The widowed owner of Griffin Publishing, Agatha Griffin is one half of the central pairing in Olivia Waite's The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows.
Agatha and her late husband had been a hell of a team. An engraver and a printer they would eventually open what was to become one of the largest publishing houses in Britain. Then he died and Agatha found herself alone, a respectable widow in charge of a very lucrative business at a time when women got no respect whatsoever in the public sphere. To make matters worse their only son is getting himself involved in Radical politics, principles Agatha agrees with but is also realistic enough to know that making a public show of it will only get him sent to the colonies or worse.
Despite the grief, stress, and political turmoil, Agatha maintains control of her business, secures her son and apprentice's futures, and manages to explore her newfound freedom as a widow — the only life stage in which a woman in Regency Britain really belonged to herself. Resolute, intelligent, and very, very sensible Agatha is also a passionate and powerfully sexual woman given the opportunity — and when offered a second chance at love she's not afraid to embrace it, despite the potential social consequences should they be found out. She's even, given the right inducement, willing to risk pissing off the government or facing criminal charges, just so long as they have a solid plan to avoid getting caught.