“Of course it’s dreadful,” his mother said. “Nobody says that it isn’t, Thomas. But at the same time, it is a curiosity that she was the only one to survive. You must see that.”
“So you think the same thing the other gossips do?” he challenged. “You think that Lady Madeleine is cursed?”
“You defend her very ardently,” his mother said. “What do you think happened, then?”
“I think there was a fire,” Thomas said. “I think she was a young girl at the time, and there was a fire, and she was lucky to have survived it! And apparently, everyone has decided to punish her for that one stroke of good fortune in the middle of a terrible calamity the likes of which most of us will never experience in our lives. Do you think she hasn’t had enough bad things happen to her? Must she be the laughingstock of the ton on top of everything else?”
“I think you’ve misunderstood how people feel about her, Thomas,” his mother said quietly.
“And what does that mean?”
“It means that no one is laughing. No one thinks this curse is funny. People arefrightened. Can’t you see that?”
Thomas scowled. “That’s ridiculous,” he said. “Frightened of a harmless young lady?”
“But is she harmless? I agree with you, Thomas, that people shouldn’t gossip,” his mother said quickly. “I agree there’s no reason to be unkind to Lady Madeleine. I don’t think she causes harm on purpose.”
“But you do think that she causes harm.”
“All I know is that her whole family is dead, and she’s the only one still here. I think we would be fools to ignore that—to assume that there was nothing wicked about her.”
He sighed. “I don’t know why I thought we could have a conversation about this.”
“Thomas, don’t you see how lucky you are? All the ladies at the ball made it perfectly clear that they didn’t blame you for what had happened. No one is going to say a word against you. No one thinks you did anything wrong.”
“Well, that’s surprising, given the way they all like to talk,” he said. “I would have thought they would be so hungry for some sort of scandal—real or imagined—that they would be coming up with wild stories about Lady Madeleine and me already.”
His mother sighed. “You misunderstand.”
“Do I?”
“I’m sure there will be stories. About a lady such as her, there will always be stories. But what I’m trying to say is that none of those stories will reflect poorly on you. Everyone thinks she was the one to act badly. Her reputation will be ruined, but yours will be fine.”
“And you’re trying to say I should be happy with that?” Thomas asked. “I should be comfortable with the fact that a lady will sacrifice her reputation just so that my own will remain untarnished?”
“She really shouldn’t have been out there in the garden all alone.”
“She wasn’t alone, Mother. She was with three other ladies, and they were treating her horribly.”
“You can’t save everyone, Thomas. You need to stop trying.”
But she saved me.
He got to his feet. “I’ve heard enough for one night,” he said. “I’m going to bed.”
“Thomas, no. We need to establish what we’re going to do about all this!”
“And why must we do anything at all?” Thomas asked her coldly. “It’s just like you said, isn’t it? I’m going to walk away from this business unscathed. It’s only Lady Madeleine who will suffer. We can go on about our lives as if nothing had happened.”
He expected his mother to balk when he put it that bluntly. He expected that she would say that wasn’t quite what she had meant, that, of course, they should do something to help Lady Madeleine.
Instead, she seemed to relax. “I’m glad you see it that way.”
Thomas didn’t see it that way at all, and it startled him that she did—but what could he do about it? He didn’t have the energy to sit here and try to persuade her of her own cruelty any longer.
And besides, she wasn’t cruel. This was his mother. She was a kind and loving person, and she had always done her best for Thomas and for his younger sister Rachel. Thomas knew her life had been hard because of his father’s gambling. It made sense that she would want to help him find the easiest path.
Even so, he couldn’t take any more of this.
