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mother were really happy and whether it was worthwhile giving up the important position your mother would have had as a wife of the Duke of Avon.”
    “Mama once told me that she was the luckiest and happiest woman in the whole world because she had been fortunate enough to find Papa,” Ula replied. “Even when things were difficult and we were cold in the winter because we could not afford enough coal she used to laugh and say, ‘nothing really matters as long as I have Papa and you, dearest, for that makes the house, even if it is as cold as Siberia, a little – corner of Heaven because we are all together’.”
    There was a break in Ula’s voice as she spoke and it was with an effort that she forced back the tears from her eyes.
    The Duchess put out a hand towards her and said,
    “Sit down, child. I gather my grandson wants to plan how to make you the success your mother was, which I am sure she would want for you. I don’t think it is going to be too difficult.”
    “Are you – sure about – that?” Ula asked. “His Lordship has the fantastic idea that I might be an ‘Incomparable’, but I know how plain I look compared with Sarah!”
    She hesitated before she added softly,
    “Papa said once that no one could be really beautiful unless they had the ‘Divine Light’ shining from inside them. Perhaps that is something I do not have and only – God could give it to me.”
    She spoke earnestly without the least embarrassment and the Marquis watched to see what his grandmother’s reaction would be to this very unusual young woman.
    However, the Duchess did not appear to think what Ula had said was in the least odd.
    She simply replied,
    “I think we shall just have to hope that you and I together can please my very fastidious grandson and make sure, as he has just said, that you gallop past the winning post ahead of all the other competitors in the race.”
    Ula laughed, and the sound seemed to ring out around the room.
    “Is that what I am to do?” she asked the Marquis. “Then I do hope I win the Gold Cup, as you did at Ascot last year.”
    “I am prepared to bet on it!”
    “Please – don’t be too – confident,” Ula said quickly. “You might lose your money.”
    “Talking about money,” the Duchess interposed, “the first thing Ula will require is the right clothes.”
    Ula gave a cry of protest.
    “I had forgotten that! Oh, please, ma’am, I am sure you realise that I should not allow his Lordship to pay for my gowns, but, when I ran away in such a hurry, I brought nothing with me.”
    There was a worried expression on her face as she turned to the Marquis and said,
    “I cannot be an – encumbrance on you – or on Her Grace.”
    The Marquis rose to his feet to stand with his back to the fire.
    “Now, let me make it clear from the very beginning,” he said, “that I cannot have my plans interfered with. As you promised, Ula, to trust me, you must also obey me.”
    Ula’s eyes fell before him.
    Then she said in a low voice,
    “Mama – told me once that a lady could – accept only small presents – from a gentleman without being thought ‘fast’ or – improper. I think she meant a fan or perhaps a pair of gloves – nothing else.”
    “And yet I think you had originally very different ideas of what you would accept when you came to London!” the Marquis remarked.
    Ula blushed and looked very lovely as she did so.
    Then she said,
    “I-I thought then I should be – earning the money – not just accepting it as a – gift.”
    “That is the answer!” the Marquis said. “You will be earning the money because you will be carrying out my orders and you can, if you like, think of me as being your employer.”
    For a moment Ula considered this. Then she looked at the Marquis in a mischievous manner and he realised that she had a dimple on each side of her mouth.
    “I am sure your Lordship has just thought of that idea on the spur of the moment, but, as it saves my face, I