Page 11 of The Duke and the Temporary Bride

“Your Grace.” Isabella stood up quickly as he reached them. “It is wonderful to meet you, finally.”

“Your Grace,” Louisa echoed, also standing. “We have heard so much about you.”

He eyed them dismissively, barely acknowledging them, before turning his attention back to Selina. “We are leaving soon,” he announced gruffly. “Best that you say your goodbyes now.”

She blinked. “Excuse me?”

“I said we are leaving soon.”

“I heard you,” Selina replied. “But it is so early. There is no need to leave just yet.”

His expression darkened. “That is for me to decide. My estate is some distance from here, so we will have to stop at an inn for the night. I do not wish to arrive there after dusk. So again…” He raised an eyebrow in warning—the left eyebrow, for the right one was badly scarred. “Say your goodbyes, but do it quickly. I do not wish to be late.”

And then, without another word, he turned and walked away.

If there had ever been a chance that Selina might have felt even a tinge of hope for this marriage, the barest chance that it had potential… it was dashed in that instant.

As a girl, when Selina had pictured her future husband, she had dreamed of a love match. Now, she would have settled for something as simple as liking him.

“Well, that was certainly rude,” Isabella huffed as she sat back down.

“He’s not exactly Mr. Personality, is he?” Louisa remarked.

“You have no idea,” Selina muttered bitterly.

The day thus came to a close earlier than she had expected, her new life set to start the moment she left her home for the last time. She said goodbye to her sisters right there before seeking out her mother, whose eyes brimmed with tears.

“I could not be happier for how this has turned out,” Lady Langham said as she hugged her. “I am so proud of you, dear, for everything.”

A kiss on each cheek, a commitment to pretending that this was something they both wanted. And before Selina knew it, she was walking across the driveway, toward the carriage, beside which her husband stood waiting. He did not smile. He did not look pleased to see her. Resigned, was the sense that she got.

The way he looks at me, one would think that I was the one who forced this marriage on him!

“Husband,” she uttered as she reached the carriage.

He cleared his throat but still said nothing, waving her inside. She curled her lip purposefully at him and then, with nothing else for it, she climbed into the carriage and said goodbye to her old life once and for all.

The silence that filled the carriage was as tense as it was awkward. It had been nearly an hour since Selina and her husband had climbed inside and begun the long journey north, and during that time, not so much as a word had been spoken.

Is this what I am to expect for my future, from now until the day that I die? Silence?

It seemed, from the way her husband was behaving, that this would indeed be the case.

He sat across from her, his large body turned to face the window. His stare was purposeful, his expression hardened, and the look in his eyes suggested that he would rather be running beside the carriage than stuck inside with her.

There was an anger inside him. Selina could sense it. And while that scared her a little—for how could it not?—she told herself that fear was not an emotion she could live with for the rest of her days. They were married now, this was her life. It might not be the love match she had always wanted, but that did not mean the two had to hate one another.

And so, wishing to put the past behind them and perhaps attempt some sense of congeniality, she dared to break the silence.

“Exactly how far away is this estate of yours?” Selina asked, for she knew not what else to say.

“Some distance,” he replied carefully, not so much as bothering to look at her.

“Oh, well, thank you for the clarification.”

His jaw clenched, and she saw him take a deep breath. “Northwick Estate… it is just south of Manchester, which means that we will not arrive until tomorrow morning.”

“Oh.” She blinked. “That is farther than I thought.” The implication hit her, and she could not help but sink down in her seat. “Much farther…”

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