CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
It was her birthday, a day that was supposed to be happy. A day she should have been excited about. Regina had managed to make it to the age of thirty unmarried, yet no longer burdened by her virginity. She should have been joyful. She’d got exactly what she wanted. Instead, she’d been wandering around the house all day, heartsick over Daffin.
“You don’t want to go riding in the park?” Nicole asked from her perch on the sofa across the salon.
Regina shook her head.
“You don’t want any of the scones Cook baked for your birthday?” Nicole asked next.
Regina shook her head.
“You don’t want to go shopping?” Nicole offered.
Regina shook her head.
Nicole sighed and dropped her hands into her lap. “It’s your birthday, Regina. Please tell me, what would you like to do?”
“Is renouncing my title a choice?” Regina muttered.
“I don’t think so,” Nicole said, shaking her head. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry, too. I’ve hated my title my entire life, and now it’s keeping me from the man I love.”
Nicole sighed. “Daffin is being an idiot.”
Regina whirled around and swiped angrily at the seemingly endless flow of tears on her cheeks. “He thinks I’m too good for him, and I’m not. We’re equals in all other ways.”
“Did I mention he’s an idiot?”
The doors to the salon opened and two footmen wheeled in the duke. Lady Harriet padded in by his side.
“Mark tells us you’re not enjoying your birthday, Regina,” the duke said.
Regina’s only reply was a drawn-out sigh.
“She’s heartsick, Edward. She needs some time,” Lady Harriet replied, laying a quelling hand on her nephew’s shoulder.
“Heartsick?” Uncle Edward asked, blinking. “What for? Did Dryden do something?”
Nicole snorted. “Dryden is hardly the reason Regina is moping.”
“If not over Dryden, then who?” the duke asked, still looking confused.
“Oh, Edward. How dense can you be? She’s heartsick over Mr. Oakleaf,” Grandmama said with a sigh. “And I, for one, was so certain he loved her back.”
“What’s this?” The duke’s thick white brows pushed together over his rheumy eyes. “Mr. Oakleaf, you say?”
“Yes, Edward,” Grandmama replied. “Regina’s been madly in love with Mr. Oakleaf for months. Haven’t you noticed?”
“But he’s a Bow Street Runner,” the duke replied. “And that story in the paper…”
“None of which matters one whit to a woman in love,” Grandmama replied.
“Oh, dear,” the duke said, tugging at his bottom lip. “I fear I may have made a mistake, then. A grave one.”
Regina snapped up her head. “What, Uncle Edward?”
The duke continued to pluck at his lip. “Mr. Oakleaf came to visit the day after he caught that Knowles fellow. He asked for your hand in marriage.”
