Page 8 of The Duke and the Temporary Bride

The room seemed to spin around Selina as the announcement struck home. Those around them erupted in applause and cheers, but she barely heard it. Hands grabbed at her and pulled her into tight hugs. Kisses on cheeks. Smiles and words of congratulations—a blur, it was, for Selina felt detached from her body, as if she was floating and watching from above.

This cannot be happening.I must have misheard. A mistake! This must be a mistake!

The next ten minutes passed quickly as Selina was passed around the room like a delicious entrée that everyone wished to sample before there was nothing left. Lady Langham stayed by her side, speaking for her, blissfully unaware of how distraught her daughter was.

And as this was happening, Selina watched the Duke closely, the way he shook hands with those who approached him. The way he nodded his head and accepted congratulations without a hint of disappointment. Oh sure, he was not smiling or laughing, but that was not his way.

What she noticed most was, for how shattered her reality was, he seemed completely unaffected!

When he strode out of the room, heading in the direction of the washroom down the hall, Selina followed him. She did not remember saying anything to her mother, instead pulling away and charging after the man set to ruin her life.

What she planned on saying to him, she had no idea. But she was certain something would come to mind once they were alone—a moment that came once she rounded the corner into the empty hallway.

“What do you think you are doing!” she exclaimed in anger, the first words she could remember speaking since the announcement. Not the most elegant turn-of-phrase, but it was a start.

The Duke stopped walking and turned around, saw Selina coming for him, and frowned as if surprised that she was there. Or perhaps he was surprised that she was upset? This lack of empathy, however, only angered her further.

“Miss Gouldsmith, what are you?—”

“I said, what do you think you are doing?!” she snarled as she marched toward him. “How dare you do this!”

At that moment, with how enraged and betrayed she was feeling, she thought she might just charge at him like a bull flying out of the gates.

The Duke did not balk, nor did he move so much as an inch. And as she came closer, his size and breadth seemed to rear up like a mountain springing from the ground, and her temper withered as she was forced to stop before running headfirst into him.

“Will you please calm down,” he said to her, ironically not looking nearly so calm himself.

She could see the corner of his lips twitching and his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides. While Selina shook from anger, he appeared at pains to keep himself from exploding.

“Let us discuss this rationally.”

“Rationally, he says!” She threw her hands in the air. “There is nothing rational about this! Your brother, where is he?!”

“He has left.”

“Left? What does that mean?”

“It means that he ran. Rather than marrying you, he chose to flee. With no other choice, I have decided to marry you in his stead.”

“You decided!”

“Yes.”

“What of me? What of what I want!”

“That is irrelevant,” he said in a dispassionate tone. “After what occurred this morning, someone had to marry you. We could not risk letting word get out?—”

“Nobody knows!” she cut him off angrily. The Duke stiffened, likely not used to being spoken over like that. “My mother was the only one who saw what happened, and if you had requested it, surely she would have seen reason.”

“I am afraid that was not an option.”

“It is! If you had just told my mother—stood up to her!” she shouted in his face, caring not for the way his lip twitched. “But no, you… you are a coward! You let my mother walk all over you.”

“Your mother had nothing to do with this.” A growl rumbled in his chest, and she could see the fire in his eyes. “This was about my brother and his reputation. If I canceled the betrothal completely, the ton would have found out. Our family name was at stake here, and you should know there is nothing I would not do to protect it.”

“Ha! If you are so concerned about your family name, perhaps it is your brother whom you should be attempting to control better, not me. I know of his reputation. I know the scoundrel that he is, the rake, the?—”

It happened quickly.

---