No sooner had he spoken the words than Madeleine appeared at the top of the stairs.
She looked absolutely radiant. She had dressed in a pale blue gown that showed off her neck and shoulders, and Thomas knew his mother would be feeling irritated about that, but what could she do? Personally, he was thrilled with Madeleine for the choice she had made.
She had a golden comb in her hair that he thought he recognized as belonging to Rachel, but her neck was bare. Fortunately, he had planned for the occasion.
He pulled the box that had been sent over from the jeweler in town this morning out of his pocket and approached her, opening it to reveal the ruby necklace he had chosen. It would look perfect with her gown. “May I?”
“This is for me?” She reached out and touched the gemstone as if she thought it might pop like a soap bubble.
“Of course,” he said. “Does it surprise you that I would have something for you? I never did buy you a wedding gift.”
“I didn’t realize it was traditional for a husband to buy his wife a wedding gift.”
“Not much about the two of us has been traditional,” he pointed out.
Madeleine smiled. “That’s true,” she agreed.
He took the necklace out of the box, and she turned around so that he could fasten it behind her neck. “There,” he said. “Let me see how it looks.”
She turned to face him.
He sucked in a breath. The ruby drew attention to her in a very appealing way. It was hard to imagine that anyone would even notice her scars—not because she was covering them up, but because she was showcasing all the beauty she possessed. It was so much more overwhelming than a little scarring. He found it difficult to believe that anyone would be able to do anything other than marvel at how lovely she was.
“You look perfect,” he managed.
“Do I?” She sounded anxious, and her eyes searched his. “I don’t want people to think badly of me, Thomas, truly.”
“Nobody will,” he said.
“They always have.”
“All right. They might. They’re gossips, and they always find something to say. But you and I know what they’re really thinking, right?”
“They’re jealous. Because I married a duke.”
“That isn’t why,” he said. “They’re not jealous because of me. They’re jealous because ofyou, Madeleine. They see how beautiful you are—”
“They see my scars,” Madeleine corrected. “You might see beauty, but they don’t. All they see is what happened to me. That’s why all they ever want to talk about is my curse, even though it will never affect them. It’s the only thing that matters about me in their eyes.”
“That’s not true,” Thomas said. “I understand the way they think. I know what they see when they look at you. The loveliest lady in all of London. And they’re right because that’s what you are. They want to feel better about themselves, Madeleine; that’s why they treat you that way. They tell themselves that because you’re cursed, it doesn’t matter that you’re more beautiful than they are. They wouldn’t want to trade places with you. That’s what they say.”
“They wouldn’t want to, though,” Madeleine said. “That fire killed my family. Nobody would want to be in my shoes.”
Thomas reached out and pulled her close against him, wrapping his arms around her, wishing there was something he could say to make the pain she felt disappear.
“Just stay close to me tonight,” Thomas said. “As long as we’re together, it won’t matter what anyone else has to say. You won’t have to worry about them.”
Madeleine beamed up at him, making him feel like the most important person in the world.
“This is all well and good,” Thomas’s mother said. “But now we really will be late if we’re not careful. The carriage is ready. We should go outside.”
“Very well,” Thomas agreed. “Let’s go.”
He wrapped an arm around Madeleine’s shoulders, and the two of them walked out the door together, right past his mother, who brought up the rear, looking a little bit put out.
Sure enough, the carriage was ready for them just outside the door. Thomas opened it and helped Madeleine inside, then held out a hand to help his mother.
She stepped to one side instead and beckoned, indicating a desire to speak with him.
