“Rachel pestered me about it all morning,” he said. “She knew it was the wrong choice. I should have listened to her.”
“Really, Thomas, I don’t want you to worry about that.”
He nodded. But he couldn’t help noticing that she seemed distressed, and he didn’t know what to make of it. She had told him not to worry—but shouldn’t he worry if his wife was unhappy?
“Would you like to go for a walk about the grounds with me?” he asked, hoping that things would become clearer if they spent some time together. “It’s a lovely day.”
“I’d like that,” Madeleine said quietly.
He looked at her. “Are you sure? You don’t seem certain, and I don’t want you to feel as if you have to come with me if you’d rather not.”
“No, I’d like to,” Madeleine said. “It’s better than staying inside by myself.”
He felt another pang of regret. He probably should have known that she wouldn’t want to be on her own the very first day. He should have arranged something for her so that her day would be full instead of leaving her to her own devices.
I won’t make that mistake again. I’ll be sure to stay by her side.
She put a bit of distance between them as they walked along. He couldn’t have reached out and touched her. He guessed she didn’t want him to, which was certainly fair, but it wasn’t a good feeling. They had been so close last night. He had thought they were finally going to overcome the distance between them. But here they were, as far apart as ever.
It was she who finally broke the silence. “Are you angry with Horatia?” she asked.
It took him a moment to work through the question and figure out who she was talking about. “Horatia is your lady’s maid.”
“Yes, and you mustn’t be angry with her, Thomas. Everything she has done has been on my orders, so if you want to be angry with someone, be angry with me, not her.”
“Hold on,” Thomas objected. “I don’t know what we’re talking about, Madeleine. Why would I be angry with your lady’s maid? I haven’t even interacted with her since you came to Westcourt.”
“I assumed you would have heard about what happened last night,” Madeleine explained. “I’m sure your mother heard about it.”
“What do you mean?”
“She brought my dog up to my bedroom for me. On my orders,” Madeleine added quickly. “I made her do it. If that was wrong, I’m the one who ought to be punished, not Horatia.”
“Punished!” Thomas exclaimed. “No one will bepunishedbecause you wanted to see your dog, Madeleine. What an idea! What would make you think that would happen?”
“I don’t know,” Madeleine admitted. “When Horatia didn’t bring my breakfast this morning, and then I heard she had been given the morning off, I suppose I began to fear that your mother was angry with her for presuming to bring the dog upstairs.”
“Mother mentioned nothing about the dog over breakfast,” Thomas said. “But it doesn’t matter. Of course you’re welcome to have your dog in your room with you.”
“Really? It’s all right?”
“Of course it’s all right! What made you think that would be a problem?”
“I don’t know,” Madeleine admitted. “I didn’t know what to think. We never discussed where she would be permitted to go, so I just didn’t know.”
“I’m sorry. That’s my fault. I should have initiated that conversation with you. I should have known you would want to know where the dog could go.” He sighed. “I’ve made a great many mistakes on our first day together, haven’t I?”
“Of course not. That isn’t what I meant to imply. You’ve done nothing wrong, Thomas.”
“I can see that you aren’t happy here. I hoped you would be. What can I do to change that?”
“I’m perfectly happy.”
But it was a lie. He could tell by the expression on her face that she wasn’t as happy as she pretended to be. He wanted to do something for her, to let her know that she was welcome here, to make this place feel like her home, but he had no idea what he could do to give her that feeling. It was impossible to know without being able to speak openly with her, and he could tell that there were still things she was keeping from him.
He decided to open up to her a little more than he had previously. Maybe that would help comfort her and make her feel more at ease.
“Thank you for listening to what I had to say about my father,” he said.
