"Oh!" cried the Princess, "why, why was I born?"
And then her indignation broke loose, and she became, as the Queen afterwards remarked to her husband when describing the scene, "most unreasonable, and more violent than any one could believe."
After about ten minutes of it her Majesty rose quietly from her chair and rang the bell.
III
A message came to the King that her Majesty wished to see him.
When he arrived in the Queen's boudoir he found his wife sitting in all her accustomed composure; and yet somehow the scene suggested disturbance. Away from her mother at the furthest window stood Charlotte, a charmingly disheveled figure; flushed and bright-eyed she was looking out over the Platz and mopping vehemently at her nose with a handkerchief.
"Don't do that there!" remarked the Queen, "any one might see you."
"Why shouldn't they? They'd only think that I had a cold."
"It isn't the time of the year for colds. Either leave off, or come away from the window."
"There, you see!" cried Charlotte, stung to fresh exasperation, "I can't even stand where I like now!"