"It's green," he confessed, "but a much prettier _shade_ of green--_Eau de nil_, I should call it." "And I suppose all the furniture will have to be covered in oilskin?" went on Edna. "One of the delights of having a Nixie for a sister-in-law." "_You_ needn't talk!" he said angrily. "You came jolly near giving me a bally ogre for a brother-in-law--what?" "There is just this difference, Clarence," replied his sister, "_I_ was able to break it off--which you are _not_." "Well, if I'm not, it's not my fault, so you needn't nag," he said savagely, for the thought that all hope of Daphne was now irretrievably lost had just begun to gall him. "We shall all have to change our shoes when we get in," was her answer. "And it is lucky if we escape a bad cold in the head. But I dare say," she added sweetly, "that when dear Forelle is one of us we shall _soon_ grow inured to damp." "What _I'm_ thinking of," said the King sombrely, "is how the Court and the populace will take this business. It's to be hoped that the Lake King is--er--_liked_ in these parts." "Who could _help_ loving him?" jeered Edna. "No doubt the wedding will excite the greatest enthusiasm--especially if the bride goes through the ceremony in a tank!" "Oh, shut _up_, can't you!" cried the worried Clarence. "Don't make it out more rotten than it is!" Queen Selina was too occupied with her own reflections to interfere. Her plan for securing the succession to the throne by a union between Clarence and Daphne was clearly no longer practicable. She had been anxious to treat the girl with consideration, and even indulgence--but events had made this impossible. It was absolutely necessary now to get Miss Heritage safely out of the way as soon as it could be managed. "I must speak to the Marshal about it," she was thinking, "and have her sent back to England in that stork-car. The poor dear Court Godmother is much too ill to be consulted just now. I have just _that_ much to be truly thankful for!" CHAPTER XIX SERVANTS OF THE QUEEN If breaking the news of Edna's engagement to Count von Rubenfresser had been a matter of some delicacy, to inform the Court and Public of Clarence's betrothal to a Water-nixie was, as his parents felt, infinitely more so. Queen Selina told the Baron first, but, rather to her surprise, he took it calmly and almost apathetically. "I'm afraid, Baron," she said, "you will think it very weak of us to allow it, but, between ourselves, there are--er--State reasons which left us no choice." To which he replied that he would much prefer to be excused from offering any opinion as to the policy their Majesties had chosen to pursue. The Marshal, on the other hand, expressed cordial satisfaction. His lizard-like eyes sparkled as he assured his Sovereigns that he would see that the heralds proclaimed the betrothal in the City before nightfall, and that he expected it would excite heartfelt enthusiasm.