Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

“ Y our Grace, it is an honor to see you here tonight,” Lord Greenacre said, smiling brightly.

“Indeed. Thank you for inviting me,” Alexander responded.

“Word on the street is that you have been helping some poor souls try to get out of poor gambling habits. Saving lives, are you not, Your Grace?”

Alexander shook his head. “Some men dig their own holes but that should not mean they cannot get out of it with some support.”

“Ah, you are a good man, Silverton. Will you ever stop pulling those powerful strings you possess?” The baron laughed, and Alexander looked away from him.

In truth, he had not wanted to attend the ball tonight, and only had done so for a hope of glimpsing Madeleine.

He knew he could have visited her at any point in the last two days but hadn’t been able to bring himself to do so. He told himself she needed space—would need space—especially if what he thought was confirmed.

Not to mention he was struggling more to resist kissing her, and she had pulled away from him. He did not want to overstep, even if he understood the desire with which she looked at him.

Kinsfeld does not deserve you . Kinsfeld is a fool to ever give you up.

But the more he searched the crowd, the more he came up empty. Madeleine was not there, and the only glimpses of blonde hair he got were women who flounced themselves before him in the hopes of being noticed by a duke.

He paid them no mind. The only woman he would dance with was not present.

He briefly considered leaving the host’s estate but he paused. There was another group of lords and ladies who beckoned him over to talk. There was the Lord and Lady of Inglebury, as well as the Duke and Duchess of Kingswell.

“Silverton,” Felix Kingswell greeted him, shaking his hand. “From one duke to another who understands that balls are… rather bothersome, how are you faring tonight?” He laughed jovially.

He and Kingswell went back many years, and had even conducted business together on a few occasions.

“It is rather pleasant, Kingswell, I cannot wait to go home.”

Felix laughed. “That is quite understandable.”

“Good evening, Duchess,” Alexander greeted Felix’s wife, Eloise.

She curtsied. “Your Grace. We were just discussing Lord Kinsfeld.” She looked out at the group, who all looked to Alexander eagerly, awaiting his input.

“What of him?”

“Oh.” Felix frowned, glancing at the Earl of Easthall, whose wife looked panicked. “You do not know the tragic news? Lord Kinsfeld has been found dead.”

Alexander knew it from his investigation, but the confirmation made his stomach drop out of his body.

The Countess of Easthall, whom he’d met at a few balls and knew to be Madeleine’s friend, was pale.

Had she told Madeleine the news?

“How do you know?”

“We saw Kinsfeld’s brother, Mr. Benjamin Cluett, and he told us. He was saying how he will inherit the earl’s title.”

“Has anybody checked on Lady Kinsfeld?” Alexander demanded, looking to Tessa.

She shook her head. “I have not had a chance.”

He did not wait for anybody to say anything else. “Excuse me.”

He wove his way through the crowd, and left the estate, directing his carriage right to Kinsfeld House.

“My lady,” Madeleine’s butler said, as she sat in the music room, looking through some old sheet music that she could not play easily. “Mr. Benjamin Cluett has arrived. He waits for you in the parlor.”

“Thank you,” she said, sighing.

She quickly went to the parlor, facing her husband’s brother. Benjamin was younger than Donald, but they shared the same thick, blonde hair, with brows so pale they barely looked present.

And Madeleine’s stomach dropped, knowing why he was there.

“Benjamin,” she greeted. “It is good to see you.”

“Let us skip the greetings, Lady Kinsfeld,” he responded icily, yet his eyes bore a spark ready to ignite into flame.

“Please, call me Madeleine,” she invited. “We are in-laws, are we not?”

“Not anymore.” His eyes flashed.

“Excuse me?”

He ignored her, his tone matter-of-fact, yet the intensity of eyes remained, “I believe you went to the authorities, Madeleine, regarding Donald. What did they say?”

“I informed them that my husband, a notable aristocrat, was missing, and had been so for well over ten days,” she explained, “I told them that his behavior was unusual, and do you know how they handled my worry? They mocked me, Benjamin.” She frowned, her eyes narrowing. “They goaded me with my husband’s infidelity, suggesting I check brothels for him.”

Benjamin blinked. “When was this?” he asked coldly.

“The day before yesterday.”

“Ah,” Benjamin said with a bitter chuckle. “Yesterday, I was informed of a body being found in the river. It matched Donald’s description, and they asked me to go and see if I could identify it. So I went. I saw the corpse. And Donald’s signet ring. That was how I could identify him. Do you know anything about this?”

Madeleine gasped, although she knew deep down that would be the outcome, and she had been trying to steel herself for it for two days now, still gasped. Dread shot through her, and she could not help her racing thoughts about her future.

She shook her head. “No,” she whispered.

What will happen now ?

She barely got a chance to wonder, for Benjamin came closer, his eyes glimmering now, the emotion he was stifling now in full bloom; it was both fury and hatred.

“Do you blame yourself, Madeleine? Do you, as I blame you?” He spoke in a low, demanding tone.

“Benjamin—”

“You drove him away,” he snarled. “You, and your coldness! He told me long ago that you did not, could not, love him. Whether he loved you or not should not have mattered. You should have shown him love, Madeleine!”

He took a step forward.

“Had you done so, he might not have needed to turn to mistresses, to gambling. All of that racked up his debt. He would not have had to deal with such a thing were it not for you! Why could you not have treated him more kindly, Madeleine?”

She gaped at her brother-in-law, “How dare?—”

“He was likely murdered,” Benjamin muttered angrily. “By those he owed money to. I have learned just how many, and who, and some are dangerous sorts. Powerful sorts, too.”

“Benjamin, please?—”

“No!” He boomed, “I do not care for your pathetic excuses. My brother is dead, and I am the new Lord Kinsfeld. You are not to have another penny of my family’s fortune.”

Madeleine gasped.

“Furthermore, I want you out of Kinsfeld House in three days,” he added.

She felt ill, her whole body swaying.

She was undone. Totally, utterly finished. Where could she go? Of course, her friends Tessa and Colin would take her in, but for how long would she burden them? And if her brother would hear of this… And, oh Heavens , the ton would have the time of their lives whispering and laughing at her—for certain, that would drag John’s reputation through the mud too…

Oh God have mercy–

Suddenly, there was a scuffle from the hallway, yanking her away from her panicked thoughts.

“Your Grace, please, do not interrupt—” Her butler’s voice was cut off by Alexander entering the parlor, his face a picture of rage, aimed at the new Lord Kinsfeld.

“I heard the raised voices,” he stated quietly, that same quiet she had heard him use when he interrogated the debtors. “Why are you speaking in such a manner to the lady of the house, Lord Kinsfeld? That is what you are now, is it not?”

He knows too.

Madeleine felt a sudden rush of gratitude. Had he been coming over here to confirm her husband’s death?

“Indeed I am,” Benjamin confirmed. “And as Lord Kinsfeld, I would like to tell you that it is none of your business how I speak to my sister-in-law. I will speak to her as I please.”

“Watch your tongue,” Alexander snarled. “You will not speak to her in such ways. Have you no respect? Your brother is barely two days dead, and you are so eager to take over his life? You must have some shame. You disgust me already, Kinsfeld. Perhaps you might take after your brother rather well, after all.”

Something flickered across Benjamin’s face—shame, anger, intimidation, as if being compared to his brother was the last thing he wanted to hear.

“I—” He paused, and then began again, instead turning to Madeleine this time. “Three days, Madeleine.”

He turned on his heels before he stormed out of the house.

Only when the front door slammed shut did Madeleine finally exhale.

“Madeleine.” Alexander rushed to her side as she let herself slump into an armchair.

Her vision blurred in panic, her body feeling frighteningly light, as if she might faint.

“What is going on?”

She lifted her gaze to his. “Donald is dead,” she whispered, needing to say it aloud. “Although I believe you already knew.”

Alexander nodded. “I was on my way here to tell you.”

“Thank you.” Her voice was faint. “His brother is indeed the new Lord Kinsfeld, as he told you, and he has ordered me to be out of the house in three days.” Her gaze dropped to the rug beneath her feet.

“This is how it all ends.” Her voice was bitter.

What will I do? My brother is already away, and his widowed sister cannot burden him further.

And Heavens—when word traveled about Donald’s death, and the reason why, if everybody believed what Benjamin did…

Their finances were not good to start with, yet he had lavished her with gifts at the start, attempting to secure her loyalty. She had given it, even now. Even in his death.

“What am I to do?” she murmured to herself, tears stinging her eyes.

She felt too numb to properly cry but she felt the shiver of emotion.

Alexander gazed down at her, kneeling before her. She did not know when her hands had been clasped in his. “You are to marry me, Madeleine.”

Her heart stopped for a moment. Blinking up at him, she could not quite believe what he had said.

“You are to marry me,” he told her. “Not out of pity for your situation. I told you I would not dishonor you by feeling such a thing. I offer it out of security for your future. You are my friend’s sister. I cannot leave you alone, nor do I wish for you to ever be. Allow me to provide you with financial security, and protection. Allow me to marry you, Madeleine.”

The proposal was so prosperous that she could only laugh hollowly. “You… you only offer to settle a debt. I am no fool, as I once told you.”

“You are no fool,” he confirmed. She noticed that he did not deny settling the debt. “I will not abandon my friend’s sister and watch her life crumble to ruins. I am not that sort of man.”

“You mention my brother, but he will not be happy about this,” she muttered.

“I can manage John,” Alexander told her, attempting to smirk. “I always have, ever since our days at Eton.” He paused, clearly wanting to distract her. “Did he really say I tried to flaunt my superiority?”

She shook her head, not feeling the distraction or lightness make her feel better. “No, he did not. I only said that to frustrate you.”

“It worked.”

“I know.”

Silence settled over them for a moment as Madeleine slowly analyzed her situation, piecing together that she did not have much of a choice.

She nodded, wiping away the tears that had welled but not fallen. “I accept. I accept your proposal.”

The words came out, making her feel a little faint again.

What cruel fate would wind her into a second loveless marriage?

Misery hardened her heart as she stood up, letting Alexander take her hand. She felt so hollowed out that she could not even brush against that warmth of desire that usually came with his closeness.

“I will take care of everything, Madeleine,” he swore. “I promise to send word about everything within time.”

Madeleine nodded, and watched as Alexander made his leave.

Within a few days, she would be married again.

A Duchess.

The thought sparked something in her, fighting that hollowness, but she still let herself fall back into the armchair, thinking of the quick ruin her life had become—and the handsome man who was pulling her out of it.