Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“ Y our jawline is simply magnificent. You must let me paint a portrait of you sometime.”

Selina hid her nervousness behind a polite smile as she reached for a cookie, trying not to squirm uncomfortably under the gaze of her company.

Mr. Oswin was charming — if not a tad too eccentric — and Selina did not want to scratch another potential suitor from her list.

But it had been three days since she had convinced herself to return her focus to her prime objective, and it was disappointing that she did not have much to show for her efforts.

She had done her best to avoid Aaron completely as well, taking on the mindset of ‘out of sight, out of mind,’ hoping that now she was determined to attain a good love match, things would flow smoothly.

It became obvious that her agenda was easier said than done because, for some reason, the men she had been speaking to had rather… strange mannerisms, to say the least.

“You flatter me, Mr. Oswin. Have you liked painting for a while? I like to visit galleries occasionally with my father. Though he has been rather ill as of late, so we haven’t gone to see any new pieces. Between you and me, though, I think he misses riding more than staring at paint on a canvas.” She smiled.

“Mhm, yes, splendid.” The man before her nodded with a dismissive wave of his hand. “You seem quite lovely, Lady Selina, so I feel as though I can share with you one of my newest passions.”

Selina blinked, confused by how easily he seemed to dismiss all she had said.

“I beg your pardon —”

“Nude painting. I think there is nothing more… liberating than depicting the barest form of a person in flattering oil paints. And as I am utterly smitten by your beauty, I must beg you to allow me to paint you in that form as well,” Sir Oswin said, clearly unaware of her discomfort.

Selina was silent momentarily, staring at him in shock as she wondered if he was merely jesting. But as she peered at him, his open — and slightly narcissistic — expression told her that the man was as serious as one could possibly be when they were propositioning another for such an activity.

With a sigh, she grabbed a napkin to wipe her hands, rising out of her chair. He let out a startled noise, confused by her actions.

“Lady Selina? Where are you going?”

She put on an innocent look as she stared down at him.

“Can’t you tell? I would expect that a man so well-versed in the arts and sciences can recognize when a woman has grown disinterested in his self-centered, egotistic bragging. You might find this hard to believe, but I have better things to do than to play into your disturbing schemes like a mindless doll. Good day, sir.”

“Excuse me —”

Without another word, Selina turned on her heels and walked away.

It was getting concerning how it seemed as though she was only attracting men with questionable behavior.

Although Sir Oswin was quite horrendous, the others before him had been particularly bad as well.

An Earl, Lord Basette, had sat next to her during breakfast the day before and kept forgetting her name.

“Listen, Lady Celeste —”

“It is Selina, My Lord.”

“My apologies, Lady Sarah.”

The Baron’s son, who had taken her to promenade around the estate, kept trying to hold her hand. She had to hit him with her parasol to keep him at a respectable distance from her for the rest of the walk.

It was stifling, and it seemed as though she had been doomed from the start, especially as she was feeling the familiar weight of desperation settle on her shoulders once again.

“Lady Selina? Are you unwell?”

Selina turned to her left, exhaling in relief at the sight of Lord Honeyfield walking towards her with an expression of concern.

“Yes, My Lord,” she quickly smiled. “Just… a tad weary. It has been a rather long day.”

“Ah,” he nodded in understanding. “I do hope things improve in your favor. You are far too lovely to have such a dismayed expression on your face.”

The compliment caught her off guard, and she stared at him, unsure of how to respond. Apparently, her silence made him nervous because moments later, he had begun to ramble.

“I mean, that is not to say that you are not lovely, even with that expression. You are always lovely. And pretty. Truly a gem to behold.” He cleared his throat, lowering his gaze. “I shall be quiet now.”

Selina felt endeared by this display of awkwardness, feeling a bit better.

“I appreciate your kindness, Lord Honeyfield. You have improved my mood immensely.”

The smile he gave her was almost bashful, and he nodded.

“I am glad. I… I was just on my way to the library. Would you do me the honor of having your company? I wished to find a few poetry books to pass the time.”

Considering she had nothing else to do, and Isaac’s company was quite pleasant to be in, agreeing came easily to Selina.

And she did not regret it.

He was thoughtful and a true gentleman, respectful of her in every way. Unlike the other men who had made her feel self-centered for speaking about her family, Isaac listened earnestly, his expression brightening each time they discovered something they both had in common.

“My father loved his horses, too, before he passed. He would spend hours away from home, grooming and riding them. He even had me convinced that he had met my mother while he was out riding in the woods one day,” he said, eyes gleaming eagerly after she told him how much her father missed his horse.

“Did he actually?” Selina asked, intrigued.

“No,” Isaac shook his head with a laugh. “She was the daughter of a friend of his parents, and they had arranged the match for my parents.”

“Oh. Well, I, for one, think his story is much more romantic.” She smiled at him.

Talking with Isaac felt easy to Selina, just as casually conversing with a friend would. But strangely, a part of her longed for the spark that always came alive whenever she was next to Aaron.

She had been pointedly trying to forget his existence completely, eager to simply forget whatever impression he made on her and her life. But it was difficult as the thought of him followed her around.

She almost craved their arguments again, missed the heated weight of his gaze, and yearned for his touch.

No matter how many times she scolded herself, it never worked. It wasn’t long before her mind was drifting to him again.

Isaac was a welcome distraction with his kind smile and the respectful way he spoke to her. He was certainly less frustrating company compared to a certain duke who had a knack for getting on her nerves.

“I heard that a card game will take place before dinner,” Isaac informed her after they had spent some time in the library together. “Would you like to watch it?”

“Yes, that sounds splendid,” Selina agreed quickly.

Because she had noticed that as much as she enjoyed Lord Honeyfield’s company, he wasn’t providing enough distraction from her rather irritating insistent thoughts.

Perhaps a bigger crowd might help, Selina thought, suddenly eager for some more noise.

The card game was taking place in a drawing room, and it seemed as though it had initially begun as a friendly match but steadily grew into a high-stakes event.

“I swear, if you are cheating, Sir Gerald —”

“Do not dishonor me with such slander, Lady Ariella.”

“What is dishonorable is your lack of a spine, Sir Gerald. If you do not wish to raise properly, you may fold.”

“How dare you —”

“Oh my, everyone seems as excitable as always.” Selina laughed a little at the sight of chaos.

“I think so.” Isaac nodded with a grin, but she barely heard him as the feeling of being watched crept up on her.

Confused, she glanced around, her heart stuttering when her eyes caught sight of Aaron standing across the room.

But he wasn’t looking at her; rather, his gaze was fixed on a woman by his side.

Selina recognized her as Lady Eleanor, the daughter of a marquess with an honorable reputation. Although she hadn’t spoken to Eleanor, she had heard good things about the other woman’s character, and something about witnessing Eleanor and Aaron standing together left Selina reeling from a sting of inferiority.

There was a sudden uproar from the people playing cards, and the ruckus gave Selina the excuse she needed to rip her gaze away from the Duke and his potential lady, refocusing her attention on her surroundings just as Samuel rose out of his seat to calm things down.

“All of this arguing won’t help matters. Let’s all relax,” he tried with a cheeky grin.

There was still a lot of grumbling, but the noise significantly quieted down, much to Selina’s relief.

Samuel turned to his wife, who was seated by his side, and addressed her with a soft smile.

“Would you please play something for us, my love?”

Nora’s cheeks reddened under her husband’s gaze, but she stood readily, giggling when he took her hand and kissed it. Then she walked to the piano that had been placed in a corner of the room and took a seat on the bench.

She lifted her fingers to the keys, and after a moment’s pause, gentle melodies filled the room. The dregs of the disruption from earlier faded away completely as Nora’s brilliant playing completely captivated everyone present.

Soon, people began to pair off in twos, moving toward the center of the room to dance. Isaac stepped in front of Selina and held out his hand with a bow.

“Might I have a dance, My Lady?”

Good-naturedly, Selina accepted, trying not to shiver as she felt Aaron’s stare fall on her again, letting Isaac gently lead her to the middle of the room.

Selina moved as gracefully as she could, thankful for all the dance lessons her sister had given her because she was in no mood to humiliate herself by stepping on her dance partner’s foot.

“You seem tense,” Isaac noted with a slight smile. “Relax. It is only me.”

She’d heard those words before from someone else under much different circumstances.

It was instinctive how her gaze made its way back to Aaron, only to drop a moment later when their eyes met.

“I’m afraid I’m not a remarkable dancer,” Selina laughed awkwardly, doing her best to ignore that she could feel the gaze still affixed upon her, seemingly following her every move.

“I promise, you are doing much better than you think,” the Viscount assured.

Isaac, at least, seemed to be having a good time, so she was doing well enough.

But… something was disconcerting about his hands on her. The weight of his touch felt wrong, and each time he stepped closer towards her — too close to be called for by the dance — it was all she could do not to lean back, away from him.

The couples stopped and applauded Nora’s magnificent playing when the song ended. While the hostess blushed in the face of all the praise, some took the opportunity to ask that she play another song.

“Well,” the Duchess grinned, “if you insist.”

The tune was much more upbeat this time around, and just as quickly as the first time, people began dancing. Selina had started to move away from Isaac, but he tightened his grip on her hand slightly.

“Wait. Um — would it be too forward of me to have another dance? Please?” he asked hopefully.

Selina hesitated, unsure of what to do. A single dance was one thing. It could be seen as a causal activity between friends. But although it didn’t need to, a second dance bore heavier implications.

Which were not required because she didn’t feel strongly about her relationship with Isaac. He was no different to her from a simple friend.

“I —”

“Excuse me,” a voice cut in as a hand took hold of her other wrist and tugged her out of Isaac’s grasp. “I need to speak with Lady Selina for a moment.”

Before she or Isaac could say anything, Aaron pulled her away, out of the room. She was so shocked, she let him guide her away, confused beyond belief.

A few minutes later, he took them into a room — some study of sorts Selina determined from a quick glance around — and locked the door behind him after ushering her in then he snapped, “You simply can’t do without causing trouble, can you, Lady Selina?”

Selina stared at the infuriating man before her, feeling the telltale tingle of rage spreading through her as she snapped right back, “That is rich, coming from you. I believe it was you who said you would not sabotage my efforts anymore. After claiming to be noble and honorable, it seems your words do not mean much.”

Aaron scoffed and took a step towards her, the action causing her to take an instinctive step back, her mind recalling that the last time they had been alone like this, he had cornered her and kissed her.

Which, when she really thought about it, was the starting point of her seemingly inevitable demise.

“It was not my intention to sabotage you. I stepped in to stop you from making a dire mistake. You were going to dance with him again. Have you any idea the sort of scandal that thoughtless action would have yielded?” he questioned coldly.

“I do not know why you care. It is not as though your reputation would have been under fire. It is so strange how you go on and on about privacy, yet you are such a glorified busy body,” she smirked, feeling so irritated she could scream.

It didn’t help that he looked so… attractive, even now. The way his gaze burned as it bore down on her sent shivers wracking through her.

Oh, she thought to herself, I know what this is.

It was dangerous. Every time she came toe to toe with Aaron, there was always this… heaviness between them. Something that urged her to keep going, to let her tongue loose until she had crossed the line.

A sensible person would be wary of such a notion, but Selina felt a part of herself steadily growing, eager to see just what would happen.

“I didn’t expect I would need to do this, but you seem to have forgotten that you are still in my care. I cannot and will not permit such behavior,” he stated in a warning tone.

Somehow, during their heated conversation, they’d moved closer to each other. Selina only realized this because she was now close enough to notice all the ways his features changed according to his emotions.

The way his jaw clenched as he kept himself from saying more, the stubborn furrow of his brows, the fiery chill that resided in his eyes as they occasionally traced her body.

Selina swallowed, clenching her hands by her side to keep from doing something stupid like pulling him even closer.

“It was just a dance, Aaron!” she said, overwhelmed and exasperated and unaware of her mistake. “You are making it out to be a more serious situation than it actually is. It was only a dance — a dance I did not even get to have because you pulled me away before I could either accept or turn him down. You seem to have interpreted your responsibility to care for me as something else, and I feel as though I have to let you know — I do not need you to fight my battles for me.”

His eyes met hers, and she immediately noticed the darkness in them, realizing that perhaps she had finally made it to the point of no return. The air between them hung heavy with their silence, and Selina found herself waiting for what would come next with bated breath.

Aaron leaned in close, and for a moment, she had thought — perhaps even hoped — he would kiss her.

But his eyes dropped to her lips, lingering there as he said, “You do need me, Selina. You are far too naive to protect yourself otherwise.”