first go there, for she may be waiting."
"Ho, ho!" laughed the Lord Mayor; "I had in truth forgotten the pretty beggar. It is absurd to dream that she should have a garden worth visiting after that of our Countess here. Yet we will go to see, and do her justice."
The Countess laughed shrilly. "A beggar"s garden!" she cried. "That must, indeed, be a wondrous sight!"
"Do you come with us, my lady," said the Lord Mayor politely. "Sit here by my son"s side in the Lord Mayor"s coach. For I trow that here will soon be your rightful place as his bride."
Now it pleased the Countess to ride in the Lord Mayor"s coach; and it pleased her more that she was to see the shame of Gerda and the disappointment of Cedric when Gerda"s pitiful little garden should be judged. So with a great rustle of satin and lace she gave her hand to the Lord Mayor and mounted proudly into the golden coach. But Cedric sat beside her pale and silent, little like a happy bridegroom. With a snapping of whips and tooting of horns off they went, rattling through the streets of the town, out over the downs toward the sea.
Behind them followed the townsfolk in a great crowd, wondering exceedingly whither the Lord Mayor was leading them. For they knew of no garden here. Presently, with another flourish and a cracking of whips, amid the barking of dogs and the shouts of little boys, the Lord Mayor"s coach drew up in front of the tiny cottage by the sea. And the people wondered more than ever. For there was no garden anywhere to be seen.
The Lord Mayor alighted, chuckling as if it were all a great joke, and helped down the Countess, who was grinning maliciously. Last of all Cedric descended and stood waiting while the Lord Mayor with his staff knocked three times upon the door.
Presently the door opened, and there stood Gerda, dressed all in a gown of sea-green silk, with a string of pearls about her neck and a pink coral wreath in her hair. She was so beautiful that all the people in the crowd cried "Oh!" with a sound like the wind in the top of a pine tree, and the Lord Mayor himself fell back a step, staring in surprise.
The Countess turned saffron yellow and bit her lips with envy; but still she smiled; for she knew what she had done to Gerda"s garden.
As for Cedric, he stood and gazed as though his eyes were glued to fair Gerda"s face, until after a bashful silence of a moment she spoke.
"You have come to see my garden," she said. "It is not like other gardens, but I think it is very beautiful. Will you come with me?"
She led them around the cottage to the meadow beside the sea where once had been the beautiful little garden which the Countess had destroyed.
But what was this? Where were the lawns and hedges and beds of flowers?
Where was the green gra.s.s? Gone! Over the spot lay a sheet of rippling water, reflecting the Summer sky.