Because of her gypsy ancestry Princess Laetitia invoked the help of Romanies to waylay the King of Zvotana in the guise of a dancer to do whatever she could to prevent his betrothal to the girl her brother loved.

They gypsy violins throbbed with beguiling melodies. Laetitia danced no longer with her body but with her very being. Between the King and herself was a magic that came from the heart - the magic of love.

What had begun as play-acting became something much more serious, yet as Laetitia returned to the Palace she knew that even if the King found her again, the Grand Duchess would never consent to their marriage....

As the King spoke, there was a sudden depth in his voice, and Laetitia thought there was a fire in his eyes that had not been there before. She would have taken a step away, but his arms went round her.

Before she could even put up her hands, his lips came down on hers. Even as she thought she must struggle and be free of him there was a strange magic. It seemed to grow and intensify until she felt not only her lips grow soft and yielding, but her whole body move as if to music.

He took his lips from hers to say:

"I want you, now at this moment, as I know you want me!"

Then the King was kissing her again, but not now on her lips. Instead his mouth moved over the softness of her neck, and it gave Laetitia a sensation she had never known before, which made her quiver against him, her breath coming quickly from between her lips.

"I... love... you!" she whispered. "I love... you... love you!"