I shall see you soon.
All my love,
Juliana
Juliana. Juliana.Juliana.
“Juliana damnable Bolt,” Madeline breathed. Oh, it wasn’t Juliana who enraged her. No, Juliana was just doing her best to keep her hands on a duke when she had him. No, her rage was aimed at Tristan, who had gone rushing out of the house to meet her.
As soon as he received the letter, no less,Madeline thought, with a surge of misery flooding through her.How could I have been so foolish?
“Madeline, what are you doing here?”
She flinched, spinning around. James stood in the doorway, eyeing her warily.
“This is Tristan’s study,” he added, a trifle unnecessarily. “Does he know you are here?”
Madeline swallowed thickly and shoved the letter at him.
“Read this,” she choked. “Read this.”
He took the crumpled letter and read quickly. It was not a long letter, but she saw how he frowned as he read.
“Ah,” James muttered, frowning. “He’s gone to see Juliana Bolt again. I… I cannot say that I am surprised, Madeline. She always did have such a hold on him.”
Madeline gave a rasping sob. “Yes, but I believed that things were different. I believed that I… that hecaredabout me.”
James crouched beside her, wincing. He reached out as if to take her hand, then seemed to change his mind, drawing back his arm.
“Yes, Tristan is rather good at making people think that,” he mumbled. “I am so sorry, Madeline. You did not deserve this. After all these years of stoutly telling us all that he is nothing like his father, I suppose the similarities are there, after all.”
Madeline swallowed hard, feeling bile crawl up her throat. How could she have been such a fool? She covered her face with her hands, groaning aloud.
“What am I to do, James? We were meant to try to be a real couple; we were going to do thingsdifferently.”
He clucked his tongue. “Oh, my dear girl, I can see how upset you are. I should have known that the apple would not fall far from the tree. When you think of his birth…”
“His birth?” Madeline repeated, removing her hands and peering up at him, frowning. “What do you mean?”
James shook his head, looking away. “It is not for me to say.”
Madeline scowled at him. “I am not in a fine temper at the moment, James. Tell me plainly what you mean, or stop saying it at all. I do not care for innuendos.”
James blinked at her, seemingly taken by surprise. “Heavens. They said that you were a wallflower, you know.”
Madeline gave a brittle smile. “Theysay a good deal about me, and little of it is true. What are you saying, James?”
“I am saying that you require time to think clearly. You are upset and confused, and my cousin—much as I love him—is rather good at leaving ladies baffled and out of place. Is there anywhere you can go to be safe?”
Madeline breathed out slowly, and nodded her head. “Yes. I shall go to Papa’s. I shall take Adam with me.”
“Yes, a fine plan,” James responded, nodding approvingly.
“And I shall tell Dorothea of my plan.”
James frowned at that. “Is that wise? Surely…”
“Tristan is afraid that I will take myself and his nephew and disappear into nothing. I shall do neither,” Madeline answered firmly. “Now excuse me, I shall begin to pack.”
