“Of course,” Larentia had said, and again she had blushed.
“I suppose you realise,” the Duke said, after what seemed to Larentia a long pause, “that if you are as you say you are, the Duchess of Tregaron, you are, on my uncle’s death, in a very advantageous position.”
“I do not – want to be a Duchess,” Larentia said quickly. “Why I am here is simply because I have not – received the – money that he has been – paying me these past six years, to keep our – marriage a – secret.”
“He has been paying you?” the Duke asked, and it struck Larentia that she had told her story very badly. Harry had explained to her exactly what she must say, but because she had been so frightened by the lateness of the hour, the size of the Castle and by the Duke himself, she had really started at the wrong end o
