“Oh, is the old lady dead? I am sorry about that, but she has been very poorly for years.”
“Yes, I know, Papa, but as there was no one else we could trust to look after Lady Basset, I took her place.”
“We met by chance,” the Duke intervened. “The moment I saw Helsa I thought she was the most beautiful girl I have ever seen in my whole life.”
The Vicar smiled.
“Exactly what I thought about her mother when we first met.”
“Then I saw her riding,” the Duke went on as if the Vicar had not spoken. “I thought that she must have come down from Heaven and was an angel on horseback. There are no other words to describe the way she looked.”
“So you fell in love – ?” There was a pause before Helsa suggested,
“I think that Papa should know – exactly what did happen. It will help us to decide wha
