"The rude monster!" cried Christina, starting up as if tired of the conversation. "I have no wish to know him. They say he hates women."
"A calumny, my dear girl; he is very fond of one at all events."
"Is she pretty?"
"And mischievous as yourself."
"As I?" enquired Christina, and fell into a long reverie, while the Count smiled as if he had made an excellent hit.
"But I have never seen him, papa," she said, awakening all of a sudden.
"He may have seen you though; and he says"——
"Oh, what does he say? Do tell me what the King says?"
"Poh! What do you want to know about what a rude monster says—that hates women?" answered the father with another smile of satisfaction.
"But he is a king, papa! What does he say? I am quite anxious to know."