"Oh, greatly, ladies," and began conversing about the ship with his favourite, and the Maids of Honour were left to Marianne.
Meanwhile Bettina and the twins had been amusing themselves.
Bettina was so happy that her eyes did nothing but gaze at the face of her dear, beautiful Queen.
Never was anyone so lovely, so patient. With a kind word for all she put aside her troubles and showed the boys how the ship was manned, told them what this meant and that, and now and then patted Charlotte's hand, that she might not feel neglected. Never for a moment did she seem to think of herself or her own pleasure. She smiled at the twins, asked their names, and then tried to tell them apart, and laughed quite like a girl when she called "Ilse," "Elsa."
Suddenly she gazed at Bettina as if puzzled.
"Dear Voss," she touched the arm of the Countess, "do we not know this child? Where have we seen her?"
The Countess called Marianne.
"It's a sad story," said the girl, glancing at Bettina, whose eyes were fixed on the Queen.
Then the Countess commanded Bettina to run away with the twins and watch the sailors, and taking Marianne to the Queen, told her to relate the child's history.
More than once, as Marianne told the story, the Queen's eyes filled with tears.