“You have the gall to deny it?!” her father roared. “When you are standing there, making good view of her even in my presence? Do you think me blind or foolish?”
At that point, Selina managed to clutch at her father’s sleeve. “Father, please, let us return home and?—”
It had not worked before; she did not know why she thought it would work now.
“Not another word from you, girl!” he berated her without even deigning to glance her way. “You dare to lie to my face, Ashbrook, and claim you have never met her when your foul intentions have been laid bare in this sordid letter? You wish to fool my daughter and harm her reputation! Render her unmarriageable! You are as much of a beast as your own sire!”
“Barlow, that is enough,” a firm voice called out from the doorway.
Selina’s gaze was drawn to the door, where an older woman strode out. She had a head of gray hair and made use of a finely polished cane, but her every step was sure, and her eyes gleamed with intelligence.
Trailing slightly behind her was Lady Elizabeth St. Maur, the Duke’s younger sister. She was also Selina’s dearest andsecretfriend.
“Your barking is the only beastly thing I can hear, and if I can hear it, so can the staff,” the Dowager Duchess remarked, her gaze flicking briefly to Selina before she turned her eyes sternly upon Selina’s father once more. “If it is your intention to protect your daughter’s reputation, then I must inform you that you are doing a rather terrible job of it. Or do you harbor other intentions?”
The Duke of Barlow would not have been the first father to do something rash to secure a favorable match. Although the dramatic schemes usually came from the mothers.
Her father sneered, “Of course, you would say that,Duchess. You have much experience in silencing young ladies. The apple does not fall very far from the tree after all, does it?”
The Dowager Duchess blanched at his words, her hand tightening over the polished head of her cane. The Duke of Ashbrook stepped in front of her.
Silencing ladies? What does that mean?
Selina would not have dared to ask, despite her intrigue.
“You will do well to keep a civil tongue in front of my grandmother, Barlow,” the Duke warned darkly. “If you wish to retain your use of it, that is.”
Her father stiffened and turned a shade of violet. If she had not been so distraught, she would have laughed at the sight. It was so rare to find someone of enough mettle to stand up to her father.
Instead, she stole a quick look at the Duke’s sister.
Dear Lizzy, was this to be the end of their secret friendship? If her father were to know of their connection, heaven only knew how he would react.
Selina was not about to let that happen.
But how was she going to fix it when she was not even the one who had caused this mess in the first place?
Indeed, her only crime was not hiding that blasted work of licentious fiction faster.
