CHAPTER FIVESlowly, because he was not quite certain what he should do about it, the Duke moved quietly into the hall.
Only when using all her strength and both hands, Magnolia was still unable to move the bolt at the top of the door, did he say,
“Perhaps I can help you.”
If he had fired a pistol, she could not have seemed more startled. She appeared almost to jump into the air before she turned round to stare at him, her eyes seeming to fill her whole face with terror at his appearance.
The Duke saw that she was wearing a dark gown and over it a long cloak trimmed and lined with ermine. She had a small, comparatively plain bonnet on her head, and beneath it her hair with its strange streaks of silver looked very unusual and, if he had thought about it, very lovely.
As she was obvious
