“It was very stupid of me to let you do so,” Ilitta answered, “but after we were free all I could think of was that I wanted to be with you and escape from those horrible men.”
“I was thinking the same,” the Duke admitted, “and that is why I did not tell you my real name.”
“I never dreamt – I never imagined for one instant that you could be the Duke I had – run away from!”
“And I never dreamt that was the reason why you had left home!” the Duke laughed.
“I had always sworn to myself that I would never ever marry any man unless I loved him,” Ilitta said, “and I had the terrifying feeling that any husband Papa chose for me, as he was determined to do, would look like some unpleasant animal and I would therefore hate him!”
“I wonder whether, if you had met me in the ordinary way, I shoul
