Coveting the Duke

Seeds of Doubt

"Where's my mother?" Sebastian asked the maid who greeted him at the front door. He had avoided his mother since the banquet but now, since his talk with Elena he couldn't any longer.

"The Duchess is in the greenhouse overseeing Lady Lillian's botany lesson, Master Sebastian" she replied with a bow.

Sebastian loosened his tie, the tightness in his chest growing with each passing second. At this point, he couldn't delay any longer. If rumors were spreading at Ashwood Academy, then no doubt the parents in different circles were already talking too.

As Sebastian made his way to the greenhouse, the warmth and damp scent of earth and flowers enveloped him before he even stepped inside. Lillian's voice drifted faintly through the air, asking questions about the plants, while her tutor responded with soft, measured answers.

Everything seemed so calm in the greenhouse, worlds apart from the storm brewing outside. Madeline sat nearby at a table, sipping tea as she watched over the lesson, Poppy standing dutifully by her side.

The greenhouse door swung open, drawing all eyes as Sebastian entered. He nodded politely to the room and crossed the space to his mother, taking a seat opposite her.

Poppy instinctively moved to pour tea into a cup for Sebastian as he settled down, her movements quick and practiced.

"When did you arrive, Sebastian?" Madeline asked, delicately placing her cup back onto the saucer. She hadn't seen much of him since the banquet, his recent habit of having breakfast in his room an unspoken rebellion against the family's long-standing tradition.

"I need to speak with you about the banquet," Sebastian replied, his voice calm but laced with an underlying seriousness.

"The event was marvelous, wasn't it? But it's done now, Sebastian. What exactly do you need to talk about?" Madeline's tone remained composed, though an edge of authority crept into her voice, subtly signaling her lack of interest in revisiting the subject.

Sebastian's jaw tightened, but he held his ground. "You must have heard by now—rumors are circulating about you and Catherine Sinclair because of it."

Madeline paused, her fingers brushing the edge of her teacup before turning to Poppy. "Can you inform the governess that Lillian's lesson can end here for today? And please bring me my shawl."

Poppy's quick nod showed she understood—Madeline wanted space, privacy. The unspoken signal was clear: this conversation was about to take a more serious turn.

"I don't understand why you'd want to be intertwined with a useless rumor about something that happened in your childhood, Mother," Sebastian pressed, his gaze unwavering.

"I've already told you before, Sebastian, I hold no grudges against Catherine Sinclair. That's why I invited her and her daughter," Madeline responded coolly.

"When I asked you not to invite any Ashwood students to my birthday, you refused to listen."

"I made the best decision for us, Sebastian. How would it look if I didn't invite them, when I've always done so in the past?"

"What does it matter? You're the one making the decisions."

Madeline's grip on her teacup tightened, but she kept her voice calm. "How was I to know she would reject the invitation?"

"Would you have accepted, if you were in her shoes?"

Madeline stared at Sebastian, wanting to say yes, to give him a firm answer. But the word wouldn't come. Deep down, she knew why Catherine had rejected the invitation.