Mama set the teacup before him. “You should drink that. I don’t care for my tea piping hot. A woman cannot help her antecedents, Wrexham.”

Not what he’d expected to hear. “Do you ever consider remarrying?”

She shook her head. “To say that your father was the love of my life sounds trite. He could infuriate me like no other and make me laugh in a most unladylike fashion. We were friends, my boy. Best friends, which the poets don’t much mention, though that sort of love between spouses is precious and rare. I loved him—the man—and I will miss him until my dying day.”

Rex took a taste of the tea, which was plain. The way he drank it when a headache was bearing down.

“Mama, the lady doesn’t always make me laugh, but she makes me think. About how I manage my dukedom, about whether I’m happy, about where my duty truly lies.”

“And she interrupts you and doesn’t mince her words with you?”

“She doesn’t know how to mince words, and she’s a demon with ledger books and hidden patterns. She’s shy, though, and fierce. Life hasn’t been kind to her.”

Mama took Rex’s hand. “Then for God’s sake, you should marry her. Snatch her up before some other duke sweeps her into his arms. We make poor decisions when we’re lonely, and if she’s missing you, she’ll be very lonely indeed.”

Lonely enough to hide in France for the rest of her life?

The tea was good and strong, also the way Rex liked it. “I’ll be making some changes at the bank.”

“Change at the bank is overdue. Lady Jersey doesn’t say much, but in the occasional aside, I gather in her opinion our institution has grown a bit behindhand.”

And Lady Jersey was herself a very experienced banker. “Do you mind if I abandon you to your breakfast? I have a few calls to pay.”

“Looking like that?”

Eleanora doesn’t care how I dress. “The matters I need to tend to are urgent.” Rex rose and kissed his mother’s cheek. “Thank you, Mama. I love you.”

She waved her currant bun. “For God’s sake shave before you go out, and of course, the feeling is mutual. Tell the maid to bring up a pot of chocolate if you see her.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Rex left his mother munching her currant bun and smiling, while he took the stairs to his rooms two at a time.

*  *  *

“Elsmore was ready to see his own cousin hanged,” Jack said around a mouthful of omelet. “You would not have recognized your pet duke, Ellie. He was a whisker away from summoning the watch. Pour me a spot more tea, would you, love?”