Chapter 19
Nineteen
Dominic returned home in the early evening. He’d had a busy day at parliament before going out to dinner with Austin. He was tired and ready to retire to his bedchamber with a good book before bed—after checking in on Percy, of course.
Immediately, when he got home, he realized his grandmother was waiting for him. “What on earth are you doing?” she said.
“I am home from parliament,” he said, raising his eyebrows. “What does it look like I am doing?”
She rolled her eyes. “I mean, what are you doing about Selina? You have not mentioned anything to her about hosting parties?”
“This is hardly the time for parties, Grandmother.” He tried to push past her and headed to the staircase, but she simply fell into step next to him.
“Your wife has been locked in this manor, caring for your child for two weeks,” she said. “She told me that not only is she not planning any gatherings any time soon, but that the two of you will not make public appearances as a newly married couple any time soon either.”
He thought about it for a moment and then nodded. “If that is her wish.” He never cared much for social gatherings anyway, especially after everyone started saying he had a heart of stone and whispering about how he killed his first wife.
“She thinks it is your wish.”
“Well, I am certainly not against being a reclusive family.”
The dowager duchess huffed. “She is not your servant, Dominic. If you have any hope of winning your wife’s affections, then—”
“I know she is not my servant,” he cut her off. “However, her duty, first and foremost, is to Percy. I will not distract her from that duty, and I suggest you let it be. Perhaps she can start throwing parties when Percy begins to speak.”
He left his grandmother then, easily outpacing her on the stairwell. He was ready to check in on Percy and retire to his room.
However, when he reached the top floor, he discovered that something was amiss.
Servants were running between two rooms, carrying various things with a sense of urgency, but he could not figure it out.
Alarm filled him at the sight, and he stopped one of the footmen in the hallway.
“What is going on?” he said. “Where is my son?” It was not rational, but all of the activity made him worried about Percy.
“He is in the nursery, Your Grace,” the footman said. “Along with the duchess. She has ordered us to move her belongings to the room at the end of the hallway. The duchess’s suite is to be restored to what it looked like before… before Her Grace’s accident.”
Anger filled him. “Stop moving everything,” he said. “At once!”
He did not wait for a reply. Instead, he stormed into the duchess’s suite. It was exactly how he remembered it a year ago. Eugenia’s portrait had been hung in its old place above the mantle, and the bedding was the same ugly floral print that she loved so much. He felt repulsed at the sight of it.
When the door opened behind him, he almost flinched, as if expecting the ghost of his dead wife to float into the room.
But when he turned, it was merely Selina, looking around the room with a satisfied smile.
“What is the meaning of this?” he said, emphasizing every word.
“Where are your belongings? Why have you put her portrait back on display?”
He gestured to the blasted painting on the wall. It did not even look like his late wife. The portrait’s expression was much too kind. She had always looked at him with hatred.
“I am sorry, I am sure this is hard for you,” Selina said. “I know you loved Eugenia very much. It is probably painful for you to look at her, but—”
“You think you have everyone and everything figured out, don’t you?” he sneered. “You have crossed a line, Selina. I cannot believe you did this without consulting me first.”
She looked taken aback. “You told me to run the household as I saw fit.”
“I did not mean this! I did not mean you changing rooms and restoring this room as if—” He growled. “Do you have any idea—”
“No!” She burst out. “I do not have any idea because you do not tell me anything about her! How was I supposed to know this would upset you so much when you do not open up to me?” She started pacing around the room, looking agitated.
With Eugenia fresh in his mind, Dominic had to resist the urge to look at the balcony doors to make sure they were closed.
Selina did not seem to notice, however. She just continued her rant.
“I do not expect you to ever love me the same way you loved her—you do not even have to love me at all! But you need to be honest with me or accept that I will sometimes do things that upset you—”
“You have no idea what you do to me!” he snapped.
He strode toward her menacingly, closing the distance between them in less than a second.
She did not back away from him or flinch, like another woman might have.
Instead, she met his eyes. “You have no idea how you consume my waking thoughts,” he growled.
“Even when I’m working, I am thinking about you. All of you.”
His hand went to the back of her head. He tangled his fingers in her hair as she looked up at him. Her face flushed with desire. “You have enchanted me, Duchess. Do not ever think that I do not want you.” He kissed her, roughly.
Selina stiffened in surprise for half a moment before she relaxed into the kiss.
He licked her bottom lip, commanding that she open up her mouth for him, and she obeyed.
She felt so good, so perfect. His hand went to her back and touched the laces of her dress. It would be so easy to pull them loose.
Small footsteps made him freeze and pull away from Selina. A moment after he pulled away from her, Percy appeared in the doorway, smiling. He walked past them to the mantle and looked up at the portrait. Dominic felt a lump rise in his throat at the sight of him.
Percy pointed to the portrait and turned to look at his father. “Mama,” he whispered.
Dominic froze as he stared at his son. He had to have imagined that. There was no way he had just heard Percy speak.
Selina did not seem fazed. She knelt to the ground, so she was at eye level with him. “That is right,” she said softly. “That is your mama.” She glanced up at Dominic before looking back to Percy. “Do you want to show your father what I got you from the jeweler’s today?”
Percy turned to look at his father and pulled a shiny, gold pocket watch out of his pocket. He opened it up to show that it was empty.
Dominic knelt next to him. “That is very handsome,” he said. His voice only shook just a little with emotion, and he was glad of it.
“We are going to put his mother’s portrait in it,” Selina said. “As soon as we can find an artist who can make a miniature version of it. I think it will look very pretty in the pocket watch.”
Dominic did not speak. He could not have forced words out past the lump in his throat even if he knew what he wanted to say.
Percy pointed at the gold chain coming out of Dominic’s pocket. The duke reached into his pocket to pull out his own pocket watch, which looked so similar to Percy’s new watch. He flipped open the pocket watch to reveal a picture of Percy inside.
“I replace the picture every year,” he said. “To capture your likeness as you grow. But I have all of the old ones, starting from when you were first born.”
His son looked up at him with shining eyes, as if this was the best surprise anyone had ever given him. The little boy hesitated before holding out his arms.
“A hug? Do you want a hug?” Dominic asked, unable to quell the eagerness in his voice.
Percy hesitated for a moment before looking up at Selina, who nodded encouragingly. “Go on,” she said.
His son looked back at him and nodded.
Dominic pulled him into a hug and shut his eyes to stop the tears that stung them and threatened to fall. As he hugged his son, that one whispered word echoed in his mind. Mama.
It did not matter what word Percy had said. What mattered was that he found his voice. It was all thanks to Selina.
That night, after Percy went to bed, Dominic knocked on Selina’s door—the door of her new room.
“Enter,” she called.
He opened the door to find her sitting on her window seat with a book in her hand.
He looked around the room. This spare room was significantly smaller than the duchess’s suite.
Instead of having a connected sitting room, it had two armchairs and a coffee table in front of the fireplace, which was opposite the canopy bed.
Her belongings had already been moved and put away by the servants. He looked at the walls and saw a portrait of her sister on one wall and another of her parents on another wall. He realized he had never set foot inside her room before.
She smiled at him. “Good evening,” she said. “Was there something you wanted to discuss with me?”
“Your husband comes to your room at night, and you automatically assume he is here for a discussion?” He could not help but raise his eyebrows at that.
She blushed. For a moment, her gaze flickered down, as if taking in the sight of his body. “Are you here for something else?” She sounded shy, but maybe a little excited, too. Intriguing.
He smiled, thoroughly enjoying her reaction. For a moment, he was tempted to say yes, that he wanted to take her to bed. But he restrained himself. “I did come here to talk, yes.”
She nodded, her expression neutral except for the blush that was still on her cheeks. She got up from the window seat and gestured to the chairs in front of the fire. “Let us sit together.”
“There is no need,” he said quickly. The longer he stayed here, in her bedroom, the more he would want her. “I just came to say thank you. I did not think I would ever hear Percy speak again, but you have given him back his voice after only two weeks.”
She looked down, a soft smile on her face. Dominic wished she would look at him again, so he could see her beautiful eyes. “I barely did anything,” she said. “I only did what I could to make him happy. However, I do not know how much he will talk. After all, it is a habit for him to remain quiet.”
“That is all right,” he said. “I know he will never be quite like he once was. He is growing up, and he was too hurt by his mother’s death. But thanks to you, I have hope that I will hear his voice once in a while. Thank you.”
“There is no need to thank me,” she said. “Truly. I want to help Percy as much as you do.” She flinched a little. “Forgive me. That was presumptuous of me.”
“No,” he said. “Not at all. You have already shown him more love and care than Eugenia ever did. You do not need to convince me that you love him.” He looked away. “I should leave you to rest. Good night, Selina.”
Disappointment flickered on her face for a moment before her features melted into a pleasant smile. “Good night, Dominic.”
Why would she be disappointed at him leaving her alone? Surely she did not truly want him to intrude upon her space. Perhaps I imagined it.
He closed the door behind him, feeling content, except for a small ache of longing. He wanted to go back into Selina’s room and pull her into his arms. She had kissed him back, so perhaps she would not be unwilling if he took her to bed. But he knew she would never be in love with him.
That was all right. She loved Percy, and that was more than he could have hoped for. It would have to be enough. Meanwhile, he would do his best to be a caring partner to her without pushing her for more than she was willing to give him.