"It is a burden I must bear," be said with mock sadness.

They risked another kiss, but kept it restrained.

Parry had to pay an exorbitant bridal price for her, because of the enhancement of her value he had fostered.

But the Sorcerer, pleased with his son's judgment and success, arranged it, and the ceremony was held.

Some anonymous party, perhaps jealous, arranged to have a unicorn driven at the group. The ploy failed; Jolie, radiant in her bridal gown, called to the animal, and it came to her and suffered her to stroke its head. All the nasty gossip about her relationship with Parry was by this stroke abolished, and its perpetrator made ludicrous; now none could doubt she was still a virgin. Parry was especially pleased by the look of astonishment on the face of Jolie's father, who had thought that he was overcharging for her, and that Parry had paid only to maintain the pretense of illicit dealings.

Parry and his bride retired for the evening to their house. Seldom had such a precious commodity been thrown away with such abandon!

The following two years were for them such as legends could be fashioned from. Parry became a full sorcerer in his own right, and Jolie joined him in his practice. For appropriate fees they saw to it that the local weather was good for crops, that the King's taxes fell on the village less strenuously than before, and that the Lord of the Manor prospered. So did the local peasants; their dire poverty became only nominal, and some individuals even became fat.

But their main effort was shrouded from village view. The Sorcerer precipitated it. A few days after the wedding, he paid a call on his son. He was now a venerable figure with a white beard. He had been traveling more widely as his son took up the burden of local service, and had been absent for weeks at a time.

"As you know. Parry, I did not adopt you by choice-but had I the choice to make again, knowing how it turned out, I would have done it eagerly. You have been a source of great pride to me."

"Thank you, sire," Parry replied. The Sorcerer seldom expressed himself so directly and positively.

"Not the least of it has been your way with this woman," the Sorcerer continued. "You fixed on her with unerring accuracy, and developed her with consummate skill. As a result, you now have far greater power than you could otherwise have had."

"And joy, too," Parry murmured. Jolie arranged to flush prettily, though her naivete had been among the first of her qualities to change. She now knew, indeed, that she had been the best Parry could have chosen, and that she had lived up to her potential. He had been the diamond cutter; she had been the diamond.