He looked into her eyes as he spoke and Militsa knew that he meant what he said and there was nothing she could do but obey his command.
He understood what she was feeling although she could not put it into words.
Then he drew her forward through an open door into the light of the candles on the altar and those flickering in silver sanctuary lamps hanging from the arched roof.
*
Driving back towards the villa, Militsa felt as if she was in a dream it was impossible to awake from. The Service, the prayers that were said before the sacred icons, the lighted candles that she and the Duke held and the crowns that were held over their heads made a pattern of beauty that she knew she could never forget.
It would always be there in her heart.
As the Duke had made his responses in a deep voi
