The fact that she addressed him as though she were his superior irked Percy, but his own temper was kept in check by how poorly he'd behaved during their last social encounter. He hadn't realized that one glass of wine and the possibility of sympathy might encourage him to insult his brothers, Charlie particularly, and like many of his transgressions against his family, he regretted his actions too late.
Standing before her seemed absurd, and so Percy took the chair opposite hers.
"A quarterly report was due to Minister Thicknesse yesterday morning. I had hoped to retrieve it, as I have already told him that I was reviewing it."
Was covering for her department an apology? He doubted it.