the castle wall. She crawled up the
secret chute. Going up was much
slower than going down.
There were three spiders in the
chute. There were two bats. Even
worse, there was one very cheeky
snail. But the Princess in Black was
not afraid.
The tunnel ended in the broom
closet.
When she emerged from the closet,
she was no longer the Princess in
Black.
83
She was Princess Magnolia.
Princess Magnolia fixed her hair.
She fixed her skirt. She fixed a smile
onto her face. The extra pair of black
stockings she had left on the closet
floor were gone. She hadn’t noticed.
Princess Magnolia minced into her
tower room.
“So sorry to keep you waiting,”
said Princess Magnolia. “All the birds
are well and properly tweeting.”
Duchess Wigtower took a long
sip of cold hot chocolate. She smiled.
86
“While you were gone, I toured
your castle,” said the duchess.
Princess Magnolia froze. “You did?”
87
“Mm-hm,” said the duchess. “And
I discovered something in the broom
closet.”
Princess Magnolia gulped. “You did?”
“Yes,” said the duchess. “These black
stockings. I uncovered your secret!”
Princess Magnolia gasped. “You
did?”
89
“Princess Magnolia, these white
stockings are so filthy, they’ve
turned as black as coal! You really
must wash them. Everyone knows
princesses don’t wear black.”
“Of course not!” said Princess
Magnolia. “How clever of you.”
Princess Magnolia smiled. She
knew at least one princess who did
wear black. But that would remain
her secret.
Shannon Hale, The Princess in Black
(Series: The Princess in Black # 1)
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