Then on a sunny day, a week before Christmas, Zou Zou had her little aeroplane wheeled out of the barn and took off for London, but not before she had given Dooley a taste of flight. He came back so excited that he quite forgot about the Duke of Wellington. I wondered if Zou Zou had decided that Christmas would be too boring with us in this backwater after all. And a day later Darcy came to tell me that he had to go away too on an important errand, but promised he’d be back in good time for Christmas. I just prayed he hadn’t gone off to Argentina or Mongolia on one of those suspicious errands for the British government. But he returned two days later, looking rather pleased with himself.

“Where did you go to?” I asked. “Or is one not supposed to know?”

He grinned. “I went to London, saw the king’s private secretary and asked him to put the machinery in motion to have you officially removed from the line of succession. I gave him a letter to be delivered to Their Majesties, announcing my intention of asking for your hand. So no more Gretna Green. We’re going to do this properly.”

I said nothing but simply nodded. He took my hand. “Georgie, I want you to have a proper wedding. Long white dress. Bridesmaids. All those things that matter to women.”

I had to smile at this statement. “All right,” I said. “But for now we have to wait and see what Their Majesties say. They could refuse . . .”

“Refuse a splendid chap like me?” he asked. “After I saved their lives once?”

“They might find another Prince Siegfried for me.”

“If another Prince Siegfried shows up, I’ll challenge him to a duel for your hand.”

I flung my arms around his neck, laughing. “Oh, Darcy, you’re wonderful.”

“You’re not so bad yourself,” he whispered, nuzzling at my ear. “You saved my father’s life. You wouldn’t let go when I tried to break up with you. You believed in him. You believed in us.”

“Of course I did. You can’t just stop loving somebody.” I looked up into those alarming dark blue eyes and then for a while nothing more was said.