"Then," I said, pretending to be offended, "I sing like a fool?"
"Exactly," he said with enthusiasm, his eyes beaming with joy through his spectacles.
This was hopeless. I moved gently away from the man who "talked English."
The candles had burned down almost to their _bobèches_, and we were beginning to forget that we had eaten a dinner of fifteen courses, when in came a procession of servants with piles of plates in their arms and trays of _smördröd_ (sandwiches), tea, beer (in bottles), and cakes, which are called here _kicks_. Everything seemed very tempting except the things handed about by the stable-boy, who was dressed for the occasion in a livery, much too large, and was preceded and followed by a mixed odor of stable and almond soap.
What struck me as unusual was that the host named the hour for his guests to go home. Therefore all the carriages were before the door at the same time.
Johan explained the mistakes on the way home.
"The man with the gray hairs and the _beard_" (pronounced like _heard_) had been _watching_ me. _Shield_ meant _child! A child_ in Danish is _et barn_, which sounds the same as _eight barn_. _Two children_ (in Danish) are _to börn_, pronounced _toe burn. Bird_ he pronounced like _beard_, because it was written so. A bird in Danish is _fugle_ (fool).
Do you wonder that I was somewhat bewildered?
Dear Mother,--After Christmas Johan and I went to Copenhagen, where I was presented to the King and the Queen. I was first received by the _Grande Maîtresse_, Madame de Raben, and three _dames d'honneur_, who were all pleasant but ceremonious. When the Queen entered the room and I was presented to her she was most gracious and affable. She motioned me to sit down beside her on the sofa. She said that she had heard much about me. She spoke of my father-in-law, whom she _loved_, and Johan, whom she _liked_ so much. She was most interested to hear about you and the children. She had heard that Nina promised to be a beauty.
"If children would only grow up to their promises!" I said.
"Mine have," said the Queen; "they are all beautiful."
She showed me the photographs of the Princess of Wales and the Grand-Duchess Dagmar of Russia. If they resemble their pictures they must indeed be beautiful.