“No, of course not. Mama and Papa were very shocked at the idea of the stage.”
She was thinking as she spoke of how horrified they had been by her Aunt Millicent’s conduct and how they had always spoken about her with hushed voices as if it was something that they wished to hide and then disown.
“What it comes down to,” the Duke remarked, as if working it all out, “is that, because you are poor and yet so outstandingly pretty, you think that the only possible way of earning your living is to go on stage.”
“There must be other ways,” Helga said, “but I have not really had time to – think about them as yet.”
“Not since you ran away.”
“Yes, Your Grace, that is – so.”
“Then I suggest that you should be a great deal more honest with me than you have been up until now and tell me why you h
