“I never think of you as having German blood,” the King said, and remembered he had said very much the same thing once before.
“I find it hard to think of it too, but Papa was half English and his grandmother was Austrian. So I think the truth is that I am rather a mongrel, if predominantly English.”
“Now I understand!” the King exclaimed with a twinkle in his eye. “Mongrels are believed to be far more intelligent than pedigree dogs.”
“You are making me nervous,” Anastasia said. “I shall definitely have to think before I speak, as Mama has always begged me to do and in consequence I shall only make the most inane and nonsensical remarks.”
“I like you just as you are, Anastasia”
Once again their eyes met and the expression in his made her feel shy and strange in an exciting way.
They
