“The Duke of Milverden!” the Courier gasped, “but I always understood that His Grace never sees anyone.”
“That is what I have been told too, but I am anxious to meet him and so I am answering his advertisement for a librarian.”
The Courier stared at her.
“But surely, Your Highness, His Grace’ll require a man to fill that post.”
Zelda laughed.
“You are quite right. Thus, as I cannot pretend to be a man, I am now pretending to be a middle-aged and knowledgeable woman.”
He did not answer and she carried on,
“I am going to ask you to sit opposite me and hold this hand-mirror at right angles so that I can put on this wig and make myself look at least fifty years of age.”
“I don’t believe it possible,” the Courier murmured. “Your Highness may be playing a very good joke, but I expect His
