As if he realised her distress, he handed the sword he had in his hand to Lord Alvanley and came to her side.
“You cannot do – this, you – cannot,” she said despairingly.
“I must, Alyna,” he answered, “and once again I can only ask you to trust me. Believe in me. I had not realised that you were so faint-hearted.”
‘I am – not,’ she tried to say, but now it was almost impossible to speak.
Lord Dorrington drew his fob from his pocket and put it in his coat pocket. Then he took off his coat and stood there in his thin white muslin shirt.
It showed even better than his coat had done the breadth of his shoulders and it was easy to perceive that his body was hard, muscular and athletic.
But he still looked very slim and elegant, Alyna thought.
Glancing behind her she saw Prince Ahmadi, an
