Page 23 of Good Duke Gone Rogue

Bernadette was not about to tell Charlotte exactly how she enjoyed herself at the ball. Instead, she offered, “I met Mary and Margaret. They’re lovely.”

“Truly they are. Again, please forgive me. I want to catch up. Do you have a few minutes to visit?”

She didn’t particularly feel like visiting. There were too many worries rummaging around her head. What was she doing with Reggie? He was too young. Would he be ready to take on a family? She didn’t want to think about the future with him, but she had to at least ask if he would be able to take care of her son, if not her as well. Reggie was familiar. And he made her laugh. And God, he made her body so hot. But how long could fire burn until it went out?

As if all the questions tumbling in her head about Reggie weren’t making enough of a ruckus, she also needed tocontemplate what to do about the note. What was she going to do about the note directing her to stud a famous racehorse?

And regardless of how those two prizefighters duked it out in her mind, she had to consider her son. What were her plans with Jacob and his schooling? All of these thoughts vied for her attention. Not to mention the ominous overarching questions of her entire future. No, visiting wasn’t the first thing on her mind. But the first thing off of her lips was, “Of course. I was just going to freshen up.”

“I’ll join you.”

Charlotte must have misinterpreted her meaning. “Oh, if you would like to visit now, let’s do something more…comfortable.” Less hygienic.

“Splendid. Shall we go for a short walk?”

“That’s a lovely idea.”

Instead of heading for her guest chambers, Bernadette went outside to enjoy a moment of fresh air. In the same way she encouraged her son to be outside at least once a day. And the crisp, clean air was exactly what she needed. She made a note to follow her own advice in the future.

“I’m so glad you came to visit us, Bernadette. It’s been so long.”

“It has been.”

“It feels like just last week Reggie was getting us all into trouble.”

Bernadette laughed. “You mean Kat, don’t you?”

“Her too,” Charlotte chuckled.

“How are the wedding plans coming along?”

“It must be difficult to ask after someone else’s love and happiness, when I know you’ve just come out of mourning. Thank you for asking, Detta. You are truly a good friend.” After a breath, Charlotte continued, “The wedding plans are going well. As long as I marry Davin at the end of it, nothing else matters.”

“That is the heart of it.”

“Yes. Can you believe Kat married before both Reggie and I?”

“That is surprising. Tell me how it happened.”

“Well, let’s just say that it’s a good thing Reggie was being his careless self again, otherwise he wouldn’t have asked Quinn to chase Kat down. And who knows if they would have had another opportunity to fall in love.”

“Reggie was being careless?”

“Perhaps that’s a poor choice of word. At first we all thought he was being careless. But I suppose he was put in a tough position. To choose between his father and his sister.”

“I suspect he made the best choice he could.”

“You’re so right. I should have considered my words with more intention.”

“I don’t know why everyone seems to think of Reggie that way.” Bernadette had meant to keep the musings to herself.

“Not everyone thinks of him that way.”

She didn’t have time to delve into that statement because at that precise moment, a horse plodded up to the fence they were passing by.

Charlotte stepped up to welcome the mare. “Hello, Vi.” She patted the horse’s soft nose.

“Vi? That's an interesting name.”

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