“True enough,” he said with that horrible Irish candor. “I have to confess, to start with it was the challenge. You were so impossibly haughty and virginal, and it was intriguing to see if I could bed a granddaughter of Queen Victoria.”

“Great-granddaughter,” I corrected.

“Great-granddaughter, then. And after a while I started thinking, ‘You know, I think one could have a good roll in the hay with her, once she’d been warmed up a bit.’ ”

He looked at me and I blushed.

“And now?” I said.

I suppose I was hoping he’d tell me that he loved me.

“I never like to give up on a challenge,” he said breezily, “especially when the goal is in sight.”

Not the answer I was looking for. We drove on for a while in silence.

“Is that the only reason?” I said. “I’m a challenge to you? And when you’ve finally achieved your goal, you’ll lose interest instantly?”

“Not exactly,” he said. “The problem is, Georgie, that I can’t seem to get you out of my head. I know I should be going after a rich heiress who will keep me in the style to which I’d like to be accustomed. But I keep coming back to you. I don’t know why.”

He reached across and covered my hand with his own. “But here I am,” he said. “And here you are. Let’s just take it from here and see where it goes, shall we?”

“Yes, let’s.” I turned my face up to him to be kissed. Then I yelled, “Look out!” as several sheep wandered across the road.

Historical Note

Ronny Padgett is modeled on famous aviatrix Amy John-son who broke many records in the 1930s, including flying solo to Australia in her Gypsy Moth. She was killed in WWII.

Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale, 1864-1892, has long been a subject of rumor and speculation. He was the oldest son of King Edward VII and thus heir to the throne. Although there is little firm evidence, his reputation was one of dissolute behavior. He is reputed to have frequented both male and female prostitutes, to have been whisked away from a raid on a homosexual brothel, and even to have been Jack the Ripper. So when he died of influenza at the age of twenty-eight, leaving the path to the throne open for his solid and reliable younger brother, who later became George V, rumors flew that his death had been aided or even that he had been kidnapped and was kept prisoner in an insane asylum.

None of these rumors has ever been substantiated, but they certainly make for a good story!

His future bride, Princess May of Teck, later married his brother George and the royal couple were reported to be extremely happy.