Page 11 of A Duchess Untouched

“Someone must think of the succession!” the Dowager said, tilting her chin up. Then, her eyes veered toward Selina and glared at her as if everything was the young duchess’s fault. “We need an heir, Matthew. I hope that much is clear to you. If you refuse to do your duty and provide the line with an heir, then Oliver should do it.”

“And what of me, Your Grace?” Selina asked before Matthew could answer. “Am I to have no say in what becomes of my own marriage? You speak of heirs as though I were a broodmare who has failed to deliver.”

“How dare you talk to me like that, Selina! This is precisely the sort of impertinence I would expect from a Quinten.”

“Then perhaps you ought to have considered that before you chose me for your son,” Selina shot back. “I have done nothing wrong.”

“If you had not, then perhaps your husband would not have left you. Hopefully, Oliver, though frail of health, will not disappoint me the same way.”

As much as Matthew loved his brother, this burden and responsibility would be passed on to him over his dead body. It would only put an unnecessary strain on him. Maximus seemed to have sensed his master’s mood and began barking at the Dowager. The crystals in the chandeliers seemed to shake from the noise.

“Be quiet, you beast!” the Dowager yelled, recoiling from the large mastiff. She clutched a lace handkerchief to her chest.

Even though Matthew agreed with his dog, he still held on to Maximus by the collar while his eyes focused on his mother’s face.

“What I do with my life is none of your business,” he murmured.

“Robert would never act the way you are acting now,” the Dowager retorted, her composure further deteriorating. “He knew what his duty was. As a duke, your life is no longer merely your own. It is the duchy’s business what you do with your life. Your life belongs to this family. To this title.”

Matthew was painfully aware that Robert was dead. His mother had no notion how aware he was, nor what it had cost him. Every day for four years had been given over to finding Robert’s mistress and child, though his mother likely believed he had simply gone on behaving like the rake he once was, sowing wild oats and squandering money on frivolity. He had spent a great deal of coin; it was true. Just not on anything so idle.

“Robert is not alive anymore,” Matthew growled. “Stop comparing us, Mother. You cannot possibly compare your living child to a ghost!”

“Oh, mercy,” the Dowager wailed as tears spilled down her cheeks. “I have buried my first son, and look at how you treat your poor mother. All I have ever done has been for my sons’ sakes! Oh, I wish I had died instead of Robert, rather than have to suffer this indignity!”

Matthew did not like making his mother cry, but he wished she could see him as more than just a duke refusing to deliver the line of succession.

“Enough,” he commanded, no longer able to stand her tears. They felt like blades scraping against him. “You cannot be seriously pretending to be a victim here. You were eager to claim I am impotent just to have your way!”

“What is a mother to do to have her own grandchildren? When you have children of your own, you will—”

“Cease this right now. You will behave yourself, Mother. Disrespect my wife or me again, and you will pack your things and move to the Dower House.”

Antoinette choked back a sob, a look of disbelief replacing her outrage.

“Your Grace,” Selina said before Matthew could speak. “If I may… My father has nowhere else to go. I would like him to stay here, if it does not trouble the household too greatly.” She glanced toward Matthew as if looking for permission. “I know it is a great deal to ask. But he is my father, and I could not live with myself if I turned him away.”

“My wife has spoken,” Matthew said. “Selina’s father will be staying with us here in Wentley House. That is settled.”

The threat of being sent to the Dower House might have been shocking to the Dowager, but the news that Harleigh Quinten would be living with them enraged her anew.

“You cannot be serious! I will not be sharing a roof with that man! Have you completely lost your mind? Where have you been for the past four years? It seems that you have forgotten what society is like. What will the ton say when they hear that a desperate gambler who has ruined his life will be residing in Wentley House? I refuse to share a roof with that man!”

“If it truly pains you to share a roof with my father-in-law, you are free to leave, Mother.”

The Dowager Duchess clutched her throat as if she could not breathe. She glared at Selina once more before gathering her skirts, turning on her heel, and marching away, more likely to retreat to her private chambers.

Silence settled over the room once more, but this time only the two of them remained standing. Anger still simmered beneath Matthew’s skin, though it was no longer the only thing demanding his attention. There was also the woman before him. His wife.

“To my study,” he ordered. “Now.”

Chapter 6

“Sit down.”

Maximus took his seat obediently, but Selina was startled at the order. She knew what her husband was like, even with his mother. This should not come as a surprise. Matthew was a duke who was accustomed to being obeyed. What was worse was that he did not even look at her as he uttered his order. He went straight to his large desk, finally unbuttoning his soiled coat aggressively. He tossed it to a wooden chair, much to Selina’s relief. She did not want that coat on any of the rich leather in the study.

Beneath it, his shirt clung to him, damp still from the ride, the fabric pulled so tight across his shoulders and arms that she could make out every line of muscle beneath. She had not remembered him being built quite like this. Her mouth went dry before she could stop it.