‘I see no harm in reading in itself, ma’am.’ ‘One is relieved to hear it.’ ‘It’s when it’s carried to extremes. There’s the mischief.’ ‘Are you suggesting one rations one’s reading?’ ‘Your Majesty has led such an exemplary life and that it should be reading that has taken Your Majesty’s fancy is almost by the way. Had you invested in any pursuit with similar fervour, eyebrows must have been raised.’ ‘They might. But then one has spent one’s life not raising eyebrows. One feels sometimes that that is not much of a boast.’
