‘Ah, well! if I do that so easily perhaps I shall do it often,’ she said.
‘What have you been doing all the morning?’ the King asked.
‘All the morning?’ said the Princess in astonishment. ‘It’s not late, is it?’
The King pulled out his watch and looked at it.
‘It’s half-past five by my watch; but I don’t think that’s quite right—in fact it stopped three days ago. Ah! I thought so—there’s the dinner-gong. You needn’t wash your hands, or you’ll be late.’
So they went in together, and the rest of the day passed off quietly, except that every now and then one of the enthusiastic nobles insisted on coming in and welcoming the Princess, although the King had given strict orders that no one should be admitted, as he wanted to be alone for the day. In spite of this, every now and then an elderly duchess would rush into the royal presence, and offer her congratulations.
At last, just as they hoped that the last of them had come and gone, the door opened, and an elderly man—he would have been offended at being called old—rushed in and clasped the Princess in his arms.
‘My adored Duchess——’ he was just beginning.
But the Princess boxed his ears suddenly, and he let go.
‘What on earth does this mean?’ she said, turning to the King. ‘First I am inundated with duchesses until I’m quite tired of the name, and then this old fright rushes in and calls me his duchess, when I’m not a duchess at all. What does he mean, papa?’