Sola gave a little cry.
“Oh, Papa, you make it sound so horrible!”
“I am talking sheer common sense,” the Grand Duke replied. “We all know the man has been pressured into this marriage and it would be fatal to turn off the heat when he has been brought to the boil.”
“It is wrong – I am sure it is wrong,” Sola murmured.
“There is no alternative,” the Grand Duke insisted. “Now, go upstairs and break the news to your sister.”
Although she felt agitated, Sola just could not help being amused at the way her father avoided telling Zelie himself.
She knew very well how angry Zelie would be.
But she could quite easily see that, if the State Visit had to be postponed, it might well be difficult to get things going again.
“What about the people here?” she asked him. “They will know it is not
