Quickly he thrust his in his pocket saying,
“Be careful that you don’t slip on the wet deck. Are you quite certain you are warm enough, ma’am?”
“Quite certain,” the Princess answered. “But I think it is very kind of you to think of me and to be concerned in case I catch a chill.”
“I cannot allow you to arrive coughing and spluttering,” Lord Victor said.
The Princess laughed.
“That will certainly be very unromantic.”
She spoke without thinking and then her expression changed and she added rather dismally,
“There will be nothing very romantic anyway about my wedding to the King, will there?”
“You cannot say that until you have met His Majesty,” Lord Victor replied. “After all he sounds old to you, but some men are still young at that age.”
There was silence and then he asked,
“Sure
