He also said to himself, "I will not go." He had not yet accepted the invitation.
"I had intended to write to you this afternoon," he said, turning to the Duke.

"But since it is my good fortune to be able to thank you in person for your kind invitation, let me do so now." "I hope you are going," said the Duke.
"I fear," answered Claudius, "that I shall be prevented from joining you, much as I would like to do so.

I have by no means decided to abandon my position in Heidelberg." Neither Margaret nor the Duke were in the least prepared for this piece of news.

The Duke was taken aback at the idea that any human being could refuse such an invitation.

Following on his astonishment that Margaret should not be delighted at having the Doctor on board, the intelligence that the Doctor did not want to go at all threw the poor man into the greatest perplexity.