lecting the daughter of
Charles, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbuettel; but the prince said he wasn't
going to be Wolfenbuttled by his grandsire. Just what he meant by it
no one knows, as the word is not to be found in Doctor Johnson's big
dictionary."

"Shall I help you to a bit of canvasback, my lord?" Mrs. Newville
asked, interrupting the narrative.

"Canvasback! What may it be? Really, you have most astonishing things
to eat over here," Lord Upperton replied.

Mrs. Newville explained that it was a duck, and that it was regarded
as a delicacy.

"I never ate anything so delicious," said Upperton.

Mr. Dapper also praised it.

"Was the marriage of our king and queen a love-match?" Miss Chanson
inquired.

"Well, hardly, at the beginning," said Mr. Dapper. "When the prince
was eighteen, he fell in love with Lady Sarah Lennox, daughter of the
Duke of Richmond. She was seventeen, beautiful, and attractive. She
knew how to display her charms to the best advantage, by going out
with the haymakers on fine summer mornings to wander in the meadows
among the daisies, wearing a fancy costume. No wonder the prince,
looking from the windows of Holland House, thought it a delightful
exhibition of Arcadian simplicity and made haste to chat with her. But
love-making between the future king and a subject was not in
accordance with the princess dowager's ideas, and so Earl Bute found
it convenient to appear upon the scene,--a gentle hint that there was
to be no more love-making. Their flirtations would make a long story
though, for Lord Newbottle was in love with Lady Sarah and jealous of
the prince, which made it all the more interesting. Bute and the
princess dowager put their heads together, and sent Colonel Graham on
a prospecting tour among the German principalities. He sent back word
that the daughter of the Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz would make a
good wife for his royal highness, and he judged well, for I am sure
you all love our Sophia Charlotte."

"Most certainly, and we would emulate her virtues," said Mrs. Adams.

Mr. Newville proposed the health of the queen.

Their glasses drained, Mr. Dapper went on:--

"Lord Harcourt was sent as ambassador to negotiate a marriage, not
with Sophia Charlotte, but with her brother, the duke."

"Was not our queen consulted in regard to the matter?" Ruth asked.

[Illustration: QUEEN SOPHIA CHARLOTTE]

"Not at all. She knew very little about the world; never had been a
dozen mile