Chapter Eighteen
Queen Ingeborg sat at one end of a long table, and King Hrothgar sat at the other. “Your majesty,” said the queen, “you have been some time at our court now, and I wish to know your response to my offer of marriage.”
Hrothgar looked a bit shifty. He didn’t much like telling people home truths, but it couldn’t be helped. Sooner or later the queen would have to know. It had better be now. “I do not think we are suited, your majesty,” Hrothgar replied. “There is a pronounced temperamental disaffinity which would ensure that any marriage would not be a happy one.”
“Please speak more clearly,” the queen said. “What do you mean?”
Hrothgar took a deep breath. “It is my belief that you do not share my enthusiasm for the pleasures of the body.”
The queen’s face clouded. “If yo
