“Now you are embarrassing me!” she said. “I thought that you behaved extremely commendably yourself, considering you were a reluctant bridegroom.”
The Duke frowned as if he thought her remark tactless, but after a second’s pause he said,
“I feel that we are starting out on a voyage of discovery. We really know very little about each other and we have seldom been alone together until now.”
He smiled as he added,
“Your sisters, quite unintentionally, I am sure, are extremely effective chaperones!”
“We have always done everything together. In fact I feel tonight they will be depressed because they cannot be with me!”
“I think it would cause a great deal of comment,” the Duke said in an amused voice, “if I set off for France not only with my bride but also with her three sisters!”
“They
