Harry Lang had thought for a few seconds before he answered,

“I suppose, if I was not your father that would apply to me!”

“Oh, no, Papa!”

“It is true. You must avoid men who are out for amusement and not marriage and men who marry a woman because she has money or a grand Social position.”

“Nobody is likely to marry me for either of those two reasons,” Honora pointed out.

“No, my dearest, but, while they will be beguiled and enchanted by your face, you must make sure they want more than that.”

Honora looked puzzled and he explained,

“A man must love you for your real self, your personality and your character, as I loved your mother. She was not only the most beautiful person I have ever seen but the sweetest and the most adorable.”

There was a note in her father’s voice that told Honora only too clearly how much he missed his wife.

Then he said,

“I loved her and – this is the truth – we never for one moment grew bored with each other because we laughed at the same things and stimulated each other’s minds. And that, my poppet, is very very important when you are choosing a husband.”

“But suppose the man I fall in love with does not want to marry me?” Honora asked.

“He will,” her father replied, “but do not fall into his arms too quickly like an overripe peach. Give him a run for his money and he will appreciate you all the more when he catches you.”

Honora had understood exactly what her father was saying.

When she watched the lovely women fluttering around him because he was so handsome and attempting to entice him by wiles that were so obvious, she felt they were not only embarrassing but foolish.

She could understand why he had laughed at them and how, if he seemed infatuated, it had never appeared to last for long.

“Are you bored with Lady Studleigh?” she remembered asking her father when she was only thirteen.

She thought that he hesitated before he replied,

“You have asked me a direct question, my dearest, and so I will give you a direct answer – yes! She is a bore and I have no further wish to be bothered by her.”

Because the servants talked, Honora was aware that Lady Studleigh’s groom called almost every day with notes that smelt of her perfume, but which after a while her father did not even bother to open.

Once when he was out she had come to the house and walked into the drawing room where Honora was sitting reading.

“Where is your father?” she had demanded.

Honora, who had not heard her enter the room because she had been concentrating on her book, jumped to her feet to curtsey and say,

“I am sorry, Lady Studleigh, I did not hear you arrive.”

“I asked you where your father was. I want to see him!”

There was no doubt that Lady Studleigh was looking very beautiful.