“So you have nothing to say for yourself, then?” he said. “You might try for some conversation, since it appears you have few other resources to turn to.”

Selena was goaded beyond her limits by the accusation that she had no conversation. That impertinent mushroom who had graced Bedford Society had said the same of her.

"I am not so deprived of company that I need to engage in conversation with someone who is of absolutely no interest to me." Selena clutched her napkin under the table, too edgy to take a bite.

Lord Harrowden's cutlery clattered on his plate. "If Downing's reminder was not enough to take down that pride of yours a notch, I daresay time will do the trick. You should have accepted my carte blanche when it was offered to you. Before long you’ll be firmly on the shelf, any claim to beauty long gone, unable to get a position, and sinking further into poverty. That ought to humble you, and I have no doubt that that is what your future holds." His face had lost all semblance of civility. How flimsy that mask had been.

At last they spoke without pretense. Selena pressed her lips together before answering. “You are trying to frighten me by dashing my hopes, but it is difficult to disappoint one who holds no expectations. I neither wish to marry, nor do I have great need of a position. I have someplace to go. I still have family. You may fling as many barbs as you wish my way, but I am not quite the defenseless creature you think me."

"You have a mother and sisters, I believe.” Lord Harrowden peered at her under narrowed lids. “Your father drank himself into a grave, and you have no brothers. There are no men to defend your case, and therefore you are a defenseless creature. A poor, defenseless creature.” He inclined his head with a cruel smile. “Are you not?”

Selena tried to swallow down the spasms that had risen from such vicious and true words when the door opened. Mullings stepped inside. "I beg your pardon. Sir Lucius Clavering is here to see you."

"What the devil does he want with me?" Lord Harrowden wiped his mouth with his napkin. "Tell him I am unavailable, as I am having my breakfast."

Selena's heart sped up at the sound of Sir Lucius's name, but she willed herself to be calm. She obviously meant nothing to him, so there was no point in allowing her heart to take off the way it did. Unfortunately, her heart did not seem to listen to reason.

Mullings’s next words set her pulse racing again. "It is not you, my lord, that Sir Lucius wishes to see. It is Miss Lockhart."

Selena rose from the table, hoping the nervous flutter that had taken over her insides was not obvious. She walked toward the door that Mullings held open, conscious of Lord Harrowden's penetrating glare.

"Perhaps I should accompany you,” Lord Harrowden said. “It is not seemly for a woman in my household to be alone with a man."