‘Oh, please, God, let Lord Stanton dine somewhere else,’ she found herself praying.
Then she was instantly ashamed that she should pray for anything so trivial and so selfish.
When she went downstairs to the salon, she found the Duke alone and magnificent in his evening clothes.
She did not realise that her whole face lit up with delight because her fears were unfounded and, as she moved towards the Duke, she saw that he was smiling.
At the same time there was that expression in his eyes that had made her heart beat so quickly when they had been looking at the painting together.
When Una had been dressing, the maid had offered to arrange her hair and she had accepted gratefully.
While she had been sitting in front of the dressing table, there had been a knock at the door and the maid
