She sat up a little straighter, primly smoothing out her skirts.
“No, I suppose I do not.”
“What if this strange relationship between us changed?” he asked after a moment. “What if we considered a moretraditionalmarriage? What would you say to that?”
Madeline took a moment before responding. Was he joking? No, she didn’t see any mirth in his eyes. Could he have meant what he said?
“And for how long would it last?” she said at last.
Tristan frowned. “My fidelity, you mean? Do you imply that I am such a rake that I could never promise anything permanent?”
“What? No, I…”
Before Madeline could say more, to clarify that she only meant that the women in her family were not long-lived, a key clicked in the lock, the mechanical sound cutting through the silence.
Tristan scrambled to his feet with an almost comical expression of fury. Madeline leaped toherfeet—her knees were still a little wobbly—and shook out her skirts frantically. Oh, how she prayed that she looked respectable.
The door swung open, revealing Dorothea, hands on her hips, frowning at them both.
“I am only letting you out early because the housekeeper and butler both begged me to free you,” she said curtly. “And because you might have begun to panic or do something stupid, such as climbing out of the window. I had not thought about whether one of you might need to answer a call of nature.”
Tristan let out a long, furious sigh. Glancing up at him, Madeline saw that he was struggling with his temper.
“You locked me in a library, Mother,” he snapped. “And my wife!”
Dorothea had the grace to look embarrassed.
“Well, I thought you needed the opportunity to talk.Haveyou talked?”
Tristan growled, low in his throat. “Mother, this willnothappen again, do you hear me? I cannot go through my house with the constant fear of being locked in or locked out. Never again, do you hear?”
“Well, I…”
“And what is more,” he interrupted, “you won’t intervene in my marital affairs again, do you hear? You arenotdiscreet.”
Dorothea deflated. “I… I suppose that is fair.”
Tristan grunted and went striding out of the room without even a backward glance. Dorothea’s sad gaze turned to Madeline.
“Are you angry at me, too, then?” she asked, sounding almost tired.
Madeline swallowed hard, willing her wobbly legs to carry her to the door.
“No, I just… I wish you had not done it, Dorothea,” she said at last.
CHAPTER 26
The christening was a private event, as was proper. Tristan had worked hard to ensure it.
On the day itself, he felt stiff and uncomfortable, unable to relax. Isaac had recruited a few other Devils to ensure that no gossip columnists or scandal-lovers would attend the christening. Of course, it was likely that one or two would slip through the net in any case, but at least he would know that he had done what he could.
There was going to be a small celebration afterwards, which Dorothea would host. Later still, some of the Devils had insisted upon throwing a party for Tristan, on account of Adam being his heir, to all intents and purposes.
Madeline stood beside him, her hands folded into fists and pressed against her chest. The rector intoned the usual words, carefully cradling Adam in his arms. The christening itself would be a gentle thing, just a few drops of water on the baby’s head, and then done. Even so, Adam would no doubt take exceptionto the movement and would begin to cry. Joan was poised in the wings, ready to intercept.
Tristan glanced briefly over the congregation. Charlotte and Isaac were here, and Madeline’s father and Dorothea sat side by side in the front pew, whispering and dabbing their eyes. James was here, of course. There were a few Devils and their families, a few other familiar faces, and a cloaked man sitting in the very back that Tristan believed might be Orion. He had no intention of embarrassing the man by approaching him, however.
His gaze returned, as it always did, to Madeline. The events of yesterday at the library still haunted him. He wished he had not stormed out. He should have stayed, banishing his mother and finishing the conversation with Madeline.
