“This afternoon?” he asked. “Regina and I had hoped to go for a ride.” “On such an inclement day? Wouldn’t it be better to drive about Town when the sun is shining?” Regina hid her smile. The question proved that the dowager duchess had been only feigning sleep. She was now warned to keep an eye on the sly woman. “Mayhap your grandmother is right,” she said, even though she disliked the idea of staying within the house, glorious though it might be, with only her own company. The duke would be reading his correspondence as he always did, so she could hope for no interesting conversation there. Her single attempt to talk to the duke about matters beyond his estate in Warwickshire had been a dismal failure. “The appointment was made several weeks ago, Marcus, and you know what a busy man Mr. Bryson is,” the dowager duchess said. “It would be the worst manners to change it at this late hour.” “We have changed our appointments in the past.” “True, but you know how important this meeting is.”
