“I know she speaks the truth!” Caroline snapped. “That was not at all the point I was trying to make.”
Hudson bristled at the interruption. And the tone. “Believe me, stepmother, I am aware of the point you are making. What I am not aware of is why you are making it.”
He made sure to be looking right at her, any trace of humor or feigned niceties gone. “Who I choose to wed, when I choose to do it, and how I choose to come to these decisions is not your concern.”
“You may think so, but I disagree,” she argued. “At the very least, it would have been nice to have been told. Even...” She clicked her tongue. “Even advised on the matter—and yes, yes, I am aware that you and I do not have a relationship that warrants such a thing,” she hurried to confirm.
“Are you?” he said dryly. “This ambush would suggest otherwise.”
“This is not some business venture,” she pressed, her tone softening slightly, almost imploring. “This is not even a personal matter, Hudson. Like it or not, I am a part of this family, and it is only right that I be kept in the loop on matters pertaining to the familial. When Elias wished to ask his lovely wife for her hand, he came to me first and?—”
“I am not Elias.”
She scoffed. “A point you seem intent on reminding me of as much as you possibly can.”
Hudson glared ruefully at his stepmother. He had never meant for their relationship to devolve like this. But circumstances had led them down this path, and as stubborn as he was, she was even worse. They were two bulls with their horns locked, neither willing to give an inch because that would show weakness.
“We are done here.” Hudson stormed past where she stood.
“I have been married before,” she called after him. “Remember that Hudson. I know you think me useless, but entering a marriage is not as simple a matter as you seem to think! That was why Elias came to me, as much as anything. And that is why I am here. I want to help. That is all I have ever wished.”
Hudson reached the first landing of the stairwell, one hand on the banister, one foot raised before pausing on his stepmother’s plea. For a moment, it almost sounded like... not an apology, but a kindly offer that had anyone else been making it, he quite possibly would have considered accepting.
This was not anyone else.
Hudson thought back to Caroline’s marriage to his father. The constant fighting. The ill-given advice she lent him, which in turn led to the loss of a small fortune, which in turn led to more fighting. The pregnancy which his father claimed could not have been his. The still-birth that followed. More fighting. More hostility. And then, naturally, the death of his father, whichHudson truly believed in his bones would not have happened the way it had, had he not gotten married in the first place.
She wanted to help? She wanted to give him advice?I would be better off asking Satan for advice. At least his motives are honest.
“Do you really wish to help?” Hudson asked, turning back to look down at his stepmother.
“Yes!” she said. “Have you not been listening?”
“If you do wish to help, there is one thing I ask of you.” He locked eyes with her, a fiery gaze which had her leaning back as if from fear. “Keep your nose out of my marriage. Understood?”
Her lip curled. “Do not be ridiculous?—”
“Out of my marriage!” he barked at her. “I am going upstairs to undress and bathe. When I return, I really do suggest you not be here. One of these days, I might say it was nice to see you, stepmother. Sadly, today is not that day. Good day.” And with that, he turned and stormed up the steps, leaving his stepmother in his wake.
To those who did not know of Hudson and his stepmother’s cantankerous relationship, that interaction might have seemed somewhat harsh and unnecessary. Sadly, it was standard fare, both as guilty as the other, neither willing nor wanting to do anything about it.
All he could hope was that his marriage to Miss Parsons turned out better than his father’s had to that wretched woman.
But perhaps that would be setting the bar too low?
CHAPTER SIX
Florentia was reading when she was alerted to the arrival of a most unexpected visitor.
“Dowager Duchess Worthington?” she repeated the name.
“That is what she said, miss,” Mr. White, a member of her household staff told her. “She said that you were expecting her.”
“I am?”
“She was quite emphatic. Shall I send her away?”
“No, do not send her away...” Florentia thought quickly. She knew for a fact that she was not expecting to meet with the dowager duchess, for such a thing would not have escaped her memory. But she also knew that to send her away might not be the best idea either.
