"The red Hussar danced atrociously, though he made the most superhuman efforts. He thought he ought to apologize, but I gave him no reply and not even a word of thanks when the dance ended. He resumed his place behind the Empress and wiped his eyeglass from time to time, looking miserable enough to melt a stone. "The next day I was delighted to hear that there was to be some fox-hunting two days later. How thankful I was to have brought Taras-Bulba, my wicked little Barbary horse, with me! I went to see him at the barracks where our Cossacks were. He had behaved so outrageously that he had been shut up by himself in a stable--the door of which he'd nearly smashed to pieces on his way in. "When he saw me he whinnied rapturously and soon bolted the sugar I had brought him. "'You've just got to show what you can do,' I said, running my hand through his long, thick mane. 'We'll leave them all behind, won't we?' "He nodded amiably to show he'd understood, and I went out to try on my riding-habit. "When I reached my room I found Papa there, looking calm but radiant. I always loathe surprises. They are sure to be unpleasant. "I saw that Papa didn't know how to begin, and that in itself made me suspicious. "'You must hurry,' I said. 'I have to dress.' "'My daughter,' he said, 'I have something important to say to you.' "'That is no reason why you shouldn't hurry up.' "'My daughter, how would you like to be a Queen?' "'Queen of what?' "'Würtemberg.' "We may have been brought up among savages, but I know my _Gotha_. So I asked Papa if he wanted me to marry the King of Würtemberg, who was then sixty-two. "'It is not His Majesty the King of Würtemberg who has done me the honour to ask your hand. It is His Highness the Grand Duke of Lautenburg-Detmold.' "Papa is a prince himself, and to hear him mouthing 'Majesties' and 'Highnesses' drove me crazy. "'What!' I cried. 'The boiled lobster? Never!' "'Let's be serious,' said my father. "'_Never_,' I repeated, stamping my foot. 'Besides, I don't see the connection between this short-sighted red-beard and the crown of Würtemberg.' "'It's this,' said my father magisterially. 'King Albert of Würtemberg has no children. He is sixty-two, as you correctly observed, and a martyr to diabetes. The Grand Duke of Lautenburg is his heir.' "'I don't care,' I replied. 'I'd rather marry Kunin, and, besides, I don't want to marry at all.' "Papa began to lose his temper. He came out with the whole story. Rudolph of Lautenburg was madly in love with me. He had spoken to the Empress, his godmother, who had spoken to the Kaiser, who had spoken to the Czar, who had just spoken to _him_. Hints of this kind, flattering though they are, are virtually orders, and... "'You consented, without waiting to ask me?' I broke in. "'Not exactly,' he replied in some confusion, 'but, after all, what could I do but thank him and consent ...' "'Consent to what!'