“What?” Regina leaped to her feet and glared at her uncle.
“Yes, he did.” Uncle Edward nodded. “I turned him down. I’d just discovered he was a bastard, after all.”
“Oh, Edward, how could you!” Grandmama said. “Regina has been looking for love all these years and she finally found it. I don’t care if she married one of the footmen at this point. I want a great-grandbaby!”
“I had no idea,” Uncle Edward said. “Egad. I am sorry. Truly.”
“Oh, Uncle, why?” Regina said. She paced back and forth in front of the fireplace, rubbing her hands up and down her chilly arms.
Uncle Edward sighed. “Because I’m a sick old man who knows nothing about the ins and outs of love. I’m not used to this sort of modern approach to marriage, dear. My marriage was arranged for me and it was happy.”
“Yes, but I never loved the Earl of Dryden. I didn’t even like him,” Regina replied.
The duke shrugged. “I didn’t love your aunt when we first married, and she certainly didn’t love me.”
“Oh, Edward, how unprogressive of you.” Grandmama shook her head.
Regina spun on her heel and faced Nicole. “You know what this means, don’t you? Daffin does love me after all. He only left because Uncle Edward wouldn’t accept him.”
“Yes, precisely.” Nicole clapped her hands. “It also means I must go find Mark immediately to send him off to find Daffin and tell him what an idiot he’s being.”
Regina frowned. “Why can’tIgo tell Daffin what an idiot he’s being?”
Nicole shook her head. “Oh, no, dear. That’s not how these things work. Our set has a long tradition of men meeting in pubs to tell each other what they need to hear. You mustn’t ruin it.”
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
The snow had been falling for hours, but the Curious Goat Inn was warm and filled with its regular rowdy, midday patrons. Daffin sat at a table alone. He was two mugs of ale into the day, his chin braced on his palm, feeling nothing but sorry for himself.
Since walking away from Regina over a sennight ago, he’d done his best to throw himself back into his work, but his new cases didn’t excite him like they once had. All he could think about was Regina’s smile, Regina’s laugh, the coy things she’d said to him, the way her hair shone like blue silk in the sun. He scrubbed a hand across his face. He missed her. And not just her, but Mark and Nicole. His time with them had finally made him feel like… he belonged to a family. He’d enjoyed it. Damn it, when the hell hadthathappened?
“Look alive, man, you seem as if your puppy died.”
Daffin glanced up to see Grimaldi, the Cavendish twins, and Thomas Hobbs, the young Duke of Huntley, circlinghim. Huntley had been keeping company with the Cavendish twins of late, having been introduced to them by his brother-in-law, Owen Monroe.
“Worse than my puppy dying,” Daffin muttered.
“You’re drowning your sorrows over Regina, aren’t you?” Grimaldi asked.
“Howdidyou know?” Daffin shot back. He was in no mood to hear any sage advice, nor take any ribbing from his friends. They’d do well to leave him in peace.
“I’ve been there. I know the look of a man in love,” Grimaldi replied. “Now, I suggest you stop drinking cheap ale and go declare your love for Regina.”
Daffin glared at him. “I can’t declare my love for Regina.”
“Why not?” Grimaldi shot back. “Don’t tell me you don’t love her.”
“I love her, all right. But I cannot declare myself because I happen to be a bloody bastard and she’s a duke’s niece. Or are you the only person in London who didn’t get a good look at the article in the paper?”
“Oh, I saw it.” Grimaldi grabbed a chair and eased down beside Daffin, followed by the other men. “Read every last word of it. Problem is, I don’t give a toss.”
“What?” Hope unfurled in Daffin’s chest.
Grimaldi leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t care if you’re a bastard, but I do care if you’re an idiot, and you’re being a complete idiot at the moment. You and Regina are clearly meant for each other. I’ve never seen either of you happier than when you’re together.”
Daffin scowled at him. “But she’s a lady.”
Grimaldi fought a smile. “I realize she’s a lady, and you’re my friend. You’re forgetting two quite important things. First,I never cared about the aristocracy until it was thrust upon me. And second, Regina obviously doesn’t care about having an aristocratic husband or she would have taken one long ago. She’s had her pick over the years, believe me.”
