A moment later, she slammed down the knife on the table. “Amistake?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.
