“I have come to see you because I am exceedingly upset by the letter I received this morning.”
“That is not the way I would expect you to greet me,” Penelope said. “I have been looking forward to seeing you this afternoon.”
“I was looking forward to it too,” the Duke replied. “But I received this letter which you wrote to my cousin’s daughter.”
As he spoke, he handed the letter to Penelope.
By the way she stiffened when her eyes fell on it told him all too clearly that she realised she had made a faux pas.
“I just cannot understand,” she said, “why Charlotte should have sent this letter to you.”
“It was her mother who did,” he answered, “who, as you know, is my cousin. I brought it to you because I thought that we had both been mistaken over what a happy and joyous occasion the nig
