He looked around the room and made a face before shaking his head and running away. Selina tried not to let herself be too disappointed.Small steps. He baked a cake with you and even smiled. That is enough progress for now.
She did not see Percy or Dominic for the rest of the day. When she went down for dinner, she saw Percy’s nanny talking to the dowager duchess. The woman turned to her. “I was just telling Her Grace that Percy will not be attending dinner tonight.”
“Is everything all right?” Selina asked, feeling concerned.
“Yes, Your Grace,” the nanny said. “He was simply tired after such an exciting day. He wanted to go to bed early.”
“Baking a cake tired him out that much?” She wondered if he was falling ill, if that was the case. If so, she would need to arrange for a physician to look at him immediately.
The nanny hesitated before saying. “He spent a good deal of time this afternoon crying.”
A lump rose in Selina’s throat.
Did I upset him somehow?
“I see,” she said. “Is that a common occurrence for him?”
“I only began my employment here a month ago,” she said. “So I cannot tell how common it is. But it has happened before.”
Sorrow filled her at the thought. The poor boy had already been through so much. “Thank you for telling me,” she said.
The nanny curtsied before leaving the dining hall.
Selina sat down at the dining table, feeling perturbed.
The dowager duchess did not take her seat. “I am afraid I am going to dinner with friends tonight,” she said. “Your husband is being stubborn as usual. Dominic told me that he would take dinner in his room, no matter how much I tried to threaten him or coax him out of his room.”
Selina felt a pang of disappointment about the thought of having dinner alone. She had not had dinner alone in years because she always had company at finishing school.
I thought things would be different with Dominic now.After their conversation in the kitchen, she had hoped things would be friendlier between them.
Perhaps hugging him was too much.
The dowager duchess smiled at her. “Perhaps you should have dinner served to you in the west drawing room instead of the dining hall. I think you will find it much more pleasant there.”
Selina frowned, but nodded. The older lady had the same look in her eye that she did right before sending Selina off to Dominic’s bedroom.
As she walked into the west drawing room, delight filled her. Her sister was waiting for her, sitting on the window seat. Christine stood up and smiled at her.
Selina rushed forward and pulled her into a hug. “How… when…” She did not even know what she was trying to say. She was overjoyed to see her sister.
“I arrived only a few minutes ago,” she said. “The dowager duchess told me to wait in here to surprise you.”
“Oh, what a wonderful surprise.” Selina felt tears prick her eyes. “I’m so happy you’re here. You should have sent a message ahead, though. I could have asked the chef to prepare something special.”
“I do not need something special. I only needed to see you.” Christine pulled back to look at her. “Besides, this is more of a spontaneous visit on my part. Lady Gillray is attending a ball, so she does not mind that I took a hackney coach to visit you.”
“Does not mind, or does not know?” Selina arched an eyebrow at her sister.
Christine merely shrugged and smiled.
The duchess also felt a little unsettled at the thought of Lady Gillray going to a ball without Christine. How was her sister supposed to find a husband if she kept being left behind?
But before Selina could raise any objections, her sister grabbed her hands. “How is your family?”
Selina felt a pang of sadness thinking about her so-called family, all of whom were spending dinnertime in separate locations. But she smiled anyway. “I baked a cake with Percy today,” she said. “Let us sit down at the table near the window. I will summon some dinner for us.”
Once dinner was on the way, and Selina and Christine were settled at the table together, Selina started to speak. “I told Dominic about Lady Gillray using you as a maid. He is taking care of it.”
