right.”
“Of course it will, but your father is rude.” Selina spoke in a lower tone, but not so quietly that Jamie couldn’t hear what she said.
“The butler will show you down,” Jamie said.
Turning to Beatrix, Selina looked her in the eye. “This is a demonstration of power. Don’t let him maneuver you. You’re smarter than that.” Her features softened. “I’ll be right downstairs if you need me.”
Pivoting, Selina started toward the door, pausing as she came abreast of Jamie. “Beatrix trusts you. I hope her faith is not ill-placed.” There was an edge to her tone that carried a threat—at least Beatrix recognized it as such. She wondered if Jamie did too. Probably not. He likely saw her as just a harmless a woman. He had no idea of the damage she could inflict.
Selina continued on until she disappeared from the room.
Beatrix was surprised to realize that Selina’s presence had provided a calming effect. Without her, Beatrix felt suddenly bare, her apprehension rising.
“I take it he was angry that Selina accompanied me?” she asked.
“Father has certain expectations, and he loathes surprises.”
Wonderful. He must have been ecstatic to learn Beatrix was here at all. “I can only imagine what he thinks of my presence,” she murmured.
Jamie grimaced, his hazel eyes clouding. “He wasn’t pleased.”
The duke strode into the drawing room. Even though Beatrix had seen him the night before, this was different, because he looked right at her, something he hadn’t done at the ball.
After briefly perusing her, he went to sit in a dark blue chair with a high, rounded back and padded arms. He did not invite his children to join him.
Jamie looked to Beatrix and inclined his head toward the seating area the duke had chosen. Situated near a large statue of what looked to be Apollo, there was a settee, a chaise, and another chair. Beatrix sat on the very edge of the settee, poised to flee if necessary. Jamie took the other chair.
“Good afternoon,” she said tentatively. “Father.”
His lips pursed, then frowned as he regarded her with his flat brown eyes. “I have not given you leave to call me that.”
Beatrix couldn’t help but feel defensive. “I always called you that.” Too late, she realized she should censor herself. It was evident he didn’t want her here. This was not going at all as she’d hoped. “Don’t you remember?” she asked softly.
“That was a very long time ago. How old are you now? You must be approaching thirty.” He said the number distastefully, as if her age were a mark against her.
That he didn’t know it was another strike to her long-held dream. “Just twenty-six.”
“And here you are having a Season. You’re much too old for that, but then you can’t possibly understand how these things work.”
“I do, actually. Which is why when asked, I say I’m twenty-two. I have no trouble passing for that.” She raised her chin, daring him to disagree.
“So you lie.”
“I’ve had to be less than truthful about a great many things in order to get to this point. Do you tell anyone about me?” The look of horror in his eyes was all the answer she needed. “Then you lie too.”
Jamie sat forward. “Father, you can’t deny Beatrix is your child.”
“Of course I can, and I will.”
It was what Beatrix had expected—she’d never truly thought he’d publicly claim her—but hearing the words, and spoken with such vehemence, was crushing.
“One has only to look at her eyes and mine to see that we are related,” Jamie said, taking the sting from Beatrix’s devastation. At least someone was on her side.
The duke set his elbows on the arms of the chair and steepled his hands. Looking over the tops of his fingers at them, his frown deepened. “That she is my offspring changes nothing. I do not plan to claim her. Were you expecting that, Beatrix?”
“No.”
“Then why are you here?”
“I’d hoped we could have some sort of…relationship. I miss having a family.” She stopped short of saying, I miss my father.
“And how would that look?” He raised a sardonic brow. “If we had a…relationship, people would assume you were my mistress or my daughter. You are definitely not the former and you won’t be the latter. I have two daughters already.”
Legitimate daughters.
“I don’t wish to cause you pain, girl, which is why I sent you to that school. That you left early and went gallivanting about England with Miss Blackwell was your unfortunate decision.”
Beatrix’s stomach lurched. Of course he would know Selina’s name