“Let me show you to your room. You can freshen up and rest a while, then you can meet Mary.”
“My daughter-in-law,” Adam offered.
He gave Madeline a melancholy look that she wished she could read. Was it an apology for their awkward beginning? Or was it simply disappointment that Diana had not arrived?
He nodded at her, and she knew he was passing his duty over to the others. He was finished with her.
Madeline followed Mrs. Dalton to the staircase, peered surreptitiously over her shoulder at her once future husband.
Without a backward glance, he walked out the door.
The afternoon sun moved across the sky and glistened outside Madeline’s lace-covered window, shining in her eyes and waking her from her nap.
She stared dazedly at the dappled light upon her quilt. It was a muted, golden glow, unlike anything she’d ever seen in Yorkshire, and she wondered how in the world the sun could be different here, when it was exactly the same sun.
Sitting up, she yawned and realized how exhausted she was after the long journey and the horrible, mortifying end to everything. She hadn’t taken any lunch; she just hadn’t felt like eating. Not that she was pouting. She was never one to wallow in self-pity. All she’d wanted to do was drift into a deep, rehabilitating sleep, then wake up and feel ready to begin again.
But as she looked around the bedchamber at the dainty writing desk in the corner—stocked with stationery and a goose quill pen next to a bottle of ink, and a silver candelabra with five new white wax candles just waiting to be lit after sunset—she knew the room had been lovingly prepared for Diana. Madeline found herself, at that moment, quite unable to pick herself up, as she usually did, and dust herself off.
She thought about Diana then. How everyone loved her and praised her, while comparing Madeline’s shortcomings in the very next breath.
Madeline had never been bothered by it before, not deeply anyway. She’d not permitted herself to be bothered by it, and she was always firm when it came to her emotions and keeping them in check. She could sweep away the most painful insults or degradations with a mental wave of her unfalteringly strong will.
On that account, in childhood and adulthood, too, she’d crushed any interest in wishing for—or competing for—the kind of attention Diana received. Madeline had never expected to participate in the same game, nor had she wanted to; she was much happier going her own way, spending time alone, outdoors in the garden, while Diana preferred to socialize and charm anyone and everyone who crossed her path.
Today, however, for the first time, Madeline felt the sharp claws of envy boring under her skin. Adam had not been charmed by her, not in the least. He’d looked right through her, just as he had all those years ago when he’d come to the house to court Diana.
Determined not to spend another beastly moment feeling sorry for herself, Madeline rose, slipped her tiny stockinged feet into her black buckled shoes and prepared to venture downstairs.
At the top of the wide staircase, however, she heard someone call her name. In one of the rooms, lying on a huge, fluffy, canopied bed, was a pretty and very pregnant young woman. She couldn’t have been more than eighteen.
“You must be Madeline,” she said cheerfully. “Mrs. Dalton told me you were sleeping. Come in, come in.”
Madeline moved all the way into the room.
“I’m Mary, Jacob’s wife. He’s off in the fields today, planting the spring crop. You’ll meet him at supper.”
“I’ll look forward to it,” Madeline replied. She glanced discreetly at Mary’s full belly with an open book leaning upon it. “How are you feeling?” she asked.
“I’m fine. I’ve had some pains and the doctor suggested I rest until the baby comes next month. Please sit down.”
Madeline sat in an upholstered chair beside the bed.
Eyes warm and caring, Mary leaned forward and gently touched Madeline’s hand. “Mrs. Dalton told me what happened—that you thought you were coming here to marry Mr. Coates. I felt terrible when I heard it. It must have been very distressing for you. Are you all right?”
Surprise, more than anything, shook Madeline. Mary may have been young, but she was astute.
“Of course, I’m fine. It was just a misunderstanding.”
“Misunderstandings can sometimes be more than that.”
Madeline swallowed hard over the lump that suddenly rose in her throat. “Yes, but honestly, Mr. Coates and I were strangers to each other. There were no hurt feelings. I should have guessed something was wrong initially, before I set out for Nova Scotia. I should have known he would want Diana. They were close once, after all.”
Mary nodded and leaned back, but Madeline suspected that the young woman knew what was really going on.
A part of her wanted to confide in Mary, but Madeline bit back the urge. If in time, Adam did marry Diana, Madeline would never want anyone to know how she herself had loved him. She didn’t want everyone to pity her as the poor, brokenhearted spinster sister. That would be the worst fate imaginable. Her pride would never be able to endure it.
Madeline politely stood. “I should go downstairs to see if I can help with supper. Can I get you anything?”
