But she couldn’t, really.
… Except where the duke and Ernest were concerned. The sudden memory of words literally flying out her mouth while she’d comforted little Ernest brought her up short.
It had felt unusually normal—easy, even. But why? And how did they know?
Melanie licked her lips. How could she explain something to them that she didn’t even understand herself?
“The Duke of Malum told Maxwell that you conversed with him normally—with no hesitation whatsoever.” Caroline looked more hurt than angry. "Do you not trust us?" Her voice softened. "Why would you hide this, Melanie? Why?"
“The duke…?”
So, they had not read about it in a paper, but learned of her visit from the duke himself?
She was partially relieved to know that the story of her visit to a brothel had not been printed in the papers. That it was not, in fact, tearing through theton.
But the realization that he had… shared her business like that, not stopping to think it might get her in trouble, prickled beneath her skin.
That, along with the weight of her family’s accusation, was almost too much to bear. Melanie could only shake her head, her hands twisting nervously in her lap.
Her mother sighed in disappointment, but more was coming. Melanie braced herself for it.
"I understand that you have suffered greatly, seeing the hunting lodge go up in flames, knowing they were trapped inside…” Her mother turned away for a moment and Melanie’s ears began to ring. It took her a few seconds to realize her mother was addressing her again. “We all have suffered, in our own way. And none of us fault you for your struggles. But hiding yourself away, shunning Society—this cannot continue.”
Caroline leaned forward. "We are a family, Melanie, and I cannot help but wonder if we’ve done you a disservice by shielding you from the world. Letting you go on like this. And so…” She glanced over at her husband and then to their mother, who dipped her chin. “We’re going to insist that you take your place in Society along with Josephine. You can no longer hide away in Mother’s townhouse. According to the duke, you can converse normally—you can manage. We insist you start living again, for your sake as much as ours.”
Melanie’s heart sank. They didn’t understand!
She had only wanted to help, to protect an innocent baby from an incompetent nurse. It wasn’t fair that she should be punished for it.
She had talked some, yes, but only because she had to! And mostly to the baby, for goodness’ sakes.
And the duke, rather than thank her for her troubles, had betrayed her!
She’d been willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, to think he wasn’t the monster those rumors had painted him to be, and then he had gone and done this.
Spilled all the details of her very minor indiscretion to her brother-in-law.
She glanced across the room to the empty desk, the one where her father ought to be.
Only, if her father was here, she wouldn’t be like this.
And a part of her couldn’t help but wonder if, on a level Melanie didn’t understand, Caroline might be right. Had she really done her best to act normally?
What was the matter with her?
Her mother took Melanie’s hand in hers and squeezed it gently. "We are only looking out for you, my dear. We want what is best—for you and for all of us."
HIS FAULT
Malum sat at his polished mahogany desk within the inner sanctum of theDomus, his fingers steepled in thought. Papers lay before him—ledgers, correspondence, matters requiring his attention—but his focus faltered, drifting against his will.
He didn’t dwell on young women he barely knew. He certainly didn’t waste time wondering why their curtains remained drawn or why they suddenly altered their routines.
It had been a week since Lady Melanie Rutherford had stepped into his life—uninvited, inconvenient, and impossible to ignore. She hadn’t returned—not that he’d expected her to—but she’d also disappeared from the window. The fleeting figure behind the glass, a detail he’d never intended to notice in the first place, was conspicuously absent.
Malum tugged at his cravat.
He only involved himself in other people’s drama when it affected his business, or if one of his investigations required that he do so. And this… well, it didn’t fall into either category.
