“I suppose they grow up used to it. And they drink wine rather than beer and whiskey. Wine is supposed to be good for you. And they don’t work as hard as we do. Drive past any café in France and you’ll see men sitting around with glasses of wine in the middle of the morning. They just don’t take life seriously.”

“How come you’re always so damned rational and composed?” he snapped. “Anyone would think you didn’t want to elope with me.” He stopped and turned sharply to look at me. “You do want to, don’t you? I never actually asked you.”

The question caught me by surprise. Did I want to? Wasn’t I worried about what my royal relatives would say? Hadn’t I looked forward to the long white dress and veil all my life? Then I looked at Darcy. Even in the darkness of the motorcar he was so handsome, and I loved him so much. “Of course I do,” I said.

“You hesitated before you answered me,” he replied.

“Only because I’m too cold to make my mouth move.”

“I could warm it up for you,” he said. He reached behind my head and drew me toward him, kissing me long and hard. “Right,” he said when we broke apart a little breathlessly. “Let’s find somewhere to spend the night before we both end up frozen to death.”

We drove on, hoping to see at least a village close to the road. I think we must have been almost back as far as York when we finally found any sign of human habitation, at least humans who might be still awake. This was also a pub, a little off the road and by a railway crossing. The sign, swinging in the blizzardlike wind, said The Drowning Man and showed a hand coming out of a pond.

“Hardly encouraging,” Darcy said dryly. “But at least a light is still burning and hopefully someone is still awake.”

He opened the driver’s side door, letting in a great flurry of snow, then wrestled the wind to close it hurriedly before running across to the pub. I peered through the snow-clad windscreen, watching him. He knocked, waited, and to my relief the door finally opened, letting out a band of light across the snow. Darcy seemed to be having a prolonged conversation during which the other person could be seen peering at me, then he marched back to the car. For a horrible moment I thought he was going to say that they had nothing available and that we’d have to drive on. But instead he came around to my door and opened it for me.