It was as if they fenced with each other and Paulina held her breath.
Then the Grand Duke said,
“You realise that, under the laws of Altauss, your marriage is a morganatic one.”
“That I accept,” the Prince said, “but, as I have already said, completely and absolutely binding.”
There was a frightening silence before the Grand Duke replied,
“In which case your wife has to have a name.”
“Yes, Papa.”
“I have been giving it my consideration,” the Grand Duke went on slowly, “and I find that there is an unused title belonging to The Castle where you spent your honeymoon.”
Paulina felt it hard to breathe and she clenched her fingers together in her lap.
“I therefore propose,” the Grand Duke continued, “to give your wife, Maximus, the title of Her Serene Highness Princess Paulina of Lieden
