“What is the acme of nastiness?” he paused of the English Ambassadress to enquire.
Lady Something turned paler than the white candytuft that is found on ruins. “Oh la, sir,” she stammered, “how should I know!”
The King looked the shrinking matron slowly up and down: “The supreme disgust——”
“Oh la, sir!” Lady Something stammered again.
But the King took pity on her evident confusion: “Tepid potatoes,” he answered, “on a stone-cold plate.”
The Ambassadress beamed.
“I trust the warmth of the girls, sir, compensated you for the coldness of the plates?” she ventured.
“The inspection, in the main, was satisfactory! Although I noticed that one or two of the guides, seemed inclined to lead astray,” the King replied, regarding Teddywegs, who was inquisitively sniffing his spurs.
“He’s strange yet to everything,” the Archduchess commented.
“What’s this—a new dog?”