CHAPTER SEVENThe Earl suddenly became aware that Vanora was trembling all over.
He took the First Folio from her and placed it very carefully on the nearest armchair.
Then he put his arms round her and held her very close.
“I am waiting for an answer, my darling,” he said.
For a moment there was no reply.
Then, in a sobbing little voice that he could hardly hear, Vanora whispered,
“I love you – but I cannot marry you.”
The Earl was astonished.
It had never occurred to him that any woman he asked to be his wife would ever refuse him.
Certainly not the woman he now held in his arms.
He knew that she loved him as he had never been loved before.
“I just don’t understand,” he said. “What is wrong? What are you saying to me?”
Vanora did not answer and he realised that she was crying.
