Page 84 of The Duke and the Temporary Bride

“Your Grace.” Lord Burrow was speaking again. “I heard a rather amusing story earlier about a puppy or something of that nature—one that you kept from drowning.”

Benedict looked away from his wife and went back to the circle. “Oh no,” he groaned. “And where did you hearthattale from?”

“I will never tell.” Lord Burrow chuckled.

“A puppy?” Lady Chesterton asked. “What is this?”

“A story that I had no idea was common knowledge,” Benedict said as if he wasn’t the one who was spreading it. “But, seeing as you have asked…”

The night was going according to plan, and for that, Benedict could not be happier. He made a mental note to speak with Selina soon, however, worried that her sour mood might come out and raise questions.

What they needed to do was have a proper conversation. He needed to make her understand why this marriage could never work. It was not her fault but his own, and she had to see that. She had tounderstand.

But that would be for later. Once this night was over. A few more hours and all of this would finally be over, and then, hopefully, they could reconcile. Or at the very least, come to an understanding that did not risk hurting her any more than he already did.

Benedict might be a monster, but he still cared for Selina. Perhaps the only person in the world he could say such a thing about.

“… he has been behaving strangely all evening,” Lady Langham was saying. “I do not like it one little bit. What do you think, Selina? Should I have a word with him?”

Selina was not paying her mother any attention. She was watching the party, the guests—her husband, especially. Taking note of their faces, the way they were all behaving, and how jovial the atmosphere seemed to be, in general. And as should have been expected, she did not care about it one little bit.

Really, it was all she could do not to make a scene.

The previous night still played out in her head. The harsh words Benedict had spoken to her. His denouncement of her feelings. His callousness. She had put herself out there in a way she still could not believe that she had, and he had turned her down.

It was funny that last night, Selina had believed that she loved her husband, whereas now she hated the man. Such hate radiated from her very core that she was finding it harder and harder to pretend that they were happy and that this marriage was a wonderous thing, as he demanded of her. What was even the point?

“Selina!” Lady Langham snapped. “Are you listening?”

“Hhmm?” Selina turned back to find her mother scowling at her. “Oh, sorry, Mother. I was distracted.”

“Clearly.” Lady Langham eyed her warningly as she took a sip of her wine. “As I was saying, Leopold has been acting strangely all evening. He is up to something!”

“Uncle Leopold?” Selina looked across the room, where she spotted her uncle speaking with a small group of men she did not know. “What do you mean? I thought you said that he had heeded Benedict’s warning and started paying you as promised?”

“Not that.” Lady Langham hesitated, looked around to make sure they were not being overheard, and then dropped her voice. “Of all the guests here, he is one of the few who know the true story behind your marriage.”

“And…?”

Lady Langham sighed. “His ego is as fragile as a porcelain vase, dear. And you did not see how effortlessly His Grace intimidated him. No doubt, Leopold is feeling insulted, and no doubt he is looking for a chance to seek his revenge.”

“Mother…” Selina shook her head. “I really don’t think?—”

“Trust me,” Lady Langham hissed. “He is up to something.”

“Say that he is. What do you expect me to do about it?”

“Tell His Grace,” Lady Langham insisted. “Warn him. Let him know what is afoot so that he might intervene before it is too late.”

“And so what if he does say something?” Selina scoffed, finding it very hard to care right now. “What does it matter? Honestly, this whole thing is?—”

“Necessary,” Lady Langham cut her off. “And I would expect you to understand that.”

It was all becoming too much. The lies on top of lies on top of deception. Benedict was insistent on it. Her mother, frustratingly, was of the same mind and only too happy to perpetuate the ‘mistruths,’ as she had called them. Her sisters did as their mother told them. And as for Edmund?

Selina spotted Edmund across the room, standing alone as he drank wine and glared sullenly at the party that was thrown in his honor. He saw her watching him and smiled, and she shot him a rueful look.

“I am going to speak with him,” Lady Langham said.

---