They were nearing the Palace and the King turned towards her in the carriage to say,
“You are very different from what I expected.”
“What did you expect?” Anastasia asked. “Someone aloof, autocratic and empty-headed?”
She remembered what the Prime Minister had said and added,
“And, of course, with protruding teeth!”
The King laughed.
“Shall I tell you that your teeth are like pearls?”
“It sounds rather like a phrase in the novelettes Mama will not allow me to read,” she said. “But if it is meant as a compliment, then I accept it with pleasure.”
“You must have received plenty of compliments in England,” the King suggested.
“Not many,” Anastasia answered, “so I am extremely greedy where they are concerned.”
Again the King laughed and then they reached the Palace and there was no mo
