‘Don’t you have your finger in enough pies?’ she demanded in exasperation. ‘Must each tiny detail come under your control?’

‘With every word you betray how little you understand. When a man is in authority, control is essential. If he does not control all the details, his authority is incomplete.’

‘Details!’ Maggie said explosively. ‘You’re talking about this poor girl’s life. And if you regard that as a detail I can only say I pity her.’

‘How fortunate that I’m not obliged to consider your opinion,’ he snapped.

‘I don’t suppose you’ve ever considered anyone’s opinion in your life,’ she snapped back.

‘I don’t tolerate interference with my private affairs. It’s not your place to criticise me or my forthcoming marriage.’

‘If you had any decency, there wouldn’t be a marriage.’

‘On the contrary, it’s only my sense of duty that makes me take a feather-headed ninny as my wife. On his death-bed her father made me promise to protect her, and I gave my word.’

‘So be her guardian, but you don’t have to be her husband!’

‘A guardian’s power ends on the day his ward marries. I protect her best by remaining her guardian for life.

‘Well, of all the-‘

‘You know Catalina by now. Is she intelligent? Come, be honest.’

‘No, she isn’t. She has a butterfly mind. All the more reason to marry a man who won’t care about that.’

‘And how will she choose her husband? She’s an heiress, and the fortune-hunters will flock to her. Can you imagine the choice she’ll make? I don’t need her money. I’ll make a marriage settlement that ties it up in favour of her children, and then I’ll give her everything she wants.’

‘Except love.’

‘Love,’ he echoed scornfully. ‘What sentimentalists you English are. You think marriage has anything to do with romantic love? My wife will be protected and cared for. I will give her children to love.’