And so the girl did.
THE DECREE OF DUKE DEODONATO
“It is a most anxious thing—to be an absolute ruler,” said Duke Deodonato, “but I have made up my mind. The Doctor has convinced me (here Dr. Fusbius, Ph.D., bowed very low) that marriage is the best, noblest, wholesomest, and happiest of human conditions.”
“Your Highness will remember—” began the President of the Council.
“My lord, I have made up my mind,” said Duke Deodonato.
Thus speaking, the Duke took a large sheet of foolscap paper, and wrote rapidly for a moment or two.
“There,” he said, pushing the paper over to the President, “is the decree.”
“The decree, sir?”