"It commences with an 'H.'"
"Hohenlohe--Grandma Hohenlohe," explained Bertha quickly.
Barbara was thinking hard. "No, she did not say Hohenlohe; and,
besides, she is dead."
"Getting warm," murmured Martha.
"Now you stop." Bertha looked very serious. "The Princess Leopold
referred to their grandmother, of course. What else should she have in
mind?"
The tirewoman bent low over Barbara's ear. "Majesty's _Jaeger_ told me
that the War Lord is in the habit of consigning old lady relatives of
his to a hot place, whether dead or alive."
Barbara clapped her hands. "I know," she laughed; "you need not try and
keep things from this child, Bertha. I was not born yesterday."
"I shall tell Mamma, and you will get it too, Martha." The Krupp
heiress was on her dignity once more.
"Why not put me across your knee and spank me?" said Barbara derisively.
Then, coaxingly: "_Do_ go on, Bertha; it is all so interesting; and if
Martha does not behave (stamping her foot) she will leave the room this
minute. Did you hear what I said, Martha?"
"Indeed, Your Majesty, and the other Majesty will now proceed," mocked
the tirewoman, who was unimpressed, having known the girls "all their
born days."
"Well," began Bertha anew, "there were a few days of Court mourning
while I was in Berlin, and I had to wear all white, no jewellery, no
flowers. All the gentlemen had mourning-bands around their left arm,
and Uncle Majesty wore the uniform of Colonel of Artillery--black and
velvet."
"Auntie was in black too--silk, of course, and heavy enough to stand by
itself; but at her throat I saw a large diamond brooch."
"'That will get Mother into trouble if the old man peeps it,' observed
the Crown Prince, who took me in to dinner, and who knows all the
English and French slang."
"How perfectly delightful he must be!" cried Barbara.