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“Mama!”

“You have taken to visiting the garden after dinner again.”

It was not a question. Eleanor towered over Madeline, six feet of maternal authority staring down at her with palpable disappointment. Her handsome face was composed in the light of the oil lamps that the servants had yet to extinguish, but her eyes contained a swirling mixture of emotions in their amber depths.

Madeline was disoriented by the sudden mental shift. She knew this conversation was inevitable, but she had not expected it this night while she was contemplating bloodshed and lifelong dreams almost within reach. “I have.”

“Why?”

She considered the events of the past few days. There was much that had happened, but Eleanor did not need all the gruesome details. Her mother wished to know what her plans were.

“Simon … is free from his obligations.”

“Henri says he is a suspect in a murder.”

“Simon is not capable of unwarranted violence.”

Eleanor stared down at her, bemused as she folded her arms. Madeline’s stomach tightened as she awaited her response until her mother finally sighed. “No, he is not.”

Relief surged through her in a wave. Her mother’s opinion was important to Madeline. They had worked together at the manufactory since her youth, with Mama apprenticing her in varying facets of their stone empire with patience and detail. There were few people on this earth whom Madeline respected more than this remarkable woman, who forged her way in the world of business with daring and confidence.

Eleanor had developed artificial stone that held up to the elements, developed a client list that included the King himself. Uncle Reginald had opened doors for Eleanor as a young widow, but her mother had done the work to bring her prospective kingdom into fruition. A vote of confidence from her was priceless.

“Simon is no longer tied down by his duty to the Blackwood title. When this accusation is settled, he will court me.”

Her mother dropped her gaze to the rug beneath their feet as if lost in thought. “I hope he sees it through to the end. He has cost you much time.”

Madeline was no longer the girl who had let her beau go in her youth, helpless as he slipped away due to his perceived culpability in Nicholas’s injuries. Since that time, she had taken her place in the Bigsbys’ business, negotiating orders and payments with their clients. Managed men. She knew what she wanted. Life was not going to rip her hopes and dreams away a second time.

Madeline drew herself up to her full height, still several inches shorter than her intimidating mother, but she had found her fire and she was confident in what she wanted.

“I learned my lesson. I will not make the same mistakes again. This time, I will be the one who sees it through to the end.”

Madeline was proud of the firmness in her voice. Eleanor raised her head, a gleam of approval lighting her eyes as her lips curled into a wide smile. “A woman must fight for what she wants in this world.”

“Precisely.”

“Then when the time comes to hand over the reins of Bigsby’s, I shall be proud to do so, daughter.”

Madeline warmed at these words. It was high praise, indeed, coming from Eleanor Bigsby.