Page 24 of His Ruined Duchess

“Excuse me? This is to be a civil party. Your tone is hardly necessary. Unless you wish to take these words to a morephysicallevel?”

Oh God, no. Magnus, do not challenge him to a duel!

“I assure you, Sir, you would lose in that arena. But far be it from me to interfere with your plans to give your physician something to do all evening.”

They were getting closer to each other now, invading the other’s space. Selina would not see her dear friend’s event, the last before she went away for the birth of her child, interrupted by a pair of hooligans making fools of themselves.

“Your Grace.” Selina stepped between them, putting her back to the Duke as she faced her friend. “Magnus. Please. There is no need to resort to violence. This is to be a celebration of new life. Surely, we should not tarnish that with such barbarism?”

Glaring over her shoulder, Magnus didn’t blink as he refused to back down. Still, after a moment, he stepped back, adjusting his jacket before lowering his stare to her.

“I would be happy to discuss matters further with you, Selina. Please send word when you might be available to meet.”

With that, Magnus spun on his heel, rushing away from the situation and likely returning all the way home if Selina knewhim like she thought. She sighed, her head hanging, and then turned to eye the Duke.

He met her stare without flinching or apologizing for making such a scene. Selina would not jeopardize Amelia’s happiness, but she would not stay a moment longer, enduring the boil that was the man standing before her. And so, in quick fashion, she left the man to stand there, saying her goodbyes before she headed straight to the coach, waiting for them outside.

Chapter Ten

The moment they arrived at the estate, the Duke flew out of the carriage and hurried away toward his room. Selina would not have it. He wasn’t retiring for the evening without so much as a word exchanged between them. She would give him a piece of her mind, and Selina would be ever so pleased if he managed to choke on it.

“How could you? You were incredibly rude to Duke Aldsworth, and I was merely attempting to obey you. He is looking for a bride.”

The Duke stopped just before his door in the hallway. Selina walked right up to him, having followed him up the stairs, and jabbed her finger in his direction.

“You are mad, shoving yourself into the middle of a conversation and being so awful to one of my closest friends. Were you trying to make an enemy out of him?

Scowling, the Duke set his jaw tightly, the muscles around them flexing as he sucked in a deep breath through his nose. He waited several seconds before he crossed his hands over his chest and exhaled.

“It is not I who is the problem, Selina, but the pompous aristocrats who filled that blasted house to the brim. None of them speaks their minds like men. They discuss everything in half-truths and riddles. I won’t lower myself to that.”

Selina sighed, dropping her head as she pinched the bridge of her nose. She nearly felt bad for the man, having no understanding of how life worked in the upper echelons of society and particularly in the ton. He needed to learn quickly.

“This is a new world for you, I understand that. But you must adapt if you wish to remain in it. This is the way things are done here, and you’re going to wind up losing any sense of credibility or favor if you continue to aggravate everyone you speak to.”

The Duke pinned Selina with a stare, trying as much as his eyes could to force her to leave him be. But she would not budge. This affected her own standing, affected that damned marriage he demanded of her, and the man needed to recognize that.

“I have managed perfectly well for this long, Selina. I have survived the world at large and been quite successful with my business. I hardly think I need to take advice from a widow.”

He began to turn away from her, putting his fist around the doorknob, but this was far from over.

“You completely misunderstand what I’m?—”

“I will notbowto anyone, Selina.”

The Duke spun around, his glare landing on her with a force Selina had not seen from him before, and that was truly saying something considering their established dynamic. He looked more stern than ever, crowding her as he towered like an overgrown oak.

“I have not, and I will not.Ever.”

Growling out the words, the Duke took two more steps toward her, invading more of Selina’s space so that she was forced to pull into herself. A trill of fear sang in her ears, making her thoughts chaotic from the gravity of the Duke’s mood.

It was so odd to see him like this over what Selina had assumed was a relatively tame comment. What was it about the ton and the aristocracy that upset the man so much? There was a wildness—a pure rage—to the Duke’s eyes, but again, that lingering interest in her remained just beyond the obvious.

She would not back down from him. She would not allow him to bully her into submission. Because, as he would learn soon enough, Selina was as right about her assessment of the situation as she was about practically everything regarding the ton.

Decades of study had made her an adept student, and though he might not appreciate it in the slightest, Selina simply knew more than the Duke did when it came to formal behavior and the ways of the upper class.

“It is notbowing, Your Grace.” She raised her brows at him, straightening her spine and looking him dead in the eye. “It is quite the opposite in fact. Do you wish to be successful here? To leverage your new title to your benefit? Then this is a play you must learn, a dance whose steps you must commit to memory.”

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