“Does Sally know any tricks?” Rachel asked.
“Well, she’s not very good at them,” Madeleine said. “She’s an excellent dog, but not a very clever one. I’ve tried teaching her how to fetch a stick. She runs after the stick and picks it up, but she hasn’t figured out yet that I want her to bring it back.”
“That sounds funny.”
“She’s very funny.”
“And…” Rachel hesitated. “She was with you the night you saved Thomas, wasn’t she?”
“She was, but how did you know that?”
“Thomas has always said he heard a dog barking that night,” Rachel explained. “He said the dog was partially to thank for saving him. When he didn’t know where he was, he moved toward the sound of the barking, hoping that the dog’s owner would find him and help him. And that’s exactly what happened, isn’t it? It was your dog all along.”
“I never knew that,” Madeleine said. “I suppose I should have. But he had already passed out by the time I found him, and I never spoke to him that day or the next.”
“He told me that he tried to find you. He wanted to thank you for helping him. Lord Keenward told him when he awoke that it was you who saved his life, and he didn’t want to leave without showing his appreciation.”
Madeleine had known this already. Uncle Joseph had told her at the time. She had stayed outside deliberately because she hadn’t wanted the man whose life she had saved to look at her.
It had been a strange feeling, that shyness.
She usually didn’t mind people seeing her scar. Only a cruel person would mock her for it, and just like with the ladies who had tried to torment her at the ball, Madeleine had no desire to impress cruel people.
Somehow, she felt differently about the handsome man whose life she had saved. Maybe it was just that he was so good-looking, with his thick blond hair and broad shoulders. Perhaps it was that, for the first time in her life, she had looked at someone and wanted him to find her attractive, and she had known that there wasn’t much chance he would.
CHAPTERSIXTEEN
“We ought to head back,” Madeleine said, even though it was the last thing in the world she wanted to do. “I know your mother is waiting on me.”
“I’m surprised she let you out of the house at all,” Rachel agreed. “She’s been talking of nothing but how excited she is to teach you all the things you’ll need to know to be a proper duchess.”
“I know she thinks I have a long way to go before I’ am ready for the role,” Madeleine said gloomily.
“I don’t think that’s it,” Rachel said. “I know Mother can be domineering, but it’s not that she thinks you’re unfit to be a duchess. She’s been looking forward to this for a long time—preparing the lady Thomas chose to marry. She would have been the same way with anybody. She remembers what it was like when she was the one marrying a duke, and she’s pleased that it’s her turn to pass along this wisdom now. It makes her feel important.”
Madeleine nodded. “I suppose that makes sense.”
They started across the grounds. “Will your mother mind that you and I met?” Madeleine asked. “You did say that she’d sent you out because she didn’t want us to meet today.”
“Well, there’s very little she can do about it now!” Rachel said. “I think she just didn’t want to distract you, that’s all. Now that she knows you can be relied upon to focus on your training, she won’t worry so much.”
“I hope not,” Madeleine agreed.
Sure enough, when they reached the sitting room, Henrietta raised her eyebrows at the sight of them together but didn’t look upset. “Well, Rachel, I see you’ve met Lady Madeleine,” she said. “I might have known you’d find a way.”
“I think she’s lovely!” Rachel said. “May I stay, Mother?”
“You don’t need to stay. We’re going to practice dancing.”
“I could be Madeleine’s dance partner.”
“Oh, don’t be so silly. She’s going to practice with Thomas.” And, so saying, she went to the sitting room door and opened it.
Sure enough, there stood the Duke. “You sent for me, Mother?”
“Ah, Thomas.” Henrietta went to the door and ushered him inside. “Lady Madeleine needs to practice dancing.”
“She doesn’t need to practice dancing,” the Duke objected.
