Chapter 25
Twenty-Five
Selina was angry and embarrassed after her argument with Dominic. She felt silly for falling into bed with him, only for him to call it a mistake.
She was too upset to finish breakfast, so instead she went to her own room and quickly dressed. She only felt a little better when she was wearing her own clothing instead of Dominic’s dressing robe.
She stared down at the dressing robe, remembering feeling so happy as she put it on that morning. Memories of the night before plagued her, as she remembered the way he set her body on fire with his touch.
How did it get so complicated so quickly?
She sighed, knowing she needed to do something to distract herself. Not wanting her negative emotions to rub off on Percy, she decided to leave his care up to the nanny for the day and instead went to the kitchen.
The cook and scullery maids all froze when she entered and gave her curtsies. “Begging your pardon, Your Grace,” the cook said. “But if you would like to bake, then I would prefer it if you waited until after dinner was served. There is a lot of work to be done before then.”
“Then let me help,” Selina said. “Please. I can chop vegetables or wash dishes. Something to keep my hands busy.”
Very reluctantly, the cook gave her a small basket of potatoes. “These must be peeled and sliced in half,” she said.
“That is perfect, thank you,” Selina said, giving her a smile of appreciation before grabbing a spare apron and taking her work into the servant’s dining room, which was next to the kitchen.
The room was currently empty, so she would not make any of the staff uncomfortable in there.
Besides, she just needed some time alone so she could think.
She peeled potatoes quickly and expertly as she fumed. “Heaven forbid a man takes an interest in his son’s life,” she muttered under her breath. Why was he so reluctant to involve himself in the life of his own child, whom he clearly loved very much?
A moment later, she slammed down the knife on the table. “A mistake? That is how he sees me?” Shaking her head, she picked up the knife again and continued peeling.
When she had finished peeling the potatoes and slicing them in half, she felt a little calmer. She gave the basket to the pleasantly surprised cook, deposited the apron back in its place, and left the kitchen.
As she entered the main hallway, the dowager duchess came running up to her, a cheeky smile on her face. “Selina! Just the person I was coming to see! I could not help but notice that you and Dominic were both absent from breakfast this morning.”
“Indeed,” Selina said, feeling tired. Even though she was calmer, her mood was not exactly cheerful. She certainly did not feel up to having a conversation about Dominic. “I am sorry to have missed breakfast.”
“I am not! I heard a breakfast cart for two was delivered to his room. I am so happy that the two of you are getting along so well! I take it that this means Percy will be getting a little brother or sister in the next year or two?”
Selina shook her head. “I am afraid there is no chance of that. There will certainly be no chance of that in the future.”
The older lady’s smile faded. “What did my grandson do?” Her voice was sharp, as if she were already planning a well-intentioned lecture. But that was not what Selina wanted. Dominic should be involved in Percy’s life because that was what he wanted. Not because he felt pressured to do so.
Selina shook her head, not wanting to get into the details with her at the moment. “It does not matter.”
The dowager sighed. “Well, he will certainly see reason eventually. It might take him a while, but he will get there in the end.” She walked away, looking incredibly disappointed.
She probably wishes she had trapped another woman into marriage. Just because I was patient with an excited puppy clearly does not mean I am qualified to fix everything happening in Greystone Manor.
Selina went upstairs, wanting to check on Percy now that her temper had cooled down. She looked in his nursery to find it empty. However, as she walked past the duchess’s suite, she heard the sound of movement inside.
She peeked her head in the door to see Percy on the bed, hugging his knees to his chest as he stared at his mother’s portrait. He turned to look at her and shook his head, clearly telling her to leave him alone.
A lump rose in Selina’s throat. She nodded and shut the door so Percy could be alone with the memory of his mother. Sadness filled her, feeling almost painful in her chest. Tears sprang to her eyes as she walked to her own room.
Dominic does not want me as a wife. Percy clearly does not want me to replace his mother. Even the dowager duchess is disappointed in me for failing to produce a child. What am I even doing here?
That night, Dominic did not sleep, no matter how hard he tried. He spent the night pacing around his room, seeing Selina’s stricken look in his mind’s eye. I should not have snapped at her. She is just trying to help, and I was cruel.
He could still remember her begging him not to leave, so they could keep talking, as well as her heartbroken expression when he said it was a mistake to take her to bed the night before. Perhaps I have a heart of stone after all.
Before he knew it, his window showed him the sun starting to rise on the horizon. He had not even so much as dozed during the night, let alone slept.
Dominic immediately called for some tea to perk himself up, which was only moderately successful.
As he drank, he wrote a letter to his sister.
He left out all of the details about his argument with Selina.
After all, his sister had enough to worry about without including his personal affairs.
But he missed her. She would certainly call him a fool for how he was handling the situation.
At breakfast time, he went downstairs to find the dowager duchess, but no Selina or Percy. “Good morning, Grandmother. Have you seen Selina this morning?” he said, keeping his voice neutral.
“I have not,” she said, a small furrow wrinkling her brow. “Although yesterday, she seemed quite distraught. Perhaps she is sleeping in.”
He grimaced. He knew he was the reason she had looked distraught. “Yes, that is something I need to talk to her about today.”
His grandmother arched an eyebrow at him.
“Yes, I hope so. I will not give you a lecture—I can hardly do that when I do not even know the details, but you had best work out whatever issue is between the two of you. But before that, there is a surprise waiting for you outside in the garden. Percy is already outside.”
Dominic frowned. “Can it wait? I must speak with my wife.”
“The surprise is from your wife,” she said before turning to go to the garden doors. “And no, I do not think it can wait. This is the sort of surprise that can find you, even if you try to avoid it.”
Intrigued, Dominic followed the dowager duchess outside, where he heard the sound of barking before he saw Percy running across the garden lawn, chasing after a small dog. “Duke!” The little boy shouted. “Duke!”
Dominic’s breath still caught in his throat at the sound of his son speaking. He took a deep breath to compose himself before he followed his grandmother onto the lawn.
“The duchess has been planning this surprise for some time now,” the dowager explained. “She wanted to do something nice for you and Percy. She wanted to bring a little more playfulness to Greystone. I daresay she succeeded.”
Dominic stared at the energetic puppy who was currently barking and attempting to run circles around Percy while its tail wagged furiously.
“Call the dog to you,” the dowager said, smiling at him. “You already know its name.”
He remembered what Percy had called the dog. “Duke!” he shouted.
His son stopped running and turned to face him while the little dog came running up to Dominic, tongue hanging out and tail wagging.
As it came closer, he realized it was the same dog that he and Selina had caught together during the Duke Hunt.
The Misunderstood Duke. The one she had lured into her lap with some food and kindness.
Dominic knelt down and held out his hand for the dog to sniff. It licked his hand gently instead of running away like it did in the forest. The duke smiled softly and started to pet the dog, only for his fingers to brush against a piece of paper tucked into the collar of the dog.
He pulled it out and saw a note scrawled in Selina’s neat handwriting. He read it quickly: Every misunderstood duke deserves a loyal friend who understands him. Love, Selina, the Duchess of Greystone.
A lump formed in Dominic’s throat at her use of ‘love.’ She is so full of warmth and affection, yet I pushed her away as if it was nothing.
Percy tugged on Dominic’s sleeve, interrupting his thoughts. Dominic looked down at his son.
The young boy pointed at the note before looking up at his father expectantly.
Dominic cleared his throat. “It is a note from Selina. She left this puppy—Duke—for us. As a gift.”
His son smiled before grabbing Dominic’s hand and pulling him inside. The duke wordlessly followed his son while the dog came in behind them, sniffing at their heels.
The dowager smiled and turned down a hallway, letting Dominic spend time alone with Percy.
The little boy led him upstairs to his nursery.
Dominic watched, bewildered, as Percy knelt next to a cupboard and pulled out a wooden box.
He opened it up, revealing a bunch of folded-up pieces of paper.
Dominic’s mouth dropped open in surprise as he realized that they were the notes he wrote to his son.
So he has saved them after all.
Percy picked up the note lying on top and opened it up. Dominic recognized it as the note he had written to Percy two days ago. It was a short one, with only three words on it.
Percy looked at his father and pointed at the note. “I love you.”
“H—how…” Dominic’s words failed him as he stared at his son. He felt an overwhelming onslaught of emotions that made it difficult for him to recognize them all. But there was one that rose above the others: happiness.
Percy pointed at the piece of paper in Dominic’s hand, the one that came from the dog’s collar. “Mom,” he said simply.
“Mom,” Dominic repeated, feeling tears sting his eyes. Not ‘Mama’, which was what his son always called Eugenia. But ‘Mom’. Even though Selina was not replacing Eugenia in his heart, Percy loved her all the same.
Percy grabbed a fistful of notes and thrust them in Dominic’s hand before sitting cross—legged on the floor. Duke settled in his lap, looking ready for a nap after the excitement that morning. He pointed to the notes. “Read. Please?”
“Y—you want me to read them for you?”
Percy nodded enthusiastically.
Dominic tried to swallow past the lump in his throat. “All right,” he said. He settled on the floor next to him and unfolded the first note before glancing at Percy. His son was watching him expectantly.
“Um, this one says ‘I love you’. And I do.” He cleared his throat and set it aside. “I was happy to see you playing in the garden today. I love you, son.”
Percy grinned up at him. The sight made a warm feeling bloom in Dominic’s chest. Encouraged, he kept reading. “I was happy to read aloud to you today. I love you.”
Dominic spent the rest of the morning reading aloud his notes to Percy. His son wanted him to read all of them to him, even though Selina had already done so. Some of the notes he insisted Dominic read more than once.
At first, Dominic felt awkward about it, but it got easier the more he did it while Percy cuddled up next to him. The puppy had eventually fallen asleep in Percy’s lap, and after some time, Dominic realized Percy was asleep as well.
He smiled at his son and picked him up in his arms, careful not to wake him. He carried him to the bed and set him down gently before pulling the blankets over him. “I love you, son,” he whispered, kissing Percy on the temple, before leaving the room.
He needed to speak to Selina. He needed to apologize for the cruel words he told her the day before and to thank her for her gift. For everything.
He did not find her in her room, however. He ran into the dowager duchess in one of the drawing rooms. “Have you seen Selina?”
The dowager looked pale as she shook her head. “I was just informed by the footman that Selina took the carriage out this morning. It just returned without her.”