Then, as they moved on, it was Ilesa who was the more excited.
The picture they were looking at was one that she had seen reproduced in a magazine and she had never thought that she would be lucky enough ever to see the original.
It was of a cheetah and its two Indian handlers accompanying it.
“Look, Papa! Look!” she cried excitedly. “The picture we talked about and you said you would love to own.”
“I had no idea it belonged to Your Grace,” the Vicar commented.
“It is a new acquisition,” the Duke explained. “I have only owned it now for the last six months.”
“But it is so – beautiful!” Ilesa breathed, “and I have always – longed to see a cheetah!”
She saw the Duke’s lips move as if he was about to say something pertinent to her and then he seemed to change his mind and said to her i
