Page 17 of The Duke's Jilted Bride

“Ihope the brandy is to your liking, Your Grace,” Selina said, breaking the silence that had stretched between them since the soup course. “It was a wedding gift from the Duke and Duchess of Emberford. They are dear friends of mine.”

Rowan glanced up from his plate, studying the amber liquid in his glass. “It’s excellent. Thirty years old, if I’m not mistaken.”

The dining room felt cavernous around them. Candlelight gleamed off polished silver and crystal, creating a warm glow that belied the coldness between them.

The Duke had returned from the tenant farms just before dinner, his mind still filled with the problems he’d encountered.

Fields neglected. Repairs ignored. His year-long absence had taken its toll on the estate.

“The Duchess also sent a collection of poetry for me,” Selina continued, cutting her roast beef into precise, tiny pieces. “She wrote she regrets missing our wedding.”

“Kind of her,” Rowan replied, taking another sip of the brandy.

Silence fell once more. Rowan could feel his wife’s discomfort from across the table. She’d donned a gown of deep green silk that complemented her sunlit hair and warm eyes. Despite himself, he found his gaze drawn to the elegant line of her neck, the soft curve of her lips.

“How were the tenant farms today?” Selina asked, her fork poised halfway to her mouth.

“Adequate.”

Her jaw tightened. “I see. And the tenants themselves? In good health, I hope?”

“Well enough,” Rowan signaled the footman for more wine.

“Did you encounter any specific problems that require attention?”

Rowan set down his glass with more force than necessary. “That’s my business.”

The temperature in the room seemed to drop. Selina’s eyes flashed.

“Your business,” she repeated. “I see. Is this how our marriage is to proceed? You handling ‘your business’ while I remain ignorant of everything beyond the household accounts?”

“That was the arrangement,” Rowan said coldly. “A marriage of convenience. I handle the estate matters. You manage the household.”

“So, we are to live as strangers under the same roof?” Selina set down her cutlery.

Rowan’s hand clenched around his wine glass. “I don’t recall agreeing to share every detail of estate management with you.”

“And I don’t recall agreeing to be treated as nothing more than a decorative ornament,” Selina countered. “Is that why you chose me originally? A quiet widow who would stay in her place and make no demands?”

“I chose you because our arrangement was mutually beneficial.”

“Was it? Because from where I stand, the benefits seem rather one-sided.” Selina’s voice rose slightly. “You abandoned me at the altar without explanation, disappeared for an entire year, then stormed into my engagement party, publicly humiliating me. Now you’ve forced me into marriage, yet you refuse evenbasic conversation across the dinner table. Tell me, Your Grace, how exactly have I benefited from this arrangement?”

The footmen exchanged glances, clearly uncomfortable with the rising tension. Rowan dismissed them with a wave of his hand. When the last servant had withdrawn, he turned back to his wife.

“What would you have me say, Duchess? That the north field requires drainage? That Wilkins has a sick cow? That the granary roof leaks? Would these details enliven your evening?”

“They would at least suggest you view me as a partner rather than an acquisition,” she replied, her cheeks flushing. “Why did you even marry me, Your Grace? You clearly have no desire for my company or my… physical presence. You could have spare me the humiliation of ruining my engagement.”

The reference to their wedding night hung between them, sharp as a blade.

“I married you because we had an agreement,” he said stiffly. “One that circumstances prevented me from honoring at the appointed time.”

Selina leaned forward. “What circumstances were those, precisely? Why didn’t you appear at our wedding last year?”

The question he had been dreading. Rowan looked away, unwilling to see the accusation in her eyes. “It’s complicated.”

“You’ve said this before. Yet you offer no explanation.” Selina’s voice trembled with suppressed emotion. “Do you have any idea what it was like? Standing at the altar, watching the minutes tick by, hearing the whispers? The humiliation of returning home alone in my wedding gown?”

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