Page 44 of Unbound Duchess

“She deserves it,” Ellen slurred.

“Too right she does,” Madalene agreed with an assertive nod of her head.

“She is the reason why⁠—”

Ellen stopped pacing, but the room kept moving as what happened to her at the inn came back in full force. Benedict’s rage. His slap. The way he dragged her through the inn and to the auction. The way he tried to frighten her into begging for his forgiveness. It all came rushing back with a sickening quickness.

Ellen’s legs buckled beneath her, and she dropped to a sitting position right there on the floor.

“Ellen!” Madalene exclaimed, hurrying toward her. She pried the glass from Ellen’s fingers and took her hands in her own as she looked into Ellen’s eyes.

“Darling, are you alright? Have I fed you too much wine?” Madalene anxiously asked.

Ellen’s bottom lip began to tremble as she shook her head, caught halfway between the pain of the past and the joy of the present.

“Whatever is wrong?” Madalene asked.

She looked into Madalene’s eyes; so very kind and eager compared to Judith’s narrowed, judgmental gaze.

“Did your brother…did he tell you how we came to be betrothed?” Ellen asked.

Madalene’s eyes shone with concern as she shook her head.

Ellen drew in a shuddering breath.

“He rescued me,” she explained. “From my cousin. He was going to do something awful, and your brother…your brother stopped that from happening.”

Madalene’s usually happy expression crumpled into fear, and she took a seat in front of Ellen right there on the floor. She was silent for a long moment as she rubbed her thumbs over the back of Ellen’s hands. Then she hesitantly asked, “Did your cousin…did he take that ghastly auction?”

Ellen’s eyes widened.

“You know about that?”

“I know more about it than my brother believes I should know about it,” Madalene confessed. “He tries so hard to protect me from the world’s horrors, but when he told me our sister died, I did not believe the story he told me. So I found my own way to the truth. It was so awful that I stopped my search for information right then and there. But I know the auction, and whoever runs it is responsible for my sister’s death.”

Ellen was silent as she took in Madalene’s words. This bubbly, cheery young woman was smarter and more aware than everyone gave her credit for, and she knew right then and there that Madalene could never be like Judith.

“I think you are very brave,” Madalene went on, giving her hands a gentle squeeze. “For being able to trust my brother to get you to safety. One day you will tell me the full story, but even from the little you have shared so far, I understand that you had no reason to do so. But you did, and I promise you, if my brother has assured you of safety, you will have it.”

Madalene gave her a small smile.

“He can seem cold and standoffish, yes, and at times a downright ogre.”

Ellen nodded, thinking of the distance that stretched between her and her new husband, as well as the small, momentary points where she thought that they had been getting closer.

“But he is a good man,” Madalene added.

Ellen expelled a breath she had not realized she was holding, and this time, it was she who reached for Madalene and pulled her into a hug.

“Thank you,” she sighed, holding Madalene close.

Madalene let out a light laugh as she hugged Ellen.

“Whatever for?” she asked as she eased back.

“For being so kind and understanding. For not holding judgment over me.” She let out a weak laugh. “For not being Judith.”

Madalene let out a loud bark of laughter.