She swallowed the bile rising in her throat and closed her eyes. “Tell me what color my eyes are, Sir Alphonse, and I will consider your proposal.”
There was a long silence. Maddie heard the distant sounds of laughter in Josie’s new ballroom and the quiet ticking of the clock in Lord Westman’s library.
Finally Sir Alphonse cleared his throat. “My lady, such a question—”
Maddie shook her head, refusing to open her eyes. “Answer me, sir.” She almost hoped he’d answer correctly. She had no intention of marrying Sir Alphonse, but just once she would have liked a man to notice something about her.
Something besides her dowry.
He took a deep, raspy breath. “Brown. Brown like your glorious hair. Beautiful, lovely brown.”
Maddie opened her eyes. Her very blue eyes. “I’m sorry, Sir Alphonse. Now, if you don’t mind—”
“Maddie? Where are you?” The library door Maddie had been eyeing so longingly flew open, and Ashley stood in the opening.
She took in the scene at once and scowled at Maddie’s captor. “Sir Alphonse, what are you doing?”
Alphonse jumped back. “Nothing, Miss Brittany. I—I—I—”
Ashley, so beautiful and so self-assured that she intimidated all but the most confident of men, shook her head. “You are monopolizing Lady Madeleine on a day when her family needs her most. Please leave us at once. I have urgent family news to discuss with my cousin.”
“Of—Of—Of—”
“Good-bye, Sir Alphonse,” Ashley said, pushing him out the door and closing it on his agitated stutters. She turned back to Maddie. “Good God, how can you stand him?”
“I can’t.” Maddie moved away from the bookcase and toward the window. She threw it open, ostensibly to let in fresh air, but took the opportunity to scan the garden. “But I don’t see any reason to treat him rudely.”
“Oh, then you want him to keep proposing marriage?”
“No.” Maddie saw no sign of the one she sought and turned back to Ashley. “But I don’t want to hurt Sir Alphonse’s feelings.”
Ashley shook her head. “Maddie, you are rich and your father is powerful. A dozen men a day must propose to you and will keep on doing so if you do not firmly reject them. That is not rudeness. That is sanity.”
“You reject suitors your way, and I shall use mine.”
“Yours doesn’t work.”
“Not so far,” Maddie mumbled, her gaze roving to the garden again. Where was he? She turned back to Ashley. “Thank you for your help, but if you don’t mind, I want to sit here alone for a few moments.”
Ashley’s pale eyebrows rose above her sea green eyes. “Oh, really?”
Maddie looked down at her dainty, beribboned lavender and ivory slippers. They were a perfect match for her muslin day dress, which was composed of a lavender overdress and ivory underdress. The layers of the outer garment were draped and held in place at the knee by glossy lavender ribbons.
She couldn’t have chosen less practical attire for running away. And with the exception of her father, no one but Ashley could hinder her plans. Willing her voice to sound convincing, Maddie said, “I’ll join you again in a moment.” She looked at Ashley from under her lashes to gauge the effect of her statement.
Jiminy! Ashley still looked skeptical. The clock on the mantel chimed quarter past the hour, and Maddie knew she had to remove Ashley quickly. Mr. Dover was bound to show up in the garden behind her at any moment.
Standing before Maddie, Ashley narrowed her eyes. “Madeleine Richael Fullbright, what is going on?”
“Nothing,” Maddie said automatically.
Ashley stared at her. “You’re lying!” She put her hands on her hips. “I cannot believe you lied to me.”
Maddie felt as though she were standing on a narrow strip of beach and the tide had just come in. Cold, threatening water swirled at her ankles. She tried to pretend it was warm, scented bathwater.
“Ashley, might we speak of this later?” she said, and this time couldn’t stop herself from looking over her shoulder at the garden.
The water surged to her waist, and she almost fell back from its force. Mr. Dover was skulking about outside the window.
