"'That is no reason why you shouldn't hurry up.'
"'My daughter, how would you like to be a Queen?'
"'Queen of what?'
"'Würtemberg.'
"We may have been brought up among savages, but I know my Gotha. So I asked Papa if he wanted me to marry the King of Würtemberg, who was then sixty-two.
"'It is not His Majesty the King of Würtemberg who has done me the honour to ask your hand. It is His Highness the Grand Duke of Lautenburg-Detmold.'
"Papa is a prince himself, and to hear him mouthing 'Majesties' and 'Highnesses' drove me crazy.
"'What!' I cried. 'The boiled lobster? Never!'
"'Let's be serious,' said my father.
"'Never,' I repeated, stamping my foot. 'Besides, I don't see the connection between this short-sighted red-beard and the crown of Würtemberg.'