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door.
    It was all done swiftly, discreetly, yet the smooth operation sent a chill down Rosie’s spine as she and Gerd went through the door and into the building. Her own life was so free, compared to Gerd’s.
    On the other hand, she thought with an effort at flippancy, she wasn’t rich enough to dine in places like this.
    As though he could read her mind, Gerd said, ‘This is the aristocratic quarter of town. In fact, right next door is the town house of the Dukes of Vamili.’
    Her brow wrinkled. ‘That’s Kelt’s title, isn’t it?’
    â€˜Yes. It’s used for the second son of the ruler now, but before the title was taken over by our family the Duke of Vamili was the second-ranking man in the Grand Duchy, with almost regal power over about a third of Carathia. About two hundred years ago the then Duke led a rebellion against the Grand Duke, and died for his treachery. He had only one child, a daughter, who was married off to the second son of the Grand Duke. The Grand Duke then transferred the title and all the estates—to him.’
    â€˜Poor woman,’ Rosie said crisply. ‘It doesn’t sound like a recipe for a happy marriage.’
    His smile was brief. ‘Strangely enough, it appears to have been. Of course, he might have been an excellent husband. And women, especially aristocratic women, of those days didn’t have such high expectations of marriage.’
    â€˜Unlike modern women, who have the audacity to want happiness and fulfilment,’ Rosie returned sweetly, pacing up a wide sweep of shallow stairs.
    Gerd cocked an ironic brow. ‘Some seem to believe that both should come without any effort on their part.’
    Like my mother , Rosie thought sombrely. Chasing rainbows all her life…
    They were shown into a room that opened out through an arcade onto a stone terrace overlooking the great valley of Carathia.
    Rosie sighed in involuntary appreciation, walking across to grip the stone balustrade, still warm from the sun. ‘This is so beautiful, like a bowl half-filled with light.’
    Dusk was creeping across the valley, and in the growing pool of shadow all that could be seen were smallgolden pin points, brave challenges to the darkness. Eastwards she could pick out groves of trees, closely planted fields of some sort of grain, clusters of red-tiled villages, the shimmer of silver-gilt that was the river and every detail on the slopes of the mountains.
    Rosie felt eager and aware, her senses stirred and stimulated by the man standing beside her as he surveyed this part of his realm.
    Quietly she said, ‘I know there’s a lot more to Carathia than this valley, but it seems complete in itself.’
    â€˜One of my ancestors called it a fair land set above,’ Gerd told her. ‘And yes, Carathia’s much bigger than the valley. The country wouldn’t be nearly so prosperous without the coastal strip. It gives us easy access to the rest of the world, and makes us a very popular tourism destination. Then there are the agricultural lands further north, and the mines—all important.’
    â€˜But this is where the capital is, where the ruler lives; the heart of the country?’
    â€˜Its heart and its soul,’ he said after a few moments. ‘This is where those original Greek soldiers fought and settled and took wives, and it’s always been the centre of power.’
    â€˜You’re a real Carathian, aren’t you?’ she said quietly, wondering why this sudden realisation struck like a blow. ‘Kelt might be a Duke here, but he’s a Kiwi really—his heart belongs to New Zealand. You spent as much time in New Zealand as he did when you were younger, yet you’re Carathian.’
    â€˜I knew from the time I was old enough to understand that this place was my destiny,’ he pointed out. As though bored with the topic, he turned. ‘Where would you liketo sit? We can go