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“Yes,” she confirmed. “One I was expecting the both of you to attend.”

“Attend we will,” the Duke said. He turned back and eyed his brother warningly, before once again looking at the Dowager Viscountess. “At which point Lord Edmund will make the necessary announcement. If that is agreeable with you.”

“Mother!” Selina cried in protest as the reality of the situation slowly sank in… and slipped away.

“Very agreeable.” Her mother nodded. “Tonight, it shall be done!”

Lord Edmund groaned.

Selina opened her mouth to protest when she caught sight of the smirk on her mother’s face, the way her eyes flashed with triumph. And that was when she understood what had really happened here today.

This wasn’t an accident at all, but planned! It seemed that Selina’s eagerness to find a husband paled in comparison to her mother’s.

Chapter Two

“Mother, how could you!” Selina shouted after her mother as she chased her through the house.

Each step rattled her, for despite it being later in the day, the dregs of her hangover still lingered, and when paired with the calamity and horror of what had occurred today, it was a wonder that Selina could walk at all, let alone give chase.

“I did what was right,” her mother responded calmly as she strolled down the hallway, apparently none too concerned about her daughter’s hysteria. “And really, dear, with everything that has happened, you should be thanking me.”

“Thanking you! You tricked me! You tricked His Grace and his brother! And the way you did it?—”

“Was necessary!” Lady Langham rounded on Selina quickly. “I thought to include you, dear. I did. But I knew that you would object. You left me no choice.”

“I thought that we had an agreement, Mother? The Season has not yet started, and you allowed me to believe that I would have its entire length to find a husband.”

“And that was the plan,” Lady Langham said simply, showing not an ounce of guilt for her actions. “Truly, I meant it when I said it. But you are three-and-twenty, Selina. If things did not work out the way we hoped this Season, it would be next to impossible for you to find a man of good standing. It was a risk I could not take.”

“And what about me!” Selina cried, her body shaking—part anger, part disbelief, part sickness from the day’s events… and last night’s, for that matter. “I am supposed to marry Lord Edmund without even knowing him? Without having any say whatsoever?!”

Her mother fixed her with an unamused expression, a cold dismissal of her objections. “You had your chance, Selina. You were betrothed to a good man, a duke who was more than either of us could have hoped for. But you ruined that chance, and for that reason, I needed to take matters into my own hands.”

“But—”

“No buts.” Lady Langham held a hand up to silence her daughter. “It is done, and nothing is going to change that. Isn’t that right…” She looked warningly at Selina now, the implication all too clear.

Selina was angry. She was mortified. She was still in disbelief because her mother was many things, but this was a level of conniving yet unseen. But the look her mother fixed her with, as well as its implication, was enough to make her suppress her anger and look away—properly chastised.

My mother is correct in saying that this is all my fault. Mistakes made, actions taken, and consequences now reckoned with.

“You lied to me,” Selina seethed. “You lied to me, and for what? Because you do not trust me.”

“Oh, do not pout, dear,” Lady Langham sighed. “This is about more than marriage, and you know it. You have three sisters to think about—sisters whose chances will considerably improve once you are married to Lord Edmund.”

“They will, regardless of my affairs?—”

“And none of that is to mention your uncle,” Lady Langham cut her off. “Leopold has been a terror since inheriting your father’s title, and I do not need to tell you how cheap the man is! Once you are wed and we have the power of Lord Edmund’s name behind you, he will have no choice but to support us as your father originally wished.”

“Oh, certainly it cannot be that bad!”

“It is worse, dear. Much, much worse.”

The Viscount Langham was the patriarch of their family, an honor inherited after Selina’s father had passed away, leaving behind four daughters and not a son to carry on his legacy. As was the way, this gave Leopold full control of their allowances, which she knew he was withholding because he was as miserly as he was repugnant.

Selina frowned. “Surely, Uncle Leopold does not know how bad things are for us? If you were to speak with him?—”

“Ha! What do you think I have been doing?” Lady Langham scoffed. “The man is intent on bankrupting us, dear. Which he will do if we do not action! I had hoped it would not come to this, yet here we are. Desperate times, Selina. And I do meandesperate.”