and William told her.
She was so pleased by the monkeys at Gibraltar that the Duke quite expected to be asked to take some with him.
Then, when they reached Italy, she longed to go to Rome and the Duke told her that he was in too much of a hurry and she would have to be content with Naples where they refuelled.
Naples, of course, was near Pompeii and Alnina had marvellous stories to tell them of what she had read on the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and the terrible destruction it caused in AD 79.
In fact the Duke told her that she was a walking encyclopaedia.
“I think that sounds very depressing,” she replied. “Am I talking too much? Would you rather I was silent?”
“No of course not!” William piped up “we are enjoying every moment of it! I only wish I knew as many stories about all these places as you do.”
“I have read endlessly all about Europe,” Alnina replied, “and I will be even more enchanted when we see the Greek Islands.”
They teased her about the Greek Gods, saying they were who she really worshipped and she had to admit that she had a soft spot in her heart for Apollo.
“I so love everything about Greece,” she enthused, “and perhaps one day I will be able to go there.”
“Now you are making me feel guilty because we are not stopping at Athens,” the Duke muttered.
“Perhaps, just perhaps,” she sighed, “if we are not in a great hurry, we could stop there on our way back.”
“I am making no promises, Alnina. You know as well as I do that you will want to stop everywhere and that would make us take three years to reach England! And by that time your house may have fallen down and they might have put another Duke in my place!”
Alnina laughed.
“I think that is unlikely because you are exactly what a Duke should be and your family must be grateful.”
“I doubt if they are. To tell the truth I have paid them very little attention since I succeeded to the title.”
“But, of course, they feel secure and happy because you are at the Head of the Family and that is exactly what a Duke is meant to do.”
“Now I am interested, as you are talking about me. Now tell me if you think I am a perfect Duke or rather a disappointing one.”
“You know the answer to that one already,” Alnina said, “and you will become conceited if William and I keep paying you compliments.”
She smiled before she went on,
“But, of course, we want you to be perfect and we want people to say you behave exactly as a Duke should behave! And I am sure they will.”
“I often remember,” William came in, “how John and I used to criticise the previous Head of the Family! We deplored him for keeping so much money for himself, instead of distributing it among us all.”
“I expect that is what I will do too,” the Duke said. “But for the moment, because it is so unusual to have any money at all, I enjoy giving it away.”
“As you have given it to me,” Alnina said softly.
“You are doing me a great service and I can hardly say that about any of my relations. In fact some of them are rather like your brother and seem to look on me as an ever open bank!”
“Well, doubtless you will be firm with them sooner or later,” William said. “In the meantime I can assure you that they will criticise you heavily for wasting your money on buying a mountain.”
“Whatever they think or do not think, I have every intention of having my precious mountain that I have loved for years. In fact I want to kiss her as soon as I arrive.”
William held up his hand.
“Now the mountain has become a she!” he cried, “it’s the last thing I expected. I have always been brought up to believe that mountains are men, whereas flowers are women!”
The Duke was firm in saying that as far as he was concerned his mountain was a female, even though, if he was asked, he preferred the male sex.
“Why should you prefer them?” Alnina asked.
“Because they are straightforward and honest, like
She was so pleased by the monkeys at Gibraltar that the Duke quite expected to be asked to take some with him.
Then, when they reached Italy, she longed to go to Rome and the Duke told her that he was in too much of a hurry and she would have to be content with Naples where they refuelled.
Naples, of course, was near Pompeii and Alnina had marvellous stories to tell them of what she had read on the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and the terrible destruction it caused in AD 79.
In fact the Duke told her that she was a walking encyclopaedia.
“I think that sounds very depressing,” she replied. “Am I talking too much? Would you rather I was silent?”
“No of course not!” William piped up “we are enjoying every moment of it! I only wish I knew as many stories about all these places as you do.”
“I have read endlessly all about Europe,” Alnina replied, “and I will be even more enchanted when we see the Greek Islands.”
They teased her about the Greek Gods, saying they were who she really worshipped and she had to admit that she had a soft spot in her heart for Apollo.
“I so love everything about Greece,” she enthused, “and perhaps one day I will be able to go there.”
“Now you are making me feel guilty because we are not stopping at Athens,” the Duke muttered.
“Perhaps, just perhaps,” she sighed, “if we are not in a great hurry, we could stop there on our way back.”
“I am making no promises, Alnina. You know as well as I do that you will want to stop everywhere and that would make us take three years to reach England! And by that time your house may have fallen down and they might have put another Duke in my place!”
Alnina laughed.
“I think that is unlikely because you are exactly what a Duke should be and your family must be grateful.”
“I doubt if they are. To tell the truth I have paid them very little attention since I succeeded to the title.”
“But, of course, they feel secure and happy because you are at the Head of the Family and that is exactly what a Duke is meant to do.”
“Now I am interested, as you are talking about me. Now tell me if you think I am a perfect Duke or rather a disappointing one.”
“You know the answer to that one already,” Alnina said, “and you will become conceited if William and I keep paying you compliments.”
She smiled before she went on,
“But, of course, we want you to be perfect and we want people to say you behave exactly as a Duke should behave! And I am sure they will.”
“I often remember,” William came in, “how John and I used to criticise the previous Head of the Family! We deplored him for keeping so much money for himself, instead of distributing it among us all.”
“I expect that is what I will do too,” the Duke said. “But for the moment, because it is so unusual to have any money at all, I enjoy giving it away.”
“As you have given it to me,” Alnina said softly.
“You are doing me a great service and I can hardly say that about any of my relations. In fact some of them are rather like your brother and seem to look on me as an ever open bank!”
“Well, doubtless you will be firm with them sooner or later,” William said. “In the meantime I can assure you that they will criticise you heavily for wasting your money on buying a mountain.”
“Whatever they think or do not think, I have every intention of having my precious mountain that I have loved for years. In fact I want to kiss her as soon as I arrive.”
William held up his hand.
“Now the mountain has become a she!” he cried, “it’s the last thing I expected. I have always been brought up to believe that mountains are men, whereas flowers are women!”
The Duke was firm in saying that as far as he was concerned his mountain was a female, even though, if he was asked, he preferred the male sex.
“Why should you prefer them?” Alnina asked.
“Because they are straightforward and honest, like
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