Page 20 of A Duchess Untouched

Selina hoped that her grandmother knew what she was saying. She exhaled in resignation as Mrs. Collins approached her with the gown she should wear for dinner later that night.

“It looks lovely,” she was able to say.

“You are a lovely woman, Your Grace. His Grace would be a fool to leave you again.”

Selina arched an eyebrow. She wondered if she had been a fool to think that trying to win a husband through such tricks would actually succeed.

Chapter 10

“How are you feeling, Papa?” Selina asked softly.

She hoped that the dinner would go smoothly as planned, but her fingers would not cooperate. They were trembling so violently that she was forced to put her fork down and focus on her wayward father instead.

Her nerves were frayed. She was afraid everyone could hear her heart beating furiously. She could not believe she had to juggle a few things as important as an absurd and desperate seduction plan and the potentially disastrous presence of her father at the same dinner.

Meanwhile, her father looked more comfortable, as if he were in his own home. He always had that charming personality that made things so much easier for him wherever he went. Watching him, Selina wondered bitterly why he never used that same strength of character to say no to the temptation of drinking and gambling. In his fine coat, with his face freshly shaved, no stranger would have guessed he had come within days of sleeping in the gutter.

He had been homeless for a short while until Selina went looking for him and very nearly met disaster for her trouble. Matthew intervened and saved him. Shortly after hauling Selina out of the Red Lion, the Duke had quickly dispatched Harrison and his men to track Harleigh down. Word spread through the dark alleys that a furious duke was searching for him. Within hours, Harleigh was found, scrubbed clean, and delivered to Wentley.

Selina was still furious with Matthew, but she could not help but feel a spark of gratitude toward him for saving her father when nobody else in London would or could.

“Well, I am feeling quite well, my dear girl,” Harleigh replied, his voice still bright with a confidence Selina wished she could share. “However, I would not feel like this if not for you and your extraordinary hospitality. I assure you that I will endeavor to rise back on my feet.”

Even with the loud bravado of his voice, his eyes darted nervously at her husband. The Duke looked grim, his mouth in a straight line.

“You need not worry about that, Papa. You are family. We would not be able to rest well if you were on the streets, drenched by rain and trying to sleep God knows where. I am glad that you are safe and sound. Please remember that I am here for you.”

Harleigh waved a hand, grand and dismissive, and chuckled into what looked like his second glass of red wine already. Selina eyed the glass uneasily.

Perhaps tea would have served him better tonight.

“Family is truly a precious thing, Selina. I am glad that we can agree on that. However, I am also pressed by practical matters at the moment. It would help if a small injection of funds, say, a few hundred pounds, would come my way to help me win back my estate.”

Selina had never felt her cheeks go red and white in a span of a few seconds before. She felt her face go pale, unable to believe what she had just heard. Then the blood seemed to rush back, heating the surface of her skin. She had never felt so mortified, especially in front of the husband she was supposed to seduce.

“Papa, please. I believe we shall discuss this at another time,” she protested.

At that very moment, the Dowager Duchess made her entrance, dressed in deep purple velvet that rustled against the floor. She held her chin high, her face arranged into open disdain, and swept toward her seat without so much as a glance at the table.

“You are late, Mother,” the Duke said flatly. “What caused the delay?”

“Oh, I was pondering whether I should again take my dinner in my private rooms,” she said airily. “I was considering avoiding certain unwanted company.” She said this while giving Selina’s father a direct glare. “However, I reminded myself that I should not be driven into hiding in my own house.”

Even though Selina could still feel the humiliation of her father’s earlier request for funds, she wanted to smooth the tension over. She cleared her throat and said, “I am not certain if you two have talked much before, but—”

“I would have remembered if I had been introduced to such a rare beauty!” Harleigh interrupted his daughter.

The Dowager Duchess choked on her wine. She blinked her eyes furiously and slammed her glass down onto the table. Some liquid splashed on the tablecloth, which was fortunately scarlet. At that moment, though, Selina wanted to die. She also wished the floorboards would open up and swallow her whole, but so far, very few of the things she wished for had ever come true, even with her current title.

They began eating in awkward silence until, across the table, Oliver cleared his throat. His eyes widened and briefly met Selina’s.

“Well, I am glad that we are all having dinner together tonight,” Oliver said, evidently trying to save the situation. Selina appreciated it. “The weather has been particularly lovely as of late, so I unfortunately stand out even more in my thick coats. I almost wish for chillier mornings.”

“Who cares for the weather, young man?” Harleigh interrupted rudely, possibly prompted by his fourth glass of wine already. The footman had no choice but to refill his glass when he gestured for more. “Besides, imagine chillier weather with me living in the gutters? Oh, the things I have endured! I was robbed of my own home by no less than a band of cheating thieves. I will not let those bastards throw me into the Thames again; I am telling you!”

“Papa, I believe you must eat your soup instead of filling yourself with more wine.”

“Oh? I am merely expressing myself, my dear. As soon as I can find some money, I will show those thieves exactly who they are dealing with!”