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excitement as he first heard a potential lover’s voice and noticed the sudden widening of her eyes when she realised how attractive he was.
    He knew every single movement of the courtship dance, yet each time it happened it seemed new, exciting and even thrilling.
    Once he was tied up and married there would be no more of that – not only from his point of view, but also from the women he met.
    The unmarried man was certainly fair game and a woman knew exactly how to stalk him.
    It would be very different when he was protected, watched over and guarded by a wife and she could make things very unpleasant if she was jealous or suspicious.
    When he was lying in bed, he listened to the sound of water lapping against the sides of the yacht.
    He knew that by tomorrow he would be many miles away from London, from Isobel and any other woman he had left angry and frustrated because she had lost him.
    ‘I am free ,’ he said to himself as he cuddled down against the pillows.  ‘And that is exactly how I intend to remain.’
    He then fell into a deep sleep almost before he had finished luxuriating in his glorious escape.
*
    Captain Gordon had been told there was no reason to hurry.
    So in the morning when the Marquis rose, it was a delight to find he could pay attention to the yacht itself.
    He had always wanted his own yacht even when he was a small boy.
    He had studied other people’s yachts and one of the first enterprises he had embarked on when he had become a Marquis was to build The Neptune .
    The first English yacht on record was The Pearl of ninety-five tons built in 1820 and another was The Arrow , which was built two years later.
    The Marquis was determined that his yacht, when it finally appeared, would be larger, swifter and more elegant than any of the others.
    He had talked about it with the Prince of Wales, as His Royal Highness had become President of the British Yacht Racing Association that had been founded in 1875.
    Like the Marquis, he was extremely interested not only in the racing ability of a yacht, but that it should be as comfortable as a travelling house.
    He insisted that if beautiful women were to sail in yachts, they must be as comfortable as in a Palace.
    The sailing rules governing the handling of yachts while racing were strictly codified and had been approved by His Royal Highness.
    The Marquis was flattered when the Prince asked his opinion as to whether he thought the rules were just and effective.
    He decided that as soon as he returned to England after his journey to Scotland, he would invite the Prince of Wales to take a tour of inspection on board The Neptune .
    He would also enter her in the next available race, provided she had every chance of winning.
    ‘I must discuss this with the Captain,’ he thought.  ‘It will be certainly something new for me to win a yacht race rather than a horserace!’
    Then he laughed at the idea.
    He had won so many trophies one way or another – so one extra prize for The Neptune would not make much difference.
    Yet he could not help thinking at the very back of his mind that it was important he should keep himself well occupied by other interests rather than just women.
    That Isobel had virtually proposed marriage to him had been a shock he would not forget in a hurry.
    He now remembered a relevant incident –
    A friend of his that he had been at Oxford with had been out riding and a girl, who was a near neighbour and whom he had known for many years, joined him.
    A violent thunderstorm had suddenly burst and they had sheltered in a small woodcutter’s hut until the worst of the storm had passed.
    Because they were both so interested in horses, they had talked about them during the hours they were together.
    It had never even occurred to the Marquis’s friend to kiss her.
    Finally they returned home very late and the girl’s family were most perturbed as to what had happened.
    The following day her father called on the young man’s father and had