“Oh? What is it, Mama?”
Mama reached out and stroked Victoria’s hair, taking obvious pleasure in her daughter’s excitement as she imparted her words.
“It seems as though our Duke Reginald has asked for Madeline’s hand in marriage.”
For a moment, it felt as though the bottom had gone out of Madeline’s stomach. The duke? Asking for her hand in marriage? Without actually asking her? She could feel her mother’s eyes on her, and the thought made her feel a little sick to her stomach, but she forced a smile.
“That is wonderful news,” she said. Objectively, it was wonderful news; many womenin theton were terrified of being an old maid, and now Madeline knew she would never have to be one. Reginald was a nice man, and she would be a duchess, after all. She could feel Victoria’s gaze upon her and wished that the news had somehow been reversed, that Victoria could take this engagement instead of her, but unfortunately life did not work that way. Not here, anyway.
So she smiled.
“That is wonderful!” she said, and perhaps she sounded like she meant it. In any case, it seemed as though her mother was deceived, for she beamed brighter than any star, such was her happiness and pride.
“Excellent, we’re going to announce it at the ball tomorrow. Victoria, you’ll even be allowed to stay up for it, since it will not be long before your own debut!”
Victoria looked stunned at this notion, before it slowly began to register. For a moment she looked excited and yet terribly, terribly envious. Madeline felt the same but about her.
“What do you think, Maddie?” her mother said, looking at her with excited eyes.
“It is wonderful,” she said again, feeling a little silly for repeating herself, but not knowing what else to say.
“Lovely!” Mama kissed Madeline on the top of her head again before sweeping out of the room, leaving both ladies with their embroidery and heavy news. Madeline looked down at the jumble of thread in her lap and felt the beating of her heart quicken.
What was she going to do?
CHAPTER TWO
Contrary to popular belief (rather, the beliefs of her mother and sister), Madeline did not mind getting dressed up. Well, the fact of the matter was that she absolutely loathed the process of getting dressed, but was always quite happy with the finished product. Sure, corsets pinched and the wide hoops of her skirt made her feel as though she were bigger than she actually was, but it did not matter. Sometimes she still enjoyed being pretty.
And pretty she was on the night of the ball; but of course, she had to be, given her future status as a woman engaged to a duke. The entire thing had yet to sit well with her, but she also knew that not much could be done about the matter. Instead she focused on the wide petal-pink ball gown trimmed with green ribbons that brought out the color of her eyes. Her mother even lent her a gorgeous emerald necklace in order to set off everything. Sure, it felt as if it had taken Madeline hours to put on the heavy old thing, but the effect, she had to admit, was rather lovely.
She just wished that she could feel at least some measure of excitement about what was to come.
Victoria, on the other hand, was almost beside herself with excitement. Dressed entirely in white (as unmarried ladies often did before their debuts), her hair put up in a gorgeous bun with curls hanging down, she looked like some sort of angel put on earth to attend this ball, and Madeline was sure she felt that way too. Of course, she wasn’t going to be allowed to dance as late as Madeline, and Papa might go apoplectic at the idea of his daughter accepting dances from anyone at this ball at all, but it was Victoria’s very first time, so excitement abounded.
Madeline herself did not mind balls; dancing was fun (although she wasn’t very good at it), and it was nice to see all the beautiful gowns. She hated to make a habit of it, though, for conversation often ran dry and she ended up so bored. Instead she would seek out anyone who had been traveling lately in the hopes that they would regale her with tales of their travels. She was particularly looking forward to this evening because Lord Hornby had only recently returned from Bombay, and Madeline wanted to hear his stories about the culture.
Then there was the small matter of Madeline’s engagement being announced that very evening, but how could that be very interesting to many people?
They were announced by the butler when they entered the ballroom, the ball itself being thrown by some wealthy family friend that Madeline could never keep straight. Victoria hovered by her side, her eyes widening with excitement as she took in her surroundings: the sumptuous table with little nibbles laid out for the guests to enjoy, the servants sprinkled throughout the crowd holding trays of champagne. Madeline knew that she would be allowed to have a glass of champagne to toast her own engagement; that alone should have been enough to excite her, but nothing seemed to work.
“Oh Maddie,look!” Victoria whispered as they lingered at the top of the stairs. She knew better than to point but instead made a gesture with her fan toward the entrance of the room. “Look, there he is!”
It was Duke Reginald, tall and handsome in his tuxedo and tails, his blond hair slicked back as if he were some kind of romantic hero. Madeline knew that her heart should beat faster upon seeing him, and he did in fact cut a very attractive figure as he took note of her and walked over to the two ladies, but all Madeline could feel in her heart was a growing pit of unease. Reginald arrived at her side with a grin.
“There you are, sweetheart,” he said genially. He truly was a nice man, and he offered his arm for Madeline to take hold of. She stared at him for a moment, until Victoria nudged her rather roughly and Madeline realized that it was her duty to be escorted this way.
“Oh, thank you!” Madeline slipped her arm through his, feeling the closeness of his skin. She wished she could feel some thrill—whatever excitement a woman was supposed to feel about her beloved—but instead she felt nothing. Victoria beamed at the two of them as if she were some sort of faerie bestowing blessings.
“You are looking lovely this evening, Lady Madeline,” Reginald said.
“Oh, please call me Madeline, Duke,” Madeline replied awkwardly.
“Then you must call me Reginald.”
“Alright.”
Reginald seemed pleased with this and he turned his eye to Victoria, who seemed startled at the sudden attention.
“You are looking very beautiful this evening too, Lady Victoria. I am sure loads of lucky boys will line up to get a dance with you this evening.”
“Oh!” Victoria’s cheeks reddened so much that she covered them with her own hands in embarrassment. “Oh, thank you, but I haven’t debuted yet. Would it not be a scandal to dance?”
Reginald chuckled good-naturedly. “It is only a scandal if you get caught.”
Madeline hadn’t thought her sister could blush any deeper, but there she was, snapping her fan open and hiding behind the beautiful fabric. Madeline tried to hide her smirk at the entire exchange, and the three of them walked into the ballroom.
A small orchestra played some song in the corner that Madeline wasn’t able to identify but that wasn’t exactly the kind of song one would actually dance to. The music floated through the air as guests greeted each other, and Madeline’s mother came swooping in seemingly out of nowhere, dressed in a spectacular sapphire-blue dress with jewels to match. Having once been the beauty of theton, she was increasingly unwilling to release that title no matter how old she was. Madeline did admire that about her, but not as much as Victoria did.
“Oh, darling Duke, I see you’ve found your betrothed!”
If the duke were of lesser stature, he might have blushed. Instead he simply smiled and kissed Mama’s hand in greeting.
“Yes, I have, Lady Dahlia, and I am very happy to do so.”
“Oh please, you’ll be calling me Mama soon enough!” she cried with a swat of her fan. “I suppose you better get used to it.”
“Call such a young woman such an old-sounding name?” Reginald said with obvious charm. “I could never.”
Mama laughed as her cheeks flushed, and for a moment Madeline knew exactly what Victoria would look like when she got older. It wasn’t such a bad look.
“You are too much. Our Madeline is going to have her hands full with you.”
The sudden use of her name snapped Madeline back to earth, surprising her in a way that almost embarrassed her. Suddenly being shoved into the spotlight overwhelmed her a bit. Although she desperately wanted to simply be ignored during this outing, she knew that would not happen anytime soon, thanks to the news that would be announced right before the dancing.
A gong rang to signify that dinner was ready in the next room, and Reginald gave her arm a soft pat.
“May I escort you into the dining room?” he asked her gently. She smiled at him and nodded. They walked together, leaving Victoria and her mother to find their own way, and she suddenly felt very strange. It was the first time she had been out in public paired up with him, and although she knew that it was bound to happen one day, the fact that it was happening at that very moment was shocking to her. How was she going to go through the rest of her life being a duchess if she could barely process the idea of wearing the coronet right now?
“You look beautiful tonight,” Reginald said as he sat beside her. Her mouth went dry and she reached for the glass of red wine before her. She was barely old enough to get away with drinking wine at dinner, and she knew that no matter what she wasn’t allowed to drink to excess, so she wet her lips with the sweet-tasting wine and desperately tried to think of something witty to say. That was her strength, right?