Page 69 of The Duke’s Hidden Duchess

“I shall.”

Lady Marwood studied her for another moment, evidently deciding whether there was anything further worth saying. Apparently, there was not.

Nathaniel was crossing the lawn towards them.

He had disentangled himself from Lord Fairburn at last and was coming at a measured pace that did not quite conceal how directly he had chosen his path.

Lady Marwood followed Selina’s gaze and smiled faintly.

“I believe I have detained you long enough. Your husband has spent the better part of twenty minutes enduring Fairburn on agricultural rents.”

“That was very generous of him.”

“Heroic, I should say.”

With that, Lady Marwood left her to meet him.

Nathaniel stopped beside Selina.

For a moment neither spoke.

“You stayed away,” she said at last.

“You asked me to.”

“I know.”

“I disliked every second of it.”

“I know that too.”

His expression suggested that twenty minutes with Lord Fairburn had not been the chief source of his discomfort.

He looked towards the gate through which Rowland had disappeared.

“Did he frighten you?”

Selina considered denying it. The answer would have been easy and, after the performance she had just given, almost habitual.

She found she did not want to.

“At one point I did not have to pretend.”

Nathaniel’s attention returned to her at once.

The change in him was small but immediate.

“What did he say?”

“Something I shall tell you in the carriage. I should rather not repeat it here.”

For a moment she could see the questions he did not ask. His gaze moved once over her face, searching perhaps for what she was not yet ready to give him.

He did not press her.

“Do you wish to leave?”

The simplicity of the question eased something in her.