“I had to dosomething,” Lady Cecily said. “I couldn’t leave him to your mercy, Lady Madeleine. Not knowing what you would do to him. I had to send someone out there to ensure you didn’t destroy him.”
Madeleine shook her head. “You know perfectly well there was no time for any sort of seduction.”
“Of course I don’t,” Lady Cecily said primly. “I’m a well-bred young lady, Madeleine. Unlike you, Ihada mother. I have no idea how long such things take.”
“Just tell me why you would do this,” Madeleine said. “Why would you set me up so horribly when you know I didn’t do anything?”
“A lady like you shouldn’t marry,” Lady Cecily said. “A lady like you will only bring chaos and horror down on anyone you meet. Everyone needs to see you for what you are, Lady Madeleine. I know you think me cruel. But it’s an act of mercy. How would you feel if you were to marry and cause the deaths of asecondfamily? How would you ever live with yourself?”
Madeleine was speechless.
It was as if Lady Cecily had reached into her mind and plucked out her darkest, most painful thoughts, the ones she never spoke aloud to anyone, the ones she didn’t even like to admit to herself that she had. She did her best not to believe that her family’s death had been her fault. She knew that it was superstitious nonsense and that other people believed it only because they took pleasure in things that were salacious.
She knew, but in the darkest part of her mind, it was hard to make herself believe it.
And what if it was true, somehow? What if she carried a curse with her, and the next time she dared to try to build a family, it would be snatched away just as horribly? What if she had to lose more people she loved? What if she had to watch them die?
If it happened again, it would destroy her. Lady Cecily was right—shewouldn’tbe able to live with that.
She hadn’t had to think about it yet, because she had never given serious thought to the idea of getting married. This was only the first ball of her first season, and she’d had enough on her mind dodging the whispers of everyone calling hercursed lady. She hadn’t even thought about attracting the attention of any of the gentlemen here.
But she understood now.
“You want the Duke for yourself,” she told Cecily. “That’s why you did it. That’s why you made sure we were caught. He defended me, and you didn’t like it. It frightened you to think that someone might actually like me. It frightened you that he might choose me instead of you.”
“Of course he wouldn’t,” Cecily scoffed. “Not once he knew who you were. But now that the two of you have been caught in such a compromising position, he’ll know enough to stay away from you before you get your hooks into him, and he’ll be much better off for it.”
“You’re wicked.”
Cecily raised her eyebrows. “You may say what you like,” she said. “But everyone who has ever lovedmeis still alive, Lady Madeleine. Which of us is really the wicked one?”
Lady Beatrice came over. “Cecily, I told you we ought to stay away from her,” she said in an urgent whisper. “People are staring.”
“They’re not staring atme,” Cecily said dismissively. “I’m sure people have already heard about what happened between her and the poor Duke. News like that travels quickly, you know. Beatrice, we must make certain that the Duke never wants for a dance partner tonight. We must be certain that he knows we don’t think less of him because of what’s happened. He must know thatweknow he isn’t to blame.”
“Oh, yes,” Lady Beatrice said breathlessly. “I’ll go and find him straightaway, shall I?”
“Get him to sign your dance card at least twice,” Lady Cecily instructed. “And tell him I’ll come to find him in hopes of doing the same. There’s plenty of time left this evening, and we all ought to make the most of it.”
Then she turned back to Madeleine. “And I think you ought to go home,” she said. “No one wants you here, after all. No one wants to spend their evening with a curse in their midst.”
She didn’t even say it cruelly, Madeleine realized. Her words were hurtful, but she wasn’t going out of her way to cause pain. She simply meant what she was saying.
Nobody wanted Madeleine here.
Perhaps there were some who had wanted to get a look at the start of the evening, to see for themselves the curiosity that was the cursed lady. But now she had been seen, and everyone was ready for her to be gone from their midst—and Madeleine found that she, too, was ready to leave.
She wanted nothing more to do with any of these people, and if her uncle would allow it, she thought she might never attend another ball.
She pushed past Lady Cecily, heading for the front door.
Whispers followed her as she went. Well, she had known that they would. She had known from the moment she arrived she would be the talk of this ball, and not for a good reason. Still, she’d never imagined that things would go quite as badly as they had gone. She felt utterly humiliated. It was one thing to be talked about for something she knew probably wasn’t her fault, even though it was painful. But being gossiped about for being out alone in the garden with a gentleman—it was much harder to tell herself that she was blameless there.
It washisfault. He shouldn’t have interfered! What business of his was it anyway?
She had her carriage brought around and got inside. No doubt people would have more to say if they saw her going away all by herself—they would wonder why she had come on her own tonight, why there had been no one to escort her.
Well, there was nothing that could have been done about that. Her uncle was too ill to attend balls, and apart from him, Madeleine was alone in the world. They were all one another had.
