This threw Charlotte into a fresh paroxysm. "Oh, why did I ever have parents?" she cried. "Yes, that appears to be the trouble," said the Queen. "John, this is a revolting daughter. I've heard of them, and now I've got the thing brought home to me. Look at her!" "What are you revolting about, my dear?" inquired the King kindly. "Everything!" exclaimed Charlotte. "Quite true," said the Queen, "everything." "Well, begin at the beginning." And Charlotte screwed herself up to speak. "I came to talk to mamma about something," she said, "something that mattered very much. I suppose you know about it too." The Queen gave her husband an informing look. "And what do you think she did?" Charlotte continued. "First she told me not to be foolish; and after that, to everything I said she went on--just as if she didn't hear me--knitting, knitting!" "She says," interrupted the Queen, "that she is not going to marry anybody, and particularly not the Prince, because she hates him. I say how can she know when she hasn't seen him." "I won't marry him!" cried Charlotte, "I've seen his photograph." "Yes, and you liked it," said her mother. This did not improve matters. "But nobody is forcing you to marry him," said the King. "I don't know why it has even been mentioned." And, seeking a clue, he cast a troubled glance at the Queen. "It's in all the papers!" retorted Charlotte, indulging in poetic license. "And you know it! Yes, he is coming here to look at me, to see if he likes me, and to see if I can pretend to like him. But I won't be looked at, it's an indignity I won't stand. I'll not even see him!" "But why ever not?" exclaimed her father. Charlotte wriggled with impatience. "Oh, can't you see? Supposing he comes and does look at me; and then goes away without--without caring!--That's what you are asking me to put up with. For me to know, and for him to know, and for him to know that I know! How would you like it yourself?" "I tell her she is very ridiculous," said the Queen. "A Princess can't marry a mushroom. Does she want to fall in love with her eyes shut. Something has to be done beforehand, or we should never be anywhere----" "I don't want to be anywhere," said the Princess. "Outside a lunatic asylum," said her mother, completing the sentence. "My dear child," put in the King, "don't you see that nothing is really settled--and will not be until you agree to it?" "Then why did you ever tell him anything about it? Why couldn't we have just met? It's this picking of us out beforehand behind our backs, and then telling us of it; that's what I can't stand!" "My dear, nobody is forcing you," repeated the King persuasively. "Then I won't see him." "I tell her she must," remarked the Queen in a tone of comfortable finality. "Mamma, will you stop knitting!" cried Charlotte. "You treat me as if I were an insect!"