After a moment they collected themselves and the Marchioness of Brandenburg reseated herself. Eloise looked over at her lovely daughter, now the Duchess of Gisle.

“Have I ever told you how proud I am of you, darling?”

Sophie laughed. She didn’t see anything Eloise should be proud of. Her daughter had managed to make a disastrous marriage.

“I am proud of you because you show true breeding these days,” Eloise said fiercely. “I know how cruel one’s so-called friends can be when a marriage is faltering. But you have behaved with absolute grace on every occasion. I am truly proud of you, Sophie.”

Sophie swallowed, tears rising to her eyes again. It was an odd legacy to hand from mother to daughter: the ability to stand proud among the ruins of one’s marriage.

“Thank you, Maman,” she said finally, swallowing the terrible lump in her throat.

Chapter 24

Chapter 24

The following morning, Sophie had barely made her toilette when Clemens announced that Lady Madeleine Corneille had come to call.

Sophie entered the drawing room a trifle anxiously. She had seen Madeleine the preceding evening, and she had said nothing of making a morning call.

With her usual charm, Madeleine made sure that Sophie was comfortably seated—not an easy thing, given her increasing girth—before she spoke of the reason for her call.

“I have decided to stop the masquerade.” Madeleine’s voice rang clear, calm, and unshakable in the quiet chamber.

Sophie gasped. “Why?”

“It is not honest. I cannot have a marriage based on this … this foundation of lies. Can you imagine pretending to be a false person, for the rest of your life, Sophie? I cannot do it.”

“But you won’t have to,” Sophie pointed out. “Once you are married to Braddon, you will be the Countess of Slaslow, and no one will care a fig for your background.”

“I will,” Madeleine replied simply. “Braddon and I will have children … and what will we tell them? When will I tell my son that I am a liar, a pretender from the lower classes? How old will he be when I tell him that I grew up over a stable, and that he will have to worry his whole life that people might find out about his mother’s past?

“And what of my children’s grandfather? Will I make my father into Braddon’s stable master? I would not do such a thing to my father! This is not possible, Sophie. We were fools to think it so.”

Tears came to Sophie’s eyes. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I never meant to …”

Madeleine looked equally teary. “Oh, Sophie, in no way is it your fault! I am so grateful to you for your friendship, as well as for what you taught me. But Braddon and I were living in a fool’s paradise. We would never have a happy marriage on this basis.”