His Mistress Arrived in Her Carriage—The Duchess Sent Her Own With a Note: 'He Prefers Tuesdays'

She did not go to the window when she heard the wheels on the gravel. Isolde Rowe, Duchess of Elderfield, had known about Miss Veyne for four months. She had said nothing — not because she lacked the words, but because she had been deciding what to do with them. On a Tuesday morning in October, Miss Veyne arrived at Elderfield Park unannounced. It was, Isolde noted, a Sunday. She folded the note, sealed it with her personal seal, and rang for Briggs. She gave him his instructions. He received them with the expression of a man who has served a great house long enough to know when history is being made in a morning room. The Duchess's carriage met Miss Veyne's at the gate. There was no confrontation. No raised voices. Simply a folded note, passed through a carriage window, and then the sound of wheels turning on gravel, growing quieter, until Elderfield was quiet again. When the Duke learned what had happened, he stood very still for a long moment. Then he went to find his wife.