She had failed in that effort, and she was going to have to admit it.
She put her finger on top of her knight as if she was debating moving it.
“You know that once you touch the piece, you must make the move,” Uncle Joseph said. This was one of the rules they played by whenever they played chess together, even though it wasn’t one of the official rules of the game. Ordinarily, Madeleine would have laughed and moved the piece.
But she took her hand back and tucked it in her lap, staring down at the board.
“Madeleine.”
“Uncle Joseph…something happened at the ball.”
“What happened?” His voice darkened. “Is it something to do with a gentleman?”
She nodded, tears coming to her eyes.
“Tell me what happened, Madeleine.”
“I didn’t mean for it to happen,” she whispered. “I was being careful. I had gone out into the garden for a walk, but I was keeping near to a group of ladies. We weren’t together, but I thought that if I stayed within their sight that everything would be all right.”
“And then what happened?”
“They saw me and told me I had to leave,” she said. “They said that…that my curse would land upon them if I stayed too close and that they would be hurt or killed by it. They yelled and told me that no one wanted me around.”
Uncle Joseph cursed. “People are so cruel,” he said. “That fire could have happened to anyone, Madeleine. You know that.”
She nodded. “But the thing is Uncle Joseph…it was the Duke of Westcourt. He must have heard what they were saying because he came to intervene. He told them they had to leave me in peace and made them go away.”
“It sounds like he did you a kindness,” Uncle Joseph said cautiously.
“He shouldn’t have gotten involved,” Madeleine said furiously.
“I understand it must have been hard for you, having him see you in that situation. But if the Duke went out of his way to come to your aid—”
“I didn’t need him to do that. And in the end, he only made things worse for both of us.”
“What do you mean? How did he make things worse?”
“Because once he sent the ladies away, we were alone together.”
Her uncle’s eyes widened. “What happened when you were on your own?” he asked rather sharply.
“Nothing happened,” she said quickly. “But no one will believe that—and we were quickly discovered by a group of ladies who began to gossip about it. By the time I left, people were already saying that I had intended to…” She took a deep, shuddering breath. It was difficult to say this to her uncle. “They were saying that I had intended to seduce him to entrap him into marrying me.”
Her uncle rubbed his temples.
Madeleine waited for his anger.
Then he looked up at her. “You weren’t hurt at all?” he asked quietly. “No one actually harmed you?”
It wasn’t the question she had expected. “No,” she said. “I’m fine.”
“Thank goodness for that,” Uncle Joseph said. “I know the Duke of Westcourt. He’s a fine man. It’s fortunate that he was the one to find you.”
How could he say any of this wasfortunate? “Uncle Joseph, people think I’ve done something horrible,” she said.
“I know you didn’t do anything,” Uncle Joseph told her. “This is just a rumor. It’s a cruel one, but perhaps it will run its course. Sometimes people forget.”
“I don’t think they’re going to forget,” Madeleine said. “I’m the cursed lady, remember? This is just one more reason for them to despise me and more proof that they were correct to judge me. They won’t stop talking about it.”
