Thomas frowned. “I thought we needed to be on our way.”
“A word, Thomas. Please.”
Thomas stepped to the side and leaned against the carriage. “Keep your voice down if you’re going to say something else about Madeleine,” he murmured. “She’s anxious enough about what she’s facing here.”
“I know,” his mother said. “That’s what I was going to say. I know it’s hard for you to see her so anxious.”
“You’re not making it any easier for her.”
“It isn’t my place to make things easy for her,” his mother said. “That’s not what she needs from me.”
“What do you mean?”
“You don’t remember your grandmother, do you? Your father’s mother?”
“No.” She had died when Thomas was only a child. “Why do you bring her up?”
“Because she taught me everything I needed to know about the life and the responsibilities of a duchess. And that’s what I’m trying to do for Madeleine now. She needs to see how people are going to respond to her. And it’s better for her to see that here at home, where the stakes are minimal. It’s better for her to see these reactions from me first than to see them when we arrive at the ball and be completely unprepared.”
“You might be right,” Thomas admitted. “But she also needs to see that you have confidence in her, Mother. This is hard for her to face. It’s not the same as it was for you when you and Father married. You were never embroiled in this kind of scandal. You were just the lovely young daughter of an earl who was lucky enough to marry the Duke.”
His mother looked at him appraisingly. “You have a point,” she said. “And I will keep it in mind.”
“Will you really?” He hadn’t expected that to work. His mother wasn’t usually open to being told she was wrong about anything. It wasn’t like her to listen to other people’s opinions.
“Let’s see how she does tonight,” his mother said. “If she carries herself well and makes a good impression, I’ll be sure to let her know that I’m pleased with her over breakfast tomorrow. But I warn you, Thomas, I won’t lie. If she doesn’t impress me, I will tell her that. She has the right to hear the truth from me because you can be sure the truth is what she’ll be hearing from everyone else.”
Thomas nodded. “I can’t ask for more than that, I suppose.”
“Then let’s be on our way. The ball won’t wait.”
* * *
Thomas didn’t think Madeleine had overheard the things his mother had said before entering the carriage, but she still seemed very nervous as they walked up the bath to Growerton Manor.
“It’ll be all right,” he assured her in a hushed voice. “Remember, you’re safe with me now. No one can do anything to you while you’re on the arm of the Duke.”
She smiled at him, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes. “I’ll be all right,” she agreed. “No matter what happens, I’ll be all right. I don’t want you to worry about me.”
“Nothing is going to happen.”
She looked at him rather pityingly, as if she didn’t believe him but didn’t want to ruin his faith in the idea that the evening might go well.
They were late enough that the foyer was nearly empty. Everyone had gone into the ballroom already. Thomas looked around, but no one seemed to look their way, so he took Madeleine’s arm. “Come,” he said. “Let’s go in. No one will pay any attention to us.”
He couldn’t have been more wrong.
The moment they stepped into the ballroom, all eyes were on them. Even the musicians forgot what they were doing, looking up to see the Duke of Westcourt enter the room with his new wife.
Madeleine stiffened beside Thomas, and for a moment, he was afraid she would take off running right back out the door the way she had at their wedding ball.
Tonight is going to be more difficult than the wedding ball was,he realized.She will know that she can’t run off like that again, which will make things hard for her.
He tightened his grip on her arm, reassuring her of his presence, reassuring her that she was safe as long as the two of them were together.
He felt her relax. She looked up at him and nodded, and they made their way into the room.
The musicians had recovered their composure and had begun to play again, but everyone else was standing stock still, staring at the pair of them.
