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Another silence and then, “Of course I can. I have always planned to.”
“But youcan’t!You don’t love him!”
“I’ve always loved him.”
“You’reusedto him. He seems safe to you. I don’t seem safe. But Maddie—”
“No! You don’t seem safe! Youthrowyourself into my room and youdemandI listen to you and you think—just because you want something—that I want it, too—”
“You can’t stand there and tell me you don’t love me.”
“I’m not even having this conversation.”
“You can’t say it, can you? Say it, if it’s true.”
“It doesn’t matter if I love you or not! My life does not accommodate you! And I will thank you not to make my life any harder than it is right now!”
“Maddie.” More calmly. “You don’t have to be afraid of your father. I know he is a powerful and terrifying man.”
“I’m not afraid. It’s just that he—”
“It’s just that he has always told you what to do and you have always done it. But I can take you away from this house—this day, this minute—and he won’t be able to stop you. He won’t be able to hurt you. You can marry me instead, and we can live in Corcannon or Chibain or anywhere you want, and you candowhatever you want, and he won’t ever be able to control you again.”
“And if I marry Tivol I will also be out of this house and away from my father, and I will be able to do whatever I want.”
“Yes, but you will be married to Tivol.”
“I want to be married to Tivol!”
There was a longer silence this time.
Finally Reese spoke, his voice hoarse, as if the effort of forming words was actually painful. “Well, I hope you’ve managed to convince yourself. You haven’t convinced me.”
There was the sound of footsteps as he moved toward the door. Jayla spun around to race down the staircase, hoping to be unobserved, but Madeleine’s cry of “Wait!” stopped her as well as Reese.
“Wait,” Madeleine said again. “I can’t—I won’t be able to bear it if you’re angry with me.”
A sound that might have been an attempted laugh. “I’m not angry. I’m heartbroken. Can you really not tell the difference?”
“I never set out to hurt you. I never tried to—I never pretended—”
“No. I can only blame myself for wanting something that was never promised to me. Never even offered.”
“Reese—”
Yet again, silence from beyond the door, this one the longest yet. But this time Jayla was fairly certain the two speakers weren’t simply staring at each other across the room. She decided that any danger Reese might still pose would be to Madeleine’s heart, not her person, so she made her way silently down to the atrium. Just in case she was wrong and Madeleine cried out for help, she lurked at the bottom of the stairwell until Reese emerged about an hour later. His face was closed and set, and he left the house without a look back.
For the rest of the day, Madeleine refused to come downstairs, even when the dressmaker showed up for a fitting, even when one of her cousins dropped by to visit. Even when her father wanted her to join him for dinner with Harlo. Norrah sent up a tray of food, which was returned largely uneaten. It seemed clear Madeleine didn’t need Jayla’s protective services, but Jayla still stayed within easy call in case Madeleine suddenly changed her mind and wanted to dash out of the house. But it never happened.
A couple of hours after dinner, Jayla rescued Aussen from the kitchen and took her upstairs. They spent a few minutes practicing Zessin and Cordish so they could both improve their language skills. Then Jayla kissed the girl on the forehead and put her to bed.
A few moments later, she was standing outside Madeleine’s door. It had become their custom for Jayla to drop by every night to inquire about Madeleine’s plans for the next day so she knew how to prepare. Madeleine usually greeted her cordially, and they often talked for a few minutes on topics not strictly related to Jayla’s job, but they had never developed what Jayla would consider a true friendship. Well, Jayla knew better than to presume that even a close relationship with an employer could ever amount to friendship. She was probably even more interested than Madeleine in maintaining a professional distance. She could be fired at any time; she could quit at any time. A contract made everything perfectly clear.
Still, she would have had to be an absolute stone not to realize Madeleine had had a trying day and to wonder if the other woman actually wanted a visitor at this hour. So her knock was soft and she did not plan to repeat it.
But Madeleine answered instantly. “If that’s Jayla, come in.”
She stepped inside to find the room lit by a single low lamp. Madeline sat by the open window, the outline of her profile barely discernible against the night sky. She didn’t turn to face Jayla, just sat there in silence a moment. Jayla waited.
