A Hidden Duke For The Passionate Lady (Regency Historical Romance)

by Lucinda Nelson

  “Oh, here he comes,” Matilda whispered behind her fan and let go of Selina’s arm, closing the fan with a quick snap.

  “Miss Clifford. Miss Crawley.” He bowed when he finally arrived closer to them.

  “Mr. McAlister.” Both young women curtsied.

  “It is so very nice to see you again,” Matilda said.

  He nodded in agreement. “Indeed, Miss Crawley. It is very nice to see you under better circumstances; and you too, Miss Clifford.”

  Selina smiled. “Well, we will never be allowed to say we met in a boring fashion that is for sure.”

  He chuckled at that. “That is very true. How is your grandmother? She certainly leaves an impression.”

  Both girls laughed at that. “Granny is here, somewhere. Most likely complaining about how she wished she were younger to enjoy the ball,” Selina said.

  “I have no doubt she was a phenomenon to be reckoned with when she was younger; much more than she is now, that is.” Mr. McAlister raised an eyebrow.

  “I have no doubt either,” Selina told him and realized Matilda had taken a step back – still close enough so she could witness the conversation but providing them a little bit of privacy, as much as anyone could at a party.

  They looked at each other for a moment before Mr. McAlister cleared his throat. “I wish I had met you earlier, but I had forgotten how much of it involved dancing.”

  “It is a ball, after all.”

  “I meant I had planned on dancing with you alone, Miss Clifford,” Mr. McAlister said and Selina could feel her stomach fill with butterflies.

  Selina wanted to smile, jump and hug Matilda, but she couldn’t, not at the moment. Instead, she smiled and nodded. “I am sad we did not have the opportunity yet, Mr. McAlister.”

  Something flashed in his beautiful green eyes and he bowed his head slightly. “Would you give me the honor of the next dance? Finally?”

  Trying to hide a giggle, Selina nodded. “Of course, sir.”

  “Go, before Mama returns,” Matilda told the couple as another song was about to start and Selina agreed right away. As much as her Aunt Jane had liked Mr. McAlister, she was on her Papa’s side and agreed Selina should marry Lord Ainsworth.

  The song was about to start when they lined up with the other couples of the room. Selina couldn’t help but wish she could openly smile at her luck. She never thought one day she would feel the way she did at that moment.

  “Have you talked to your father?” Mr. McAlister asked in a whisper when they started to dance.

  “I did. He still wants me to keep my options open,” She whispered back and had to exchange places with a woman who was by her side for a second, but resumed when she returned to her place. “He told me to at least give it a try.”

  “I see,” Mr. McAlister said as they separated and went a few steps to their right and back. “Do you think you could develop feelings for this man?”

  It was very unladylike to snort, so Selina just shook her head. “I don’t think so. I know better than to judge before knowing someone, but I also know to trust my instincts and they tell me to keep away.”

  “What do your instincts tell you about me, then?” Mr. McAlister asked and Selina was happy she had to move away before returning to her position. It gave her a moment to think of an answer.

  “They tell me you are a good man,” She answered him honestly.

  “I am glad,” was his answer.

  As the dance started, during some movements, she managed to look Mr. McAlister in the eyes. She could touch him without anyone’s disapproval and it felt marvelous.

  Her Mama always told her she knew she was in love with her father when he gave her a flower while he was courting her and it made her happier than anything else. A simple gesture, but so meaningful.

  Was Selina in love with Mr. McAlister, or was it a silly infatuation for the man who saved her?

  No… Mr. McAlister was intelligent, funny, witty and kind; and she could add absolutely charming and handsome as well.

  She never stood a chance.

  Once they bowed and curtsied at each other at the end of the song, they started to walk towards Matilda, who was waiting for them, smiling widely.

  “I think people might talk if we dance once again, Miss Clifford,” Mr. McAlister said as they walked.

  “I think so too, sir.”

  “Say, Miss Clifford, when do you leave for London?” he asked.

  A bit confused with his question, Selina answered after a second, trying to remember exactly when they would return home. “In a few days. We came along with Papa for his business trip so Granny could visit Aunt Jane.”

  Mr. McAlister nodded slightly in agreement. “I will go to London in a couple of weeks. Would it be alright if I wrote to you? Say the word and I won’t. Please, don’t feel inclined to say ‘yes’ just because I am asking.”

  Selina’s heart began to pound inside her chest. “I would like that, sir. Perhaps you should address them to Granny? She will pass them on to me.”

  “Very well, Miss Clifford.” He bowed her way and to her surprise, he gave her a quick kiss on the back of her gloved hand and let it go before it was inappropriate. “I must go, now, as I see another mother with a daughter coming this way, but I can say with confidence it was worthwhile to endure those dances just for the pleasure of your company for a few minutes.”

  She blushed again and curtsied. He bowed in Matilda’s direction and they exchanged secret smiles as he left and was indeed approached by an older woman and her daughter.

  “Selina?” Matilda asked.

  “Oh, Tilly,” Selina told her cousin. “I think my heart is in trouble.”

  Chapter 7

  Miss Selina Clifford

  Life in London was always filled with some sort of excitement and it had been very fun to go to balls and to see her friends. As much as she loved Matilda, her life was in London but that year, Bristol had been quite exciting as well.

  Selina left three days after the Grayson’s ball and to her happiness, she had received a few letters from Mr. McAlister. She had the latest one in her hands as she read his words once again.

  Dear Miss Clifford,

  I hope this letter finds you well.

  I am glad you saw your friends again and I am also happy your dear friend, Mrs. Georgina Clark, chose you to be godmother of her unborn child. I have no doubt you will be the best at the job. It seems as if you two are very good friends.

  Things in Bristol have been quite dull since you left. No random women have almost gotten run over by me or my carriage since the past few weeks and it truly showed me how boring life was before that night. Pity, I always thought I had an exciting life.

  I saw your cousin and her parents just yesterday and if I have no doubt, a letter from Miss Crawley will arrive alongside mine. I must say, I like your uncle and we are meeting for business later this week. He wants to rent one of my warehouses and, well, I have plenty.

  Sorry for boring you with such information. I just wished to share and I am afraid I am not as good with it as I thought I would be.

  I still do not know when I will arrive in London, but it will be soon and when I do, I hope we can see each other.

  Please, send my regards to your grandmother and of course, I send them to you as well.

  Sincerely,

  Mr. Edward McAlister

  Selina giggled while reading the letter because, just as he guessed, Matilda had written her a letter informing her of her encounter with Mr. McAlister and how she would be charmed, had Selina not been falling in love with him already.

  The night of the ball, after they had changed to her night gowns, Matilda had snuck into Selina’s room and they had gossiped and giggled almost till dawn.

  Her cousin told her ‘Selina McAlister’ sounded much better than Ainsworth and Selina couldn’t agree more.

  It was so strange to be so infatuated with someone. When she was younger, Selina didn’t find anyone to make her feel
this way. Of course, she still had little crushes on handsome, charming men, but never like what Mr. McAlister brought up in her.

  She knew he was special; perhaps she knew from the moment they met. It was destiny and there was no use fighting it for she understood it now.

  “Miss?” Vivian, her maid, called her as she entered the bedroom after knocking.

  “Yes?” Selina answered as she put the letter back inside the hidden compartment of her jewelry box. Vivian was aware of the letters and she was a dear friend of Selina’s after being close together for so many years.

  “Lord Ainsworth is here to see you, Miss,” the maid said and in her dark eyes, Selina could identify a little bit of pity. Vivian was kind beyond reason and she knew Selina did not like Lord Ainsworth and was very smitten with Mr. McAlister instead.

  “Oh.” For a few moments she had forgotten about the visit. The day before, her father had brought up at dinner that Lord Ainsworth would stop by for tea the next afternoon and Selina had dreaded tea time ever since. “I see.”

  She sighed in defeat and got up, straightened her dress and took a look at her hair before leaving her bedroom with Vivian right behind her.

  “He is already at the small library, Miss. Your grandmother is almost ready, as Lord Ainsworth is early, but she told me I could stay with you while she makes herself presentable,” Vivian informed her.

  “Thank you.” Selina tried to smile, but it was hard.

  When she arrived at the small library, their butler, Mr. Rhodes, bowed her way, opened the door and before she entered, he announced: “Miss Selina Clifford, my lord.”

  Selina entered the small library just in time to see Lord Ainsworth rising from his seat. She dutifully curtsied while he bowed a little.

  “Lord Ainsworth,” she said, politely.

  “Miss Clifford, as always, it is a pleasure to see you,” he told her with a smile and had she not already disliked him so much, she could have fallen for his spell. “You look as beautiful as ever.”

  Lord Reginald Ainsworth was a handsome man; dark eyes one could drown in, dark hair carefully styled, a beautiful nose, strong jaw and chin.

  He wore beautiful, expensive clothes that only accentuated his fit physique. There was no doubt that he made many women in London swoon.

  Selina was not one of them.

  While so very good looking, a beautiful smile and charm, Lord Ainsworth had cold eyes and always seemed to be scheming and plotting something. Selina knew it in her heart that if she were ever to marry him, he would be cruel or change her to a shell of her old self.

  Her Papa saw the future Duke of Bellford, Selina saw beyond that.

  “Thank you, my lord.” She saw Vivian her take place by the corner. Lord Ainsworth waited for her to take a seat and took a seat at the opposite side of the tea table. “You are early, I’m afraid. Granny was not ready yet, so my maid is going to sit with us for a while.”

  Lord Ainsworth’s smile widened. “I apologize, dear Miss Clifford. I just could not wait to see you. You went to Bristol for a while and I have missed you.”

  Hardly, Selina scoffed inside her mind. They barely knew each other so he couldn’t have missed her.

  Was it cynical of her to think so little of him while she was falling in love with Mr. McAlister, whom she only met a few times and exchanged just as many letters?

  Looking at Lord Ainsworth, she decided that no, she was right. While she had only met Mr. McAlister for a little while, she was truly falling in love, while the man in front of her only wanted her for her father’s money.

  Trying her best not to lie, Selina formulated a suitable answer. “Yes, I was in Bristol for a while to see my family. Granny and Papa miss my Aunt.”

  His smile faltered for just a moment when he realized Selina did not reciprocate his feelings about missing one another. She hoped he would see she did not want to be with him, then he would find someone else who would. Perhaps this way her Papa would not pressure her so much to find someone with a title to marry.

  Someone like Mr. McAlister.

  “Family is very important,” he agreed, eventually. “My uncle, the current Duke of Bellford,” emphasized the word and Selina wanted to roll her eyes at the evident way he wanted to show off his status as an heir, “is like a father to me and whenever I visit him and the Duchess, I feel at home.”

  “I am glad you like them so much and it is reciprocated.” It was Selina’s turn to emphasize a word, but it fell flat on him.

  “Oh, it is.” He nodded. “They only had one child, a daughter, so I always knew I would be Duke after him, so he took to himself to educate me. I am the son of his only cousin.”

  “What happened to his daughter?” Selina asked, conversationally. “I don’t think I remember her.”

  “Oh.” His expression darkened. “You were much younger and you never met her. Your father probably did not mention to you to protect you. Five years ago she had an accident and unfortunately passed away.”

  Selina would have been fifteen, then. Her father still mourned her mother deeply and her grandmother would not have brought it up, especially being someone they never met or thought to ever meet.

  “My condolences, my lord,” Selina told him truthfully. “Were you close?”

  “We grew up together,” he told her. “We were in love and it broke my heart when I heard the news. It took me years to heal and sometimes I think of her and it still hurts.” Selina felt sorry for him.

  “I am sorry I brought it up, my lord.”

  “Don’t be.” He shook his head. “I may have lost the first love of my life, but it doesn’t mean I will never find it again.” Lord Ainsworth looked her in the eye. “The moment I saw you, Miss Clifford, I knew I had a second chance.”

  Selina wasn’t expecting that answer and just for a moment, she wondered if his love for her was real. He looked so sincere and heartbroken. Had she misjudged him?

  “We have yet to see, my lord,” she decided to say to him, being as neutral as possible. “I believe everyone finds true love, perhaps even two times.”

  His expression brightened a bit. “Thank you, Miss Clifford.”

  “I hope you find what you are looking for, one day.” Selina tried again. “You should open your heart for more people, as anyone can be the person you are looking for.”

  Lord Ainsworth shook his head. “I know it in my heart, Miss Clifford, and it has chosen you.” He then frowned. “Your father gave me permission to court you. Is it not what you wanted?”

  Selina couldn’t very well tell him about her suspicions about his character or how she ran away from her aunt’s house just thinking about the prospect of marrying him. He wouldn’t take it lightly and it would damage both her and her father’s reputation.

  Once again, trying to be neutral, Selina answered him. “My father knows what is best for me, my lord.”

  “I am glad to hear that, Miss Clifford,” he said and suddenly she felt as if her blood had turned into ice.

  His tone, the way he looked at her… it was all wrong.

  Selina couldn’t put her finger on it, but once again her instincts were to flee, to be as far away from him as possible.

  “Mrs. Mary Clifford. My lord, Miss Clifford,” Mr. Rhodes announced and both got up to see Selina’s grandmother enter the small library.

  Being just as perceptive as her granddaughter, after exchanging pleasantries with Lord Ainsworth, Mrs. Clifford exchanged a look with Selina and shook her head lightly. She also had a bad feeling about him and her Granny was almost always right.

  It relieved Selina to know she wasn’t the only one seeing it and she hoped she had gained an ally against the preposterous idea her father had of marriage between them.

  * * *

  With Lord Ainsworth gone, Selina could finally breathe.

  “That one is rotten,” Granny told her while Rhodes offered her the mail on a silver platter. “I understand your reaction to Joseph’s idea of you two marrying, much more now.�
��

  “Will you help me, then, Granny?” Selina asked, hopeful. “Papa won’t listen to me. He is so determined that I have a title.”

  “If need be, my dear, I will.” The older woman nodded and raised her eyebrows at one of the letters. She opened and read it over, a small smile on her lips once she was done. “Hopefully, your father will see there is a much better match in the making.”