He sipped his tea and frowned meditatively.
"Not long ago, my dear, there lived a stupid king."
"Your father?"
"In any one but you, Pippa, that would be pert. No, he was not my father."
"I wonder if Louis——" she began, but he checked her with a portentous frown.
"Once," he began again, "there lived a stupid king named Convention."
"What a silly name!"
"Pippa!" he admonished her with a warning finger.
She tried to look serious, but ended by laughing mischievously.
"There was a stupid king with a silly name?" she said encouragingly.