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“She’s in town. She wants to see you.”
“But I—”
Her father tossed back a last swallow of water and came to his feet. “We can talk about it more tonight. I’m late.”
And without voicing the slightest concern about Madeleine’s state of mind after last night’s trauma, without expressing relief that she was unharmed or gratitude that she was still alive—without another word—he left the room.
She stared after him with so much stupefaction she didn’t even have the energy left to burst into tears.
Tivol arrived while she was still getting dressed, so she took some satisfaction in making him wait half an hour while she put on the finishing touches. As the summer reached its zenith, the chilly gray that had been considered the ultimate in fashion was modulating to a light yellow that was kinder to Madeleine’s complexion. But she still felt the need to pile on brighter colors. Cinnamon. Tangerine. A splash of cherry. It was like she had a sliver of ice at her core and she was trying to warm herself from the outside.
Tivol was pacing the gilt room, and he looked up swiftly when she walked in. “Madeleine!” he exclaimed, flinging himself across the room to hug her.
She didn’t push him away, but she turned her cool cheek to his impetuous mouth and stood unresponsive in his arms. He dropped three kisses on her face, held her close a moment, then gripped her shoulders as he pulled back to survey her.
“I was right. You’re angry with me,” he said.
“What could I possibly have to be angry about?”
He groaned and folded her back into his arms. “Oh, I’m such a boor. A cad. An insensitive boorish cad! I never should have left you at Harlo’s last night. I realized that the minute I woke up this morning. I opened my eyes, and I thought, ‘I hope Madeleine has recovered from yesterday’s terrible adventure,’ and then I thought, ‘I don’t even know if she made it safely home!’ And then I realized—I mean, it was selfish and stupid andunforgivableof me to abandon you yesterday, and I am here to make it up to you in any way you require.”
She found herself losing some of her stiff reserve and leaning slightly into his embrace.Thiswas what she had needed last night, Tivol’s arms around her;thiswas where she had always felt safe. “It was not unforgivable, but Tivol, how could you have left me like that? Didn’t you know how much I wanted you with me?”
“I should have, but I didn’t!” he exclaimed. “You always seem so calm and so sure of yourself, and last night was no different. You were so strong and serene that I just stopped worrying.”
“I didn’t feel as calm and strong as I wanted everyone to believe,” she said. Maybe he was right. She had insisted she was fine and he had believed her; should she have expected him to read her mind? If she’d asked him to stay by her side, if she’d asked him to take her home, he would have done it. She knew that for absolute fact. She melted a little more in his arms, lifted her head to nuzzle the base of his throat. “But Iwasangry when you left me.”
“I won’t do it again,” he promised. “You’ll see—I’ll follow so close behind you everywhere you go, you’ll be embarrassed. You’ll have to explain to all your friends that I’m a lovesick idiot who’s afraid to let you out of his sight. It’ll be inconvenient, I know, but you’ll have to get used to it.”
She laughed. “I think I’ll like it,” she said.I won’t like it tomorrow when Reese shows up,she found herself thinking, but she shook the thought away.
“So what shall we do this evening?” he asked. “How shall I prove to you how much I love you?”
“Why wait till this evening? Let’s go right now to the temple gardens. The weather is perfect for strolling along and admiring flowers.”
His face showed a comical, exaggerated level of dismay. “Yes, a perfect day for it, but—I suppose I forgot to mention that my mother’s in town. And she’s expecting us this afternoon. We could go to the gardenafterwe visit her.”
Madeleine freed herself from his arms and sighed. “That’s right, my father mentioned it this morning. When are we supposed to see her?”
Tivol caught her hands. “At two, but—we can go tomorrow! I know she has a meeting scheduled with—but we can work around it.”
For a moment she was tempted. Tivol so rarely defied his mother that she was moved that he would even suggest it. It proved he was serious about atoning for his transgression; it showed he valued Madeleine over everyone else in the world. “She will be displeased with you,” she said tentatively.
“Not at all. I’ll let her know you’re too worn out from yesterday’s events.”
Madeleine frowned. “Oh, no. That makes me sound like some poor helpless creature who can’t handle the slightest adversity.”
Tivol kissed her hands. “Then I will come up with some other excuse. Today isyourday, and I will do whatever makes you happiest.”
She smiled and kissed him. “But then I would spend all day today dreading tomorrow’s visit,” she said. “Let’s get the obligation over with this afternoon andthengo somewhere special.”
“That’s my Madeleine,” Tivol said in an admiring voice. “Always doing the right thing. I wish I was half as good as you are.”
She laughed. “I wish you were aquarteras good as I am.”
But what she was really thinking was,I can’t go see Heloise tomorrow because I am going to spend the day with Reese.
The Wellendens’ town house was close enough to the Alaynes’ that Madeleine and Tivol could have walked the distance in fifteen minutes. But they took Tivol’s little sprinter, Jayla riding silently behind them. Tivol had frowned slightly when the guard followed Madeleine out the front door.
