The moment she stepped outside, though, she started to feel better. It was easy to relax in the warm air, surrounded by the aroma of roses. She wanted to see the roses she was smelling, so she hurried along the path, knowing that they couldn’t be too far away given the fact that the scent was so strong.
She rounded a corner and collided with someone.
“Oh!” The person she had collided with was a young lady—hardly more than a girl—with blonde hair flowing loosely around her shoulders. The girl looked up at her. “You’re Lady Madeleine! Oh, goodness, I did hope I would have a chance to meet you, but Mother said I ought to stay out of the way. I meant to sneak around to the sitting room window and peek in so I could get a look at you, but—well, here you are! Is it true you’re cursed?”
She said all this very fast before Madeleine had fully recovered from the shock of their collision.
Madeleine stared at her. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m afraid I don’t know who you are.”
“Oh, no, of course you don’t. I’m so silly! I’m Lady Rachel—well, but you should just call me Rachel since we’ll be sisters soon. May I call you Madeleine?”
“So—you’re the Duke’s sister, then?”
“Oh, yes, that’s right. I should have told you that first of all.” Rachel giggled. “Thomas says I would forget my own name if people weren’t always repeating it back to me! Yes, I’m his sister. And I’msoexcited for you to marry Thomas! I can hardly wait.”
“Really?” That surprised Madeleine. “No one has taken that attitude about it so far.”
“Well, they’re all worrying about that curse! But I’m not afraid of any curse. I don’t even think it’s real.”
Madeleine nodded slowly. “Perhaps you’d like to show me around the gardens?” She found she was eager to get to know Rachel better. Of everyone who lived at Westcourt, Rachel was easily the best company. She didn’t get angry like the Duke did and didn’t seem to presume she knew better than Madeleine about things.
Indeed, as they walked along, Rachel was full of questions for Madeleine—and they weren’t the usual questions people liked to ask. “Thomas says you have adog,” she said. “And that the dog will be coming to Westcourt.”
“Yes, that’s right,” Madeleine said. “Her name is Sally.”
“Is she nice? I’ve never spent much time around dogs.”
“She’s very nice. She’s my best friend and a wonderful companion. You’ll like her a lot.”
“Oh, I hope so. I’ve always thought it would be nice to get to know a dog. Have you had her for a long time?”
“Yes, my uncle bought her for me when she was just a puppy when I first came to live with him. I think he could tell I needed a friend.”
Madeleine expected that now Rachel would ask about the fire—she had been given the perfect opportunity to do so—but she didn’t. She just nodded as if Madeleine had given her all the information she needed and skipped ahead down the path.
Madeleine watched her go.
This felt like a reversal of fortune at last. Here was someone she could be herself with, someone who seemed not to want her to change at all. She had expected to be lonely when she came to Westcourt, but maybe she would have a friend after all.
Unless…
She had to be mindful of her curse.
Could she afford to get close to someone—even as a friend? Or would the curse take away anyone she let herself care about at all?
CHAPTERFIFTEEN
“This is my favorite place on the grounds,” Rachel announced.
They had reached a little stream. There was a big flat rock next to it, and Rachel sat down on it. She patted the spot beside her, indicating that Madeleine should join her. Madeleine eased herself onto the rock, but it was difficult to get comfortable. The high neck of the gown she had been given to wear pressed into her ears and the back of her head. She tried to remember how to turn her face the way Henrietta had instructed her but quickly gave up. It couldn’t possibly matter right now.
“Are you trying to hide your scar?” Rachel asked her.
Madeleine looked at her, surprised. It seemed the whole family was direct when they had something to say.
“I’m sorry,” Rachel said. “Maybe that was rude of me.”
“No, it’s all right,” Madeleine said. “But you did surprise me a little.”
