“You must have been fond of him,” she said carefully. The sentence was in the past tense, which the woman hopefully took as a hint.
Miss Bolt sniffed. “Fond enough. But I am not here to chat about our mutual friend. As I said, I am here to offer congratulations. However, I am a little surprised.”
“Surprised at the marriage?”
“No, no. Surprised that…” Miss Bolt hesitated pointedly and glanced around. “I am surprised that Tristan was careless enough to make a baby with anyone. After all he has said!”
Madeline blinked. “What? I don’t understand.”
Miss Bolt put a finger to her lips. Out of the corner of her eye, Madeline saw Charlotte hurrying over. Something like anger spread through Madeline’s chest. She lifted her chin, meeting Miss Bolt’s eye coolly.
“I believe it isHis Graceto you, Miss Bolt. Not Tristan.”
Miss Bolt smiled. “Now, now, Your Grace, there’s nothing of the wallflower about you, eh?”
Madeline pressed her lips together. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Miss Bolt. But we must be going.”
“Of course, of course. Your watchdog is here, after all,” Miss Bolt snorted, shooting a disdainful glance at Charlotte. “I shall let you continue with your walk. Good day to you both.”
Without another word, Miss Bolt turned on her heel and went marching away, her long legs carrying her across the ground easily. For the first time, Madeline noticed a drab woman of middle years, perhaps a maid, scurrying along behind her. That must be Miss Bolt’s nod to propriety.
“Well, I don’t think I like her half as much in person as I do when she is on stage,” Charlotte commented. “She was rather antagonistic toward you, Madeline.”
“She said she was a friend of Tristan,” Madeline murmured.
Charlotte stiffened. “Think nothing of it. Tristan’s reputation is not…”
“She said something ever so strange. She said it was odd that Tristan would be careless enough to make a baby with anyone. What on earth can she mean? She can’t be talking about Adam.”
A strange look came over Charlotte’s face. She hastily looked away, but not before Madeline saw a flash of some unspoken emotion in her eyes. Grabbing her arm, Madeline forced her friend to look her in the eyes.
“Charlotte? What is it?”
Charlotte let out a ragged sigh. “Oh, Madeline, sometimes I wish youwouldread the gossip columns. I wasn’t going to tell you, but there is a horrid piece of gossip going around at the moment.”
Madeline gulped. “About me? And Tristan?”
“Yes.”
“Well, what is it?”
“Can’t you guess?”
“I couldn’t possibly.”
Charlotte glanced around and passed a hand over her face. “Well, there is talk that Adam is not Anthony’s child at all, but Tristan’s. After all, nobody knew of the baby’s existence until he was conjured up from nowhere. Or so it seems to some people. They find it suspect that he was apparently born out in the countryside and is now brought into a duke’s house.”
“Why, it’s not odd! He is Tristan’s nephew!” Madeline exclaimed. “I don’t understand.”
Charlotte breathed out and met Madeline’s eye. “You don’t understand. Your swift marriage to Tristan has occasioned some questions. Some people believe that baby Adam’s sudden appearance and your marriage are… are connected.”
Madeline blinked. It took her a moment to understand what Charlotte was getting at.
“They think that Adam ismybaby?” she gasped.
“Keep your voice down!” Charlotte yelped. “Yes, I’m afraid they do. There is talk that you went to the countryside to have the child, then left it with a family there until you could marry Tristan and make it all respectable.”
Madeline found her jaw hanging slack. “Well, that’s ridiculous,” she said at last. “Ofcoursethat isn’t true!”
