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Chapter Two

H er head rarely hurt as much as it did right then.

Selina’s temples throbbed, and she came back to herself slowly.

She could recognize the scent of her room, the feeling of the soft sheet beneath her.

Perhaps that had all just been a terrible dream—the mortification at collapsing like a fool, her mother’s endless fretting about the house, the way Selina’s entire body had felt as if it were shutting down, too tired to carry on with this any longer?—

“Selina! You’re awake!” Lydia’s piercing voice cut through the silence, and she flinched.

No, not a dream. A terrible, terrible reality. God save me.

“Dear, you just crumpled like a wet piece of newspaper. Right there in the foyer.” Her mother’s voice sounded more annoyed than concerned. “Why on earth did you just faint like that?”

Reaching up to scrub a hand down her face, Selina struggled to sit up, the blankets held down at her sides by the weight of her family clustered around her.

She felt horrendously claustrophobic and restricted.

While she should, of course, care about how she’d presented herself, Selina was quite fed up with everything at the moment—enough to actually scowl as she groaned to herself.

“I had thought to make a joke, Mother. Did it work?”

All Selina could do was listen to the woman scoff at her because she wasn’t removing her hand from her eyes just yet, the light too bright to deal with at present.

“His Grace actually carried you to your room, Selina! Can you believe it!” Lydia practically squealed with delight, and it took everything for Selina to keep her hands set upon her face and not allow them to fling out and smother the girl with a pillow.

“It was a sight! You were as limp as an overcooked green bean and nearly the color as well!”

“Lydia,” Myra admonished, “I am sure our sister has been through quite enough. Do you need to say precisely the thing to make her feel worse?”

Selina cracked a lid to look over at Myra, who was to her left.

She offered her youngest sister a smile, but the reality of fainting in front of the Duke slapped her hard.

Selina truly felt like a fool, the embarrassment swelling within her enough to choke her.

God, she’d fallen to the floor, and the Duke had to carry her to her bed. What was next for this foul day?

Fire burned in Selina’s cheeks, and she fought to compose herself. “Where is he now?”

“In the study,” her mother answered. “I asked him to take in the space and enjoy a moment of quiet after such an eventful arrival. I also informed him that you would be making your appearance to apologize for such ridiculousness.”

Of course, she did.

“Of course, Mother. I will pull myself together at once and see to it.” Everyone there was a little stunned that Selina hadn’t put up more of a fight, but the truth was, she just didn’t have it in her.

The exhaustion and mortification were too intense in her blood, and she wished to have this entire thing over and done with already.

Doing everything she could to keep herself from toppling over, Selina stood up from the bed. Immediately, the pinch of her corset in her side threatened to send her right back down. She put her back toward Myra, speaking over her shoulder.

“Would you please loosen my stays. I believe someone got a bit overzealous with the ties this morning.”

Both Selina and her mother were aware that the servant had done so at her mother’s request. Bridget had stood by and ensured that the stays were set to the exact tension she demanded, regardless of how much Selina had protested.

“Of course, Selina.” Myra’s fingers found the ties as she lifted her dress up, unfastening them to allow them to loosen, and then she tied them back into a discreet bow that would be hidden by her dress once more. “There, that should be better.”

For the first time all morning, Selina took a full breath and nodded gratefully.

“Thank you, Myra. Oh, that is much better.”

As the refreshing air eased the remaining strain in her ribs, Selina smoothed down her dress and started for the door.

She would apologize to the Duke for her rather interesting greeting, even as she dreaded every moment alone with the man.

This was hardly the impression she’d been looking to make, and Selina worried that the Duke would now think she was incompetent more than ever.

“Do see to it that this meeting proceeds better than the last, darling,” called her mother, and Selina steeled herself, shoving down her unhappiness into the depths with all the other things she kept buried within herself.

Reaching the large wooden door to the study—Easton’s study turned his— Selina reached up and knocked gently. After a moment, she heard the new occupant clear his throat.

“Enter.”

Swallowing down her nerves as best she could, Selina opened the door and pressed inside.

As she cast her glance over the man, the same lingering unease filled her at the sight of him.

The Duke was stoic and reserved, so much so that it put Richard, the Duke of Blackford, to shame.

And that was saying something because when she’d first encountered the man when he returned to Amelia, her dear friend who had been living without her husband for several years before his sudden arrival, he had set the bar for indifference to the highest level.

The intensity behind the Duke’s emerald stare was hot on Selina’s skin as he studied her appraisingly. Everything about him read as standoffish and aloof. It was like her presence actually made the man ill, his throat bobbing noticeably as he forced himself to swallow.

“Apologies for interrupting, Your Grace. I wish to give my thanks for your assistance earlier. I’m dreadfully sorry that I greeted you with a fainting spell. I assure you, it is not a common occurrence. Still, I am very grateful that you brought me to my room to gather myself.”

Selina allowed for a moment of quiet, expecting the Duke’s exchange in the conversation next.

It remained silent for far too long, however.

She stood there, trading the weight between her feet until the pressure from the lack of communication felt as though it might drag her to the ground and force her to remain there for the length of her life.

He will not say anything? I am the woman residing in his relative’s house, his widow, and the Duke will say nothing about ? —

“I had my solicitor inform your own that you were to be engaged by the time I arrived. I have heard no notice of such an arrangement, and I see no evidence of it now that I have arrived. Did I not make myself clear?”

Nearly choking on the words, Selina’s eyebrows shot up to her hairline. The new Duke, a man who had not even spared a moment to formally introduce himself yet, was leveling demands at her before even mentioning her collapse on the steps, as if it didn’t even happen.

“In fact,” the man continued, “not only does it look as though you have disobeyed me, the head of this estate, but you have multiplied the number of people dwelling here.”

“Excuse me?” She couldn’t have stopped the words from leaving her if she wanted to, and the truth was, Selina wasn’t sure she did want to.

“If you are referring to the women who stood with me to greet you, then I must inform you that they are my family. This is my home, and it is my responsibility to provide care for them. Should I force them to sleep on the streets?”

It was unlikely that any of her family would be reduced to such a thing, but the Duke was working Selina’s last nerve, and it was frayed to nearly snapping as it was. Rude did not do the Duke justice. She needed a far stronger term. Perhaps boorish or uncouth might do.

One of the man’s brows lifted, cocking up as he regarded her.

After a moment, he stood from behind the desk—Easton’s desk—and circled around it toward her.

He approached slowly, the click of his shoes on the wood floor practically screaming in the hushed space.

The Duke stopped just a few feet shy of Selina, crossing his arms over his chest.

As much as she hated it, Selina couldn’t stop herself from running an appraising gaze over his form.

He was just so much more muscular than most of the men she saw at court.

Although it filled her with an unnameable fury once more, Selina could not keep herself from imagining what he might look like beneath the finely pressed fabric of his waistcoat and shirt.

“You have quite the way with exaggeration. Need I remind you that I am, in fact, the lord of this estate now? Your permission to reside here falls under my purview. And as stated previously, you were meant to secure a husband, or a fiancé at the very least. Both you and the family that you have brought along should be tucked away in some other man’s home for him to deal with. ”

Her mouth dropped open, and it was several moments before Selina was able to shut it again.

The blood rushed through her, hot and furious in her veins, as the need to throttle this Duke within an inch of his life crept up her spine.

Easton had been a kind and gentle soul, treating her with the utmost respect even from the moment they met.

The man before her couldn’t even be bothered to inquire about her well-being after she had fainted on the doorstep.

“And as I have had my solicitor inform yours,” Selina replied, her voice thick with venom, “I have no intention of marrying again. I am perfectly capable of caring for myself, and I am happy to remain a widow after the death of my loving husband.”

The Duke had the gall to scoff at her, rolling his eyes like some common rake as he let out a low chuckle.

“Quite loving, I’m sure. Which is why the man went into the afterlife without securing an heir. Tell me, did you try only a single time? I can imagine it would be difficult to bring yourself to the bedside of one twice your age.”