"Oh, yes, they do,—nursemaids especially. They all catch it from each other in the public parks; at least so I've been told. And whenever I see a perambulator now, I think of it."
"There are no perambulators here to-day," said the King, "so you needn't think about measles. Smallpox if you like; though it strikes me that all I have yet seen are remarkably healthy specimens—considering how many of them there are." And he bowed to the healthy specimens as he spoke.
"Very enthusiastic," murmured the Queen appreciatively.
"Yes; I wonder if presently they will be as enthusiastic about Max."
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, nothing. I was only thinking ahead, in quite a general sort of way. We seem lately to have become quite popular."
"I think we have always been."
"Yes, you have, my dear; about myself I was not so sure. Well, it's very gratifying to come upon it just now."
His Majesty felt a little guilty, for he had not yet told the Queen of what lay ahead; it was so much better that she should not know beforehand what she would never be able to understand.
Then for a while they relapsed into silence, each attending to what Charlotte would have described as their "business"—a carefully regulated succession of bows accompanied by a smile which never quite left off.