Page 19

“ L ook who’s come to visit, Your Grace!” Simmons announced with unusual enthusiasm as he opened the drawing room door.

Selina glanced up from her correspondence to see a familiar face framed in the doorway.

“Georgiana!” She sprang to her feet, letters scattering forgotten across the desk. “What a wonderful surprise!”

The Duchess of Emberford entered with a warm smile, a plump child perched on her hip—little Beatrice. Behind her, a maid followed discreetly.

“I hope we’re not interrupting,” Georgiana said as Selina rushed to embrace her.

“Not in the slightest.” Selina stepped back to study her friend. Motherhood had softened Georgiana’s features, adding a gentle fullness to her previously slender frame. “You look radiant.”

“And you look like a proper duchess,” Georgiana replied, her eyes taking in Selina’s elegant day dress. “Marriage agrees with you, it seems.”

Selina’s smile faltered slightly, but she covered it by turning her attention to her daughter. “And this must be Beatrice! She’s grown so much since I last saw her.”

The little girl regarded Selina with solemn blue eyes, one finger tucked securely in her mouth.

“She’s normally quite shy,” Georgiana explained, bouncing her daughter gently. “But she warms up quickly. Here, would you like to hold her?”

Before Selina could answer, Georgiana had transferred the child to her arms. Beatrice stiffened momentarily, then relaxed, apparently deciding Selina was acceptable.

“There now,” Selina murmured, breathing in the clean, sweet scent of the child’s hair. “Aren’t you beautiful?”

She settled on the sofa with Beatrice in her lap, Georgiana taking a seat beside them. The maid hovered near the door, ready to assist if needed.

“We’ve only just returned to London yesterday,” Georgiana explained. “Robert is at a meeting with his solicitor, but he sends his regards and hopes very much that you’ll join us for dinner tonight.”

“I would love to,” Selina replied, helping Beatrice stand on her knees, tiny hands gripping her fingers for balance.

“Excellent.” Georgiana watched them for a moment. “I was devastated to hear about your wedding while we were away. I couldn’t believe the news when it reached us at Emberford.”

Selina focused on Beatrice, bouncing her gently. “It all happened rather suddenly.”

“So I gathered.” Georgiana’s voice softened. “Are you truly well, Selina? I’ve been worried about you.”

The genuine concern in her friend’s tone threatened to crack Selina’s composure. How long had it been since anyone had asked about her welfare with such sincerity?

“It’s been… a change,” she admitted. “But I’m managing.”

“And the Duke? Robert says he’s quite formidable.”

“He is that.” Selina smiled as Beatrice reached for a ribbon on her dress. “Careful, little one. That’s attached.”

“Is he kind to you?” Georgiana pressed. “I remember how devastated you were when he failed to appear for your first wedding. For him to return and claim you so abruptly seems rather high-handed.”

Selina considered her answer carefully. She could hardly explain the complexities of her marriage—the awkward distance, the occasional moments of connection, the lingering tension since the kiss at the opera.

“We have an arrangement that suits us both,” she said finally. “The Duke required a wife, and I… well, security is not to be undervalued.”

Georgiana studied her face. “That doesn’t answer my question.”

“He’s not unkind,” Selina clarified. “Distant, perhaps. Reserved. But he defended me when Lady Penderwick was rude.”

“The fearsome Lady Penderwick?” Georgiana’s eyebrows rose. “Now there’s a dragon I wouldn’t care to face.”

“She was quite breathtaking in her venom.” Selina recounted the incident, finding herself smiling at the memory of Rowan’s cold fury. “You should have seen her face when he called her breeding into question.”

Georgiana laughed, then sobered. “Still, a marriage should be more than protection from social dragons.”

“My first marriage taught me to value peace over passion,” Selina replied. “And while the Duke and I may not share the affection you and Robert enjoy, we have the makings of a reasonable partnership.”

Something flickered in Georgiana’s eyes—doubt, perhaps, or pity. Both were unbearable.

“Enough about my circumstances,” Selina said firmly. “Tell me about Emberford. Has the south wing renovation been completed?”

Sensing her reluctance to discuss her marriage further, Georgiana obliged with tales of country life. As she spoke, Beatrice grew restless, squirming in Selina’s hold.

“I believe someone wants to explore,” Georgiana observed. “Martha, please bring her toy basket.”

The maid produced a small basket containing wooden blocks and a cloth doll. She set them on the carpet before the sofa, and Selina lowered Beatrice to the floor, where she immediately began stacking the blocks with surprising dexterity.

“She’s quite clever,” Selina remarked, sitting down on the carpet to help.

“She takes after her father,” Georgiana said fondly. “Robert insists on reading to her every night, though I doubt she understands a word of his economic treatises.”

Selina laughed, passing Beatrice another block. The child grinned, revealing four tiny teeth.

“She likes you,” Georgiana observed. “You have a natural way with children.”

“Do I?” Selina felt an unexpected warmth at the compliment. “I’ve had little experience with them.”

“Perhaps you’ll have your own soon enough.” Georgiana’s tone was casual, but her eyes were watchful.

The gossip had reached her friend, too, it seemed. “Those rumors are entirely false,” Selina said quietly. “The Duke and I have not… that is, our marriage remains unconsummated.”

“Oh.” Georgiana’s cheeks colored slightly. “I didn’t mean to pry.”

“It’s all right.” Selina helped Beatrice rebuild her tower after an enthusiastic demolition. “But perhaps you could mention the truth if you hear the speculation? I would hate for Robert to think I married in desperation.”

“Of course.” Georgiana reached down to stroke her daughter’s hair. “Though I confess I’m puzzled. If the Duke required a wife, surely he would want an heir as well?”

The question struck uncomfortably close to Selina’s own confusion about Rowan’s behavior. His rejection on their wedding night, followed by that passionate kiss at the opera, left her utterly baffled about his intentions.

“I’m sure he does, eventually,” she hedged. “But there are… complications in his life at present. Business matters that occupy his attention.”

“Men and their business,” Georgiana sighed. “Robert becomes positively obsessed when a new shipping venture presents itself. I swear he forgot to eat for two days during the negotiations with the East India Company.”

Their conversation turned to lighter topics as the afternoon progressed. By the time Georgiana rose to leave, promising to send a carriage at seven for dinner, Selina felt lighter than she had in weeks.

“Martha, please take Beatrice downstairs for a moment,” Georgiana instructed the maid once the child had been disentangled from Selina’s skirts. “I need a private word with Her Grace.”

When they were alone, Georgiana took Selina’s hands in hers. “I meant what I said before. If you’re unhappy, if this marriage is not what you hoped, Robert and I will help however we can.”

Tears pricked at Selina’s eyes, though she couldn’t have said whether from gratitude for the offer or sadness that her friend had seen through her brave facade.

“Thank you,” she managed. “But truly, I’m all right. The Duke is… complicated, but not cruel. And I’ve learned to make my way with far less kindness than he’s shown me.”

Georgiana squeezed her hands. “You deserve happiness, Selina. Not just security or the absence of cruelty, but true joy. Don’t forget that.”

The words lingered with Selina long after her friend had departed.

At seven precisely, Selina ascended the steps of the Emberford townhouse alone. Rowan had not returned from whatever mysterious business occupied his days, leaving her to invent an excuse for his absence.

“Your Grace,” the Emberford butler greeted her with a formal bow. “The Duke and Duchess await you in the drawing room.”

Robert Woodmore, Duke of Emberford, rose as she entered. He was a tall man with shrewd eyes and an unexpectedly boyish smile.

“Duchess,” he said, taking her hand. “How delightful to see you again.”

“Your Grace,” Selina replied with a curtsy. “Thank you for your kind invitation.”

“Where is your husband?” Georgiana asked, coming forward to embrace her.

“A last-minute business matter,” Selina explained smoothly. “He sends his sincere regrets.”

Robert accepted this with a nod, though Georgiana’s expression suggested she had drawn her own conclusions about the Duke’s absence.

“Papa!” A small voice interrupted any further discussion.

Beatrice, dressed in a white nightgown, broke free from her nursemaid’s grasp and toddled toward Robert with outstretched arms.

“There’s my little angel,” Robert said, all ducal dignity forgotten as he scooped up his daughter. “Come to say goodnight to our guest?”

Beatrice buried her face in her father’s shoulder, suddenly shy again.

“She insisted on seeing you before bed,” Georgiana explained, smiling fondly at the pair. “She refuses to sleep without a kiss from her father.”

“The most important appointment of my day,” Robert agreed, pressing his lips to his daughter’s curls. “Isn’t that right, my sweet?”

The tender scene sent an unexpected pang through Selina’s heart. This was what a family should be—a father’s devotion, a mother’s love, a child secure in both.

Would she ever know such happiness? Or was her fate to remain in this strange half-marriage, neither truly wife nor merely companion?

“Say goodnight to the Duchess,” Robert prompted, turning so that Beatrice faced Selina.

“Night,” the child whispered, offering a tiny wave.

“Goodnight, Beatrice,” Selina replied, smiling despite the ache in her chest. “Sweet dreams.”

The nursemaid took the child, and Robert watched them leave with naked adoration on his face. When he turned back to his guests, his expression softened at whatever he saw in Selina’s.

“Children change everything,” he said gently. “In ways I never anticipated.”

“So I see,” Selina managed.

Georgiana linked her arm through Selina’s. “Come, dinner is waiting. And I believe Cook has prepared your favorite lemon tart for dessert.”

The evening passed pleasantly, with Robert proving a gracious host despite his friend’s absence. He regaled Selina with tales of their travels abroad before Beatrice’s birth, while Georgiana shared amusing anecdotes of country life at Emberford.

Throughout the meal, Selina found herself imagining what it might be like to host such a dinner with Rowan at her side.

Would he ever look at her with the warm affection Robert showed Georgiana? Would they ever share the easy companionship that allowed the Emberfords to finish each other’s sentences?

She’d never know.