If Madeline had to describe in one word, it would be a hard thing to do when it came to capturing Calhoun's outstanding qualities. But the closest possible one was that he was a sadist. He was cruel and a manipulating person. So far, Madeline had only been on the receiving ends of his manipulative words.
She did defend James' work, but that was all it was with no other meaning, which is why she didn't know why Calhoun had decided that he would get her wedding gown from James' shop. If she was not wrong, Calhoun must have already spoken to James, threatened would be the right word even though she didn't know what the exact words were, she could somewhere imagine it. She didn't understand why Calhoun wanted to go and visit James.
"I thought you didn't want us to be together," said Madeline, her voice curious.