NO one in that house knew who the bewitching young thing was who had danced with the Master’s son, nor that, in despair at parting, he had given her his golden ring as a keepsake. No one but Cap o’ Rushes; she knew.

As for the Master’s son, he became listless and his food lay untouched. The kind-hearted cook resolved to make him some gruel, but Cap o’ Rushes asked if she could do it. When no one was watching, she plopped the golden ring into it, and it sank to the bottom.

There the young man found it with his last spoonful.

He summoned the cook. ‘Who made this gruel?’ he asked, and the cook cautiously admitted deputising Cap o’ Rushes.

‘Who are you?’ he asked the maid, when she stood before him, ‘and where did you get this ring?’ In reply she took off the hooded gown of rushes. And the pale young gentleman’s heart leapt: for he knew his captivating dance-partner at once.