For a moment she was too much out of breath to say anything at all, and Treblo too surprised to do anything but just hold her in his arms; and the King, who had just returned from the search after the Dukes, was far too taken aback to do anything but stand with his mouth and eyes wide open.
‘I call this too bad,’ he said in a low voice; and then raising it, he called out:
‘Young man, I say, have you seen the notice?’
Treblo looked annoyed.
‘What is the notice to me, you old fool?’ he said.
The King looked more and more astonished.
‘This is too much,’ he said. ‘Ernalie, when you’ve done kissing that young man perhaps you’ll tell me who he is. You see, it’s no use my putting up notices about other people embracing you if you go and perform on some one immediately afterwards. Now just tell me who it is.’
‘Why, it’s him, papa,’ said Ernalie, who had by this time disengaged herself.
‘Oh, it’s a him, is it?’ the King said. ‘That’s what the three others said they were, but they wouldn’t suit you.’