‘How large is Posen?’ asked Racksole bluntly.
‘Father,’ Nella interposed laughing, ‘you shouldn’t ask such inconvenient questions. You ought to have guessed that it isn’t etiquette to inquire about the size of a German Dukedom.’
‘I am sure,’ said Dimmock, with a polite smile, ‘that the Grand Duke is as much amused as anyone at the size of his territory. I forget the exact acreage, but I remember that once Prince Aribert and myself walked across it and back again in a single day.’
‘Then the Grand Duke cannot travel very far within his own dominions? You may say that the sun does set on his empire?’
‘It does,’ said Dimmock.
‘Unless the weather is cloudy,’ Nella put in. ‘Is the Grand Duke content always to stay at home?’
‘On the contrary, he is a great traveller, much more so than Prince Aribert.
I may tell you, what no one knows at present, outside this hotel, that his Royal Highness the Grand Duke, with a small suite, will be here to-morrow.’
‘In London?’ asked Nella.
‘Yes.’