Henrietta raised her eyebrows. “You found that very easy,” she said. “I imagined the informality would be difficult for you at first.”
Madeleine wasn’t sure how to explain that, of all the things she had faced in her life, calling a duchess by her given name felt like one of the easiest. She said nothing.
“Well,” Henrietta said, “you and I have a wedding to plan.”
“Didn’t the Duke want to help with the arrangements?”
“I’m afraid my son knows nothing at all about the intricacies of planning a wedding.”
“I don’t know anything about it either,” Madeleine admitted. “I’m not sure how much help I can be here.”
“You’ll be plenty. The first thing I needed to do was just look at you. You know, the gossip among thetonis that you’re very unsightly with that scar of yours. I had to see whether it was true or not because if it was, the wedding would be much more difficult to plan. I was already trying to think of ways to make an unfortunate-looking young lady into a lovely one so there wouldn’t be too much gossip about the Duke’s poor choice or the ugly Duchess. But I can see now that it won’t be necessary. It’s really just the scar. Once that’s dealt with, there won’t be any issue with your appearance.”
Madeleine couldn’t see how Henrietta intended todeal withher scar. It wasn’t as if it would come off. But she decided not to press the issue right now because this meeting was already going much more smoothly than she had hoped it might. Better to continue the conversation without pushing back against what Henrietta was saying. She didn’t want to cause any friction if doing so was at all avoidable.
“All right,” Henrietta said. “First things first. The wedding ball. It will be held at Westcourt.”
Madeleine nodded. This wasn’t objectionable to her, though she had never actually been to Westcourt. She was sure it was lovely. Besides, she didn’t care where the ball was held. Indeed, the ball was of little interest to her. She would be happier when the whole affair was over with.
“Now, for dinner, I think we’ll serve pheasant,” Henrietta said. “Unless you prefer something else.”
“Pheasant is fine with me,” Madeleine said.
“You wouldn’t rather have goose?”
“That would also be fine.”
“This is your wedding day, you know,” Henrietta said. “If you have a preference, it’s all right to tell me what it is.”
“I know that,” Madeleine said. “I don’t really have a preference. I just want to do what’s agreeable to you and the Duke.”
“That’s not what my son told me to expect,” Henrietta said. “He told me you were fiery and would insist upon your own way.”
“Perhaps your son is unused to ladies having any opinions at all,” Madeleine said before she could stop herself. “Perhaps what he calls fiery is merely the simple fact of not being completely docile.”
Henrietta’s eyebrows lifted. “I see,” she said.
Madeleine immediately felt ashamed for speaking the way she had, but she was determined not to let Henrietta see that. She knew she’d been out of line and swallowed hard to keep herself from saying more.
“You’re a confident one, aren’t you?” Henrietta asked. “I understand you now, I think. It’s not that you’re determined to be contrary. It’s just that you won’t be silent. You say what’s on your mind.”
“I’ve never seen a reason not to,” Madeleine admitted. “I know there are some who don’t like a lady who is unafraid to speak. Perhaps that’s a quality people won’t admire in a duchess. Perhaps that’s something your son won’t like in a wife.”
“But it’s something I admire in a daughter,” Henrietta said. “My own daughter is just the same, and it’s a tendency I’ve always tried to nurture in her. It’s good to know your mind, Madeleine, and it’s good to be unafraid to speak. I like that about you.”
Madeleine’s heart warmed. Henrietta liked her!
Maybe this wasn’t going to be so bad after all.
“You don’t seem frightened or anxious about becoming a duchess,” Henrietta said.
“Were you anxious when it was you?” Madeleine asked.
The question seemed to surprise Henrietta. “I wasn’t,” she admitted. “But my situation was a little different from yours. I had more time to prepare. I had been courted by my husband for a year—not yet my husband, of course, but the gentleman I was to marry—so when the time came, I’d had plenty of time to think about what was in store. I had been prepared by his mother for the role I was about to step into. I had spent a great deal of time at Westcourt—it was already a second home to me. For you, things are happening much more quickly, and I think it would be understandable if that did make you feel anxious.”
“I don’t feel anxious,” Madeleine said truthfully. There were many things she did feel about the impending marriage, such as sadness and even a bit of excitement about the adventure to come. But anxiety over being a duchess—that hadn’t occurred to her, and when she thought about it now, it didn’t provoke any strong response in her. Becoming a duchess was the easiest part of all of this, in her opinion. What difference was that going to make to her life, really?
Henrietta eyed her. “You’re not worried about the increased attention?”
