The next morning, Madeleine walked down to meet her uncle at the breakfast table as usual. She did not feel the need to fake a smile this time, for she felt quite irritated with him not letting her see Benedict and sending her to her room like a child. She noticed that he seemed to share the same sentiment, not offering her a polite smile or greeting this time. Rather, he set down his newspaper as she entered and watched her as she sat down.

"We need to have a talk." His voice was serious and Madeleine did not look up at him, busying herself with the plate in front of her.

"Madeleine, look at me when I am speaking to you." He ordered, making her sigh and look up at him with an eyebrow raised. "There will be no more sneaking around to meet that boy. It is of no use anyway, for you will not be engaging with him from this point forward."

Madeleine's eyes widened in anger and she stared at him incredulously. "I'm sorry, what?!"

"You will not marry Benedict Bridgerton. You will not speak to him, you will not engage with him in any manner. That is what is best for you." His tone was calm, as if what he was saying was simply a matter of fact. She glared and stood from the table, unable to believe what she was hearing.

"That is utterly ridiculous! Benedict is my friend and you cannot forbid me to see him!" She raised her voice, anger present in her tone. Her uncle stood as well, stalking toward her with a rather terrifying look on his face.

"I can do whatever I so please as your guardian and you are to listen to me and abide by what I decide is best for you." He snarled and she glowered up at him.

"You have no idea what is best for me, you do not even know me! You are just a cold-hearted man who came into my life and ruined it and I hate you for that! I will never listen to you so long as I-" Madeleine was interrupted by a sharp impact to her face and she stumbled back, raising a hand up to her cheek and looking at the man with shocked eyes.

"D-did you just hit me?" Tears of pain pricked at her eyes and her lips parted, unable to believe he had just done that. The man walked closer, towering over her as she stumbled back in fear.

"You will not marry Benedict Bridgerton. You will marry a man who knows that love has no business in a marriage. You will bear children and you will carry on the family line, which is all you women are good for. That is your purpose in this society." His eyes darkened and he stepped even closer, his voice low, as she pressed back against the wall.

"And if you refuse, I will destroy your reputation and your name will be removed your family's estate. You will be forced to flee this town and live the rest of your life as a filthy prostitute begging for pennies on the street." His voice and eyes were terrifying, and Madeleine felt like she was shrinking under his horrid stare.

Tears pricked at her eyes and she pushed past him, running up to her room and locking the door. She slid to the ground, wrapping her arms around herself as her body racked with silent sobs. She clapped her hand over her mouth to keep quiet and tears rushed down her cheeks. She knew she had no choice but to do what he said, he had the power to absolutely destroy her life.

She sat there for two hours, unable to even process that her uncle had hit her. She had run out of tears long ago, and she stared at the floor in a depressed state. She lifted her head as she heard her uncle leave the house and she quickly stood, knowing that now was her chance to try and see Benedict. She opened the door and almost bumped into a man she did not know, staring up at him with wide eyes.

"Who the hell are you?!" Her voice was angry and the man refused to look at her, simply staring straight ahead with his arms crossed in front of her.

"My name, young lady, is Lord Wilson. Your uncle has tasked me with remaining outside your room and ensuring that you do not leave as he has ordered. So I suggest you go back in there, or else I will put you back in there." His voice was threatening and she gasped, closing the door in his face and pacing around her room.

This was utterly unbelievable. He was treating her as a prisoner, hiring his friends to stand guard outside her room. She could not fathom how ridiculous it was. She huffed angrily and sat down at her desk with her head in her hands.

Three days passed of this torture, three days of her only being allowed to leave her room for meals and to speak to her uncle. She felt completely like a prisoner and she was growing more angry each day, but also more miserable. Her heart ached to see Benedict. She had never been away from him for this long in their entire twenty some years of friendship and she missed him dearly.

She had written him several more letters, each one receiving no response. She was beginning to lose hope, wondering if he had given up on them somehow. Unbeknownst to her, Benedict had come to the house many times to see her, and each time Lord Alaister had refused to let him.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by a tapping sound at her window and her heart jumped as she hurried over, pulling it open. Benedict was standing in the yard, the rain pouring down on him. She gasped and smiled brightly, her heart swelling with love as she looked down at him.

"Benedict! What in the world are you doing? You're going to get sick." She laughed softly at the boy's ridiculousness and he smirked up at her.

"I do not care, I needed to see you!" He shouted back. His hair was soaked, curls sticking to his forehead.

"You did not return my letters! I was beginning to think you forgot about me." She called down and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Madeleine, I returned every single one of your letters! He would not let me see you and I couldn't bear it. I love you so god damn much and I never want to be apart from you ever again." He yelled up and she smiled brightly, her heart feeling full with adoration.

"I love you too, Benedict. So much. You must go now, though, before he hears us. We will figure this out, I can not bear to be apart from you either." She smiled down at him and he grinned, blowing her a kiss. She laughed and returned it, shooing him away as he ran back to his house in the rain. She closed her window, sighing and smiling as she sat on her bed. God, she loved that boy.

———————-

Several hours later, a knock came at her door. She had no idea what time it was, she only knew that it was evening because the sun had begun to set. The days were blending together as she was forced to remain in her room. She begrudgingly stood from her bed, opening the door and seeing her uncle standing there. She moved to close the door but his hand blocked it, pushing it back open.

"Lord Ambrose's father has agreed to an arrangement. You are to marry him next week, everything has been accounted for and the dowry has been paid." Her heart dropped as looked down at her, his arms crossed. She stared up at him in utter disbelief.

"I will do no such thing!" She raised her voice and his face darkened as he towered over her.

"You will, actually. Or do I need to remind you of the power I have to ruin your entire life? You will marry him and have his children and you will forget all about Benedict Bridgerton." He snarled and she crossed her arms, shaking her head stubbornly.

"You are a vile man and I refuse to marry Lord Ambrose." She could see her uncle growing angrier at her words, the vein in his forehead protruding.

"You will refuse nothing. The wedding has already been arranged and you have no say in the matter. You know, Madeleine, your mother and father would be absolutely sickened by this attitude of yours." Fury raged in her body at this remark and she stared at him with hateful eyes.

"You will not speak of my mother or my father! You know nothing about either of them!" She shouted at the man, more angry than she had ever been. "They were more decent people then you will ever be and-"

Her yelling was silenced abruptly as he hit her for the second time, this one much harder and impactful than the first, and it felt like he had used his fist rather than his open hand. She yelped in pain as she stumbled backward, tripping over her dress and falling to the floor.

He stalked over, leaning down to her and grabbing her roughly by the hair, making her cry out in pain as he forced her to look at him.

"You are a disgusting excuse of a woman and I will do whatever it takes to rid you of this false sense of entitlement you seem to have. You will marry Lord Ambrose and that is final." He shoved her back down, her body hitting the floor hard as he turned and walked out. She heard a lock click and her body wracked with sobs as she stayed in that position on the floor, in too much pain to try and get up. She whimpered as she curled her legs to her chest, her heart aching with a pain worse than she had ever felt before.

She laid there until she had no more tears to cry, wincing as she sat up. Her wrist was throbbing in pain, presumably from falling on top of it, and when she reached up to wipe her tears, she was shocked to see her fingers red with blood. She stumbled over to the mirror and gasped, seeing a cut below her eye that could only be from his ring, confirming he had punched her rather than slapped her. She flinched as she touched it tenderly, a bruise beginning to form around it.

She let out a weak sob as she stared at her reflection, feeling incredibly angry, but also extremely hurt and terrified. She did not know what to do, but she knew she could not stay here a moment longer. She rushed over to the window and opened it, pulling herself over the ledge before the man standing guard outside of her room could hear.

She attempted to climb down the wall but she fell rather hard toward the bottom and she cursed in pain as she grabbed her ankle. She did not stop though, she ignored the throbbing pain and sprinted across the yard over to the Bridgerton house, pounding on the back door until it swung open. Anthony stood before her and he stared at her with wide eyes.

"Madeleine, what in the world happened?! You are hurt, oh dear. Come in, come in. Sit down." He guided her to the bench by the back door and sat next to her, taking in her appearance.

Her hair was a mess and the cut on her face was still bleeding, a dark red and purple bruise beginning to form around it. Her wrist and ankle were both beginning to swell, redness covering both. Her dress was covered in mud from the fall, her hair too. Anthony felt fury growing in his gut and the girl sobbed, collapsing into his arms.

"H-He hurt me, my uncle. I cannot go back there, Anthony, please do not send me back there." She bawled, gripping onto his jacket with all her might. His heart broke at the sound of her cries and he held her tightly, shushing her.

"You will not go back there, not on my watch. This is absolutely intolerable and I will not allow it." He said sternly, rubbing her back softly. She whimpered and raised her head, looking up at him with scared eyes. He couldn't help but think that her expression resembled that of a child, terrified and panicked. He wanted to kill that man with his bare hands for doing this to her.

"H-he said he will destroy my reputation, and.. and I will be forced to live on the streets." She could barely get any words out, hyperventilating through her sobs. "H-he will ruin your reputation too, we cannot stop him." Anthony took her face into his hands gently, staring into her eyes.

"Madeleine, I do not care what he tries to do to our family. I will not let him near you ever again, do you understand me?" His voice was protectively angry and she nodded, sniffling as she tried to calm herself down.

She heard footsteps and she looked up to see Benedict, and she felt a wave of relief rush over her entire body. He stopped abruptly as he saw her and his eyes widened in bewilderment and rage as he took in her appearance.

"Did he do this to you?! I swear to god I will kill him." His voice was filled with fury as he stormed toward the back door and Anthony quickly stood up, placing a hand on his brothers shoulder.

"I know you are angry, brother. Trust me, I am too. I will handle Lord Alaister, you need to take care of Madeleine. She has been through enough and you need to remain calm for her." He spoke to his brother in a hushed tone and Benedict nodded, taking in a shaky breath. He thanked Anthony and rushed over to Madeleine, pulling her into his arms. She cried into his shoulder, holding on to him as tightly as she could.

She felt safe now that he was here, she had always felt undeniably safe in his arms. He stood up, holding her with one arm under her knees and one behind her back. She wrapped her arms around his neck as she cried softly, his heart breaking at the sound of her pained whimpers. He carried her upstairs and started the bath, not letting go of her. He pressed a long kiss to her forehead, closing his eyes as he rested his head on top of hers.

"Oh, you poor thing. I am so sorry. I am here now and I promise I will never leave your side ever again. He will never hurt you again, do you hear me?" She nodded weakly, sniffling through her tears. The bath filled up and he gently put his fingers under her chin, lifting her head to meet his gaze. She subconsciously flinched as he touched her and his heart twinged in pain.

"I am going to clean you up now, all right? You are safe here, my love. Nobody can hurt you when you are with me." His voice was soft and gentle, and she nodded softly. He stood her up and turned her around, nimbly removing her corset and dress. He lifted her and set her carefully in the warm water, her body relaxing slightly. He sighed as he brushed her hair back gently, examining the bruised cut on her face. He felt unbelievably angry at the man and he could not fathom how somebody could hurt her. She was the sweetest and most precious girl in the world to him and it pained him to imagine that vile man laying his hands on her.

He grabbed a washcloth and gently began cleaning her off, rubbing the dirt from her body. She closed her eyes as he leaned her head back to wash the dirt from her hair, being as careful as possible. Her body was trembling slightly and he frowned, using the cloth to gently wash the blood off of her face.

"I can not believe he did this to you, my dear. I am so sorry that I was not there to stop him." He whispered and she opened her eyes, grabbing his hand and squeezing it tightly. He brought their hands to his lips, kissing hers. He lifted her gently out of the tub, standing her up and wrapping her in a large warm towel, holding her close to his chest. A knock came at the door and Benedict called for whoever it was to come in.

Anthony entered with a pile of folded clothing and gave the two a sympathetic look, setting down the clothes on the stool by the bath.

"These are Daphne's, she will not mind. I have sent for the doctor, he will be here soon." Benedict thanked him as he left and moved to grab the clothes. He gently dried Madeleine off before helping her into the dress, leaving out the corset so that she would be more comfortable.

He gently dried her hair with the towel, brushing it out of her face and cupping her cheek with his hand.

He stroked her cheek gently and she sniffled, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face in his chest. He held her tightly, picking her up and bringing her to the bed. He sat against the headboard, holding her in his lap with his head resting on hers.

"You are safe now, my love. You will never be hurt again, not as long as I am here to protect you." He whispered, kissing the top of her head.