“Have ye got naught to cover ye’re head, miss?” the innkeeper’s wife asked solicitously.
“My brother would not stop to fetch my bonnet,” she replied, “but he has consented to have the hood up, and I am quite all right.”
“Oi might ‘ave a piece o’ribbon, miss, if that’d be any help,” the innkeeper’s wife suggested.
“That would be very kind of you,” Giona replied.
Accordingly when she came downstairs with her long hair neatly brushed there was a blue ribbon to keep it in place, and it was tied in a small bow on the top of her head.
There was a twinkle in the Duke’s eyes as she explained how she got it and when they were alone having luncheon he said, “Now you really do look like a schoolgirl!”
“In three months time I shall be nineteen,” Giona replied.
Before this she had exclaimed with
