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Chapter Twelve
Selina could not wait to go home. The evening seemed to drag on. After the dancing, she ended up sitting beside the Dowager Duchess, while the others began a rousing game of cards.
“So, My Lady,” the Dowager Duchess said to her. “How are you liking Gillingham County?”
“It’s so very serene out here, Your Grace,” Selina said, smiling although she was getting rather sleepy. All the dancing, eating, and upset had plumb worn her out.
“It is, isn’t it?” The Dowager Duchess smiled at Selina, her green eyes lighting up in a way that was reminiscent of her son.
“Very much so, Your Grace,” Selina agreed.
“When I was a younger lady, I loved being near the City. I always wanted to be there in our townhome,” the Dowager Duchess reminisced. “I threw such parties back then.”
“Are you much there these days, Your Grace?” Selina asked.
“Only during the Season,” she remarked. “But it’s enough. When I’m there, I find myself longing for the quiet of the country. Parties like this with just good, close friends.”
Selina smiled as she glanced around at all the friendly faces. She spotted the Duke, standing by the fireplace, his face grim. He took a sip from his glass. His eyes met hers. She got chills, all over her arms. The desire was a hot flash in the pit of her stomach—she’d never felt this way before.
“Your aunt tells me that you have just debuted this past winter,” the Dowager Duchess said, breaking into Selina’s thoughts.
Tearing her gaze away from the Duke, she met the Dowager Duchess’s eyes. Her Grace was smiling kindly.
“Yes, Your Grace,” she replied, recalling the fanfare and the elaborate dress she’d worn—the heavy diamond necklace that her mother had given her for the occasion.
The Dowager Duchess squinted at her, as though trying to discern her. “Have you got your eye on a particular gentleman yet?”
“I’ve only just debuted this past winter, Your Grace,” Selina said. Even Selina could hear the weakness of her misdirection. The Dowager Duchess’s eyes cut over to her son before returning to Selina’s face.
“Is that so, My Lady?” she asked, her eyes studying her carefully. Her lips were smiling, but her eyes were squinting, suspicious. Selina wondered if the Duke had spoken to his mother.
Selina swallowed. “Indeed, Your Grace.”
“How do your parents feel about that, My Lady?” She tilted her head to the side, curiously.
“They want me to only marry for love,” she replied. “Nothing less.”
“Are your parents in love, My Lady?”
“Yes. Very much so, Your Grace.” She stared back at the Dowager Duchess. She was an intelligent lady. Selina could only imagine that the Duke had let something slip. Something which the Dowager Duchess was just then putting together.
Selina’s pulse raced. She had a particularly good poker face, despite never having played the game. She and her brother had practiced one wintry afternoon, and it had been a skill which Selina had often found of use.
The Dowager Duchess leaned in. “Would you come and have tea with me sometime soon? I’d like to speak with you. Privately.”
“I’d be honored, Your Grace. Although, it wouldn’t be right to go without my cousin, would it?”
She was a bit nervous, but the Dowager Duchess smiled at her, kindly. “Leave that to me. I think we have much to discuss, don’t you, My Lady?”
“Perhaps, Your Grace.”
“You’ve seemed to have lost a little of your shine, My Lady.”
“It’ll pass, Your Grace,” she said.
“It may,” the Dowager Duchess mused, “or it may not.”
They both turned their gazes toward where the Duke was now sitting beside Lady Leah. Selina felt pain in her chest. Like a lump of hot coal, burning a hole, just beneath her sternum.
