The Queen, alone, was expected to answer.
Why, he began, had she been so foolish as to go to the seat of war? Did she know that Napoleon's hussars had almost captured her?
The Queen with a smile shook her head.
"No, no, sire," she said with forced gaiety, "that I cannot believe. I never saw a Frenchman while I was on that journey."
"But why did you expose yourself to danger?" persisted the Emperor, though he knew quite well that it was an old Prussian custom for Queens to accompany their husbands to the battle.
"Why did you not await my arrival at Weimar?" he asked.
"Really, sire," said the poor Queen, trying to be merry, "I felt no inclination to do so."
At that Napoleon laughed and changed the subject, without a thought for all the Queen had endured on her journey.
"How is it that the Queen of Prussia wears a turban? That," he added, "is not complimentary to the Emperor of Russia, who is at war with the Turk."
Now, the Queen of Prussia knew how to make a pretty answer. It was one of her charms.