“I think if you are honest,” he said, “you would wish for somebody to love you and for you to love him. That is what every woman wants.”
“I – suppose so,” Mariota agreed.
She was not looking at the Earl as she spoke, but into her dreamland where she lived when she was alone and told herself stories.
“You have never been in love?” the Earl asked.
“Only in my – dreams.”
“And what is your dream-lover like?”
“Tall, dark, very handsome and a magnificent rider. Strong and authoritative and yet at the same time if anybody is in trouble, kind, considerate and understanding.”
As Mariota spoke again dreamily, the words came out just as she had thought of them for so long.
Once again she was seeing the hero of her story climbing the mountains, exploring the world or, and this was one of her f
