“I haven’t spoken to your mother yet,” Madeleine said. “I suppose she’ll come and find us when she’s ready.”
“Not if we’re on the dance floor.”
It was just what Madeleine needed to hear to give her the courage to step out onto the floor. It wasn’t that she wanted to avoid Henrietta—she would face her husband’s mother when the time came and do it with her chin up. But for now, she wanted to show Henrietta—and anyone else who still harbored doubts—that she was worthy, and she knew it. She wanted to show them all that her scar didn’t prevent her from knowing the place in the world that was rightfully hers.
At least, that was what she told herself.
But as she stepped onto the dance floor, her hands began to shake.
She couldn’t help it. She’d kept her courage up, but now she was thinking about everyone who was looking at her right now and about what they must be thinking. She wasn’t ashamed of the scar she bore, but it did cause her pain to think about the source of that scar. And she knew that everyone else in the room would be thinking about it too.
They would all be thinking about the fire. About the night she had lost everyone she loved.
They would be thinking that she had been the sole survivor of that deadly night.
They would be thinking about the curse.
“Don’t be nervous,” Thomas said. “Pay attention to me. Everything’s all right.”
“I’m not nervous,” she lied.
“You are. You’re shaking. But this is just like when we practiced.”
“Oh, you mean when I could hardly keep from falling over? Tripping over my own feet?”
But he had succeeded in distracting her from her worries. He’d made her smile. He pulled her into the steps of the dance, moving slowly. It was slow enough that she could follow along without worrying about losing her balance, and she allowed herself to lock eyes with him.
“I’m right here with you,” he murmured. “You have nothing to be anxious about. From this moment on, everything we do, we do together. All right?”
She smiled. “All right.”
He turned her in a slow circle. “And it doesn’t matter if people are watching us, does it?”
Her heart quickened. “No,” she agreed, and it felt like the truth. “It doesn’t matter at all.”
“I hope theyarepaying attention,” he said. “I hope they see how happy I am to have you by my side, Madeleine. I hope they see how well we look together. It doesn’t matter if they don’t like it because we will never be alone.”
Madeleine was lost for words. She had never expected him to be this happy and supportive on their wedding day. Even as she had started to realize that marriage to him wouldn’t be a bad thing, it hadn’t occurred to her that he would be so kind.
She had never imagined that he would hold her this tenderly or that he would look at her with genuine compassion and admiration in his eyes. It made her wonder if, perhaps, he might actually care for her.
Maybe this marriage was going to be something real.
Maybe it actually mattered to him. Maybeshemattered to him.
As that thought came to her, she remembered again that he would likely be wanting an heir, but for the first time, the idea didn’t frighten her. Instead, she felt a flutter of excitement at the prospect.
It would be intimidating. But it would also be exciting to discover something new with her new husband. And the idea of carrying his child, becoming a mother…
It didn’t frighten her the way it once had.
But then, as they turned slowly, a whisper came to her from off to the side of the room.
“Curse. She’s cursed.”
And her happiness dissolved like a soap bubble.
What had she been thinking? She couldn’t fall in love with Thomas. She certainly couldn’t have a child with him. It would be too dangerous!
