Page 42 of The Duke's Cursed Bride
Madeleine nodded.
“What Rachel said was harmless,” Henrietta said. “Of course, I will have to look into the sorts of books she’s been reading—they hardly seem fit for a young lady of five-and-ten years! But she only meant to take notice of what she thought was a sweet moment between Thomas and yourself. And itwassweet, really—it was kind of him to stop you from falling.”
“Yes, it was,” Madeleine whispered.
“But imagine if someone else had seen that moment,” Henrietta said. “Imagine if the two of you had been in public—not yet married, and him holding you like that. The way you lingered, not letting go of one another.”
Had they lingered? Madeleine thought back on what had happened. She thought Henrietta was probably right. She hadn’twantedhim to let go of her, not at first, not until what Rachel had said—then she had been too embarrassed to stay anywhere near him.
“If someone else had seen that, they might have thought it was deliberate,” Henrietta said. “Never forget, Madeleine, that the ladies of the tonwantto think the worst of you.”
“I’ve never forgotten that,” Madeleine said.
“Yes, you’re more used to it than most,” Henrietta agreed. “You’re accustomed to having people say dreadful things about you. I know that. But it will be even worse when you become a duchess. There will be those who will always be jealous of you, no matter what you do, and they’ll look for reasons to think less of you. When they find something negative to say about you, they’ll repeat it over and over until it catches on. Butyouare the Duchess. You must learn to be above all the talk and gossip.”
Madeleine nodded. Her whole life had been practice for that sort of thing. “I can do it.”
“I know you can. You must also do whatever you can to avoid giving them anything to gossip about. You must do what you can to safeguard your reputation because everything you do reflects on the Dukedom—and on Thomas.”
She reached out and gently pulled up the collar of Madeleine’s gown. Madeleine had forgotten that Rachel had turned it down.
“I don’t mean to make you feel as if your scar is a problem,” Henrietta said. “You don’t need to feel ashamed of it. I don’t want you to feel that way. But you do need to be mindful because peoplewilltalk. I promise you that. No matter what you do, they will find something to talk about, and the only thing you can hope for is to give them as little as possible to say about you.”
“It sounds like such a difficult life,” Madeleine said, a lump in her throat. She had forgotten all about the happy feeling Rachel had given her. The hope for the future she’d felt just a short while ago seemed to have drifted away completely.
“It’s a hard life,” Henrietta agreed. “But it’s a rewarding one too, Madeleine. It’s wonderful to be a duchess, you know. There’s a reason the ladies of thetonwill be envious of you once you’re married to Thomas. Many of them were hoping to marry my son.”
“They’re going to think I did something to force his hand.”
“There are some who would think that of any lady in your position,” Henrietta agreed. “You must remember when they say those things about you, that it isn’t your fault. You could have found yourself in this position through any set of circumstances, and there still would have beensomeonewho would criticize you for it, just because they were jealous that it was you and not them. Everyone wants to marry a duke.”
“I never thought about marrying a duke until this happened,” Madeleine said.
“Well, you’re different from other young ladies in many ways,” Henrietta said. “But if I were you, I wouldn’t let them find out just how different you are. Remember, they’ll take any reason to talk about you. They’ll look for anything they can find to make you feel as if you don’t deserve this life. But you do.”
I deserve this life.
It would be a hard thing to believe. But Madeleine would do her best.
CHAPTERSEVENTEEN
“This was a lovely idea, Lord Keenward,” Thomas’s mother said. “It was so kind of you to invite us all out today.”
“Well, there are only a few days left until the wedding,” Lord Keenward said. “I very much want to spend the day with my niece since I’ll be saying farewell to her soon.”
“It won’t be farewell forever,” Lady Madeleine said. Thomas heard the anxiety in her voice. “We’ll still see one another all the time, won’t we?”
“Some of the time,” Lord Keenward said. “But I daresay you’ll be busy with your duties as Duchess of Westcourt, and your husband will want plenty of your time, so I wouldn’t want to interfere too much!”
Lady Madeleine was quiet.
Thomas supposed he probably knew what that was about. She wasn’t eager to marry him. That much had been made clear. Between her clear statement that she didn’t wish to marry immediately following his proposal and the way she had been so awkward around him when they’d attempted to dance, he had gotten the message. And every interaction between them since then had been much the same. Not once had he so much as felt that she was happy to see him. She would have nothing to do with him whatsoever, he thought, if that was a realistic choice for her.
Well, that was fine. He felt no particular need to spend time with her.
At least, that was what he kept telling himself.
What difference would it make, really? He didn’t need her company. They could marry, and then they could just keep their distance from one another. They didn’t need to spend time together. It made no difference to Thomas.
