What was more she had always been quite certain that she would know her prospective husband for some time before he declared himself.
Then she would be able to consider and eventually be quite certain that she would be as happy with him as her father and mother were together.
“I know this is a shock, my dearest,” her father was saying. “But what I intend to do, with your permission, is to suggest to Prince Igor that, once your engagement has been announced and the Russians then withdraw, you get to know each other and I would hope to love each other which will inevitably take time.”
“I don’t understand, Papa,” Lavinia said. “How could I possibly be engaged to a man I have only danced with twice? I know nothing about him at all and he knows nothing about me.”
“What I am trying to say
