“Oh, thank God,” she sighed. “What a relief. You have no idea the havoc it has wrought on me. And, coward that I am, I have avoided visiting to pay amends. Nonetheless, is Hudson home now? I would very much like to apologize.”
“He is out,” Florentia said with a curl of her lip, which she quickly straightened. “Gone for the week.”
“The week?”
“On business,” she said quickly. “Nothing to be concerned about.”
“That is good,” she said, sighing again. “It sounds as if you are both as happy as can be. Which makes my heart soar, I cannot tell you how much. Although I love Hudson as if he was my own, the Lord knows he can be a little...” She considered her wording. “Challenging.”
Florentia laughed bitterly. “That is one word for it.”
“Oh?” She picked up on Florentia’s tone. “Is something the matter?”
For a moment, Florentia considered opening herself to Caroline and telling her of her current woes. After all, who else knew the duke better than his own stepmother? And perhaps she might have a keen insight to offer that Albina never could? But she stayed that notion, simply because she could not escape the feeling that there was something not to be trusted about her.
Even now, the duke’s warning rang in her head, and although she knew better than to trust the man...she still very much wished to.
“It is fine,” she said with a forced smile. “Nothing to concern yourself with. Married life...” She tittered vaguely, assuming that was something wives said of their husbands.
Caroline did not respond at first. She studied Florentia with a disconcerting look, as if she was able to see right through her. The woman was clearly intelligent, sharp and able to read people in ways her stepson never could, and there was something about the look in her eyes which was...uncomfortable.
“Ah, I see,” she said finally.
“See what?”
“Hudson,” she said with a shrug. “He has been telling you about me.”
“What? No, not at all. He has not said a thing.”
“Florentia, please, the least you can do is not treat me like a fool. I feel that I am owed that much.”
“I do not think you are a fool,” she said earnestly, feeling a little embarrassed now as she had been caught in the lie.
“Then tell me true, what has Hudson said? Or shall I guess?” She raised an eyebrow, but did not look at all upset. It was expectant, as if this was not the first time she’d had this conversation.
Florentia grimaced. “I did not mean anything by it—my intent was not to lie or deceive you. Truly. But you are right in thinking that Hudson has...” She clicked her tongue awkwardly. “He has spoken of you to me.”
“Not very nice things, I imagine.”
She chuckled nervously. “You know Hudson...”
She rolled her eyes. “Might I hazard a guess, then?” A pause for confirmation, and Florentia smiled awkwardly. “Hudson has described me as a harpy of a stepmother who only married his father to try and worm her way into his good will and thus his fortune. I used his father for my own nefarious gains, I never cared for Hudson or Elias, and everything I have ever done has been out of selfish desires. If the world was to end tomorrow, Hudson would likely find a way to lay the blame at my feet.” She smiled pleasantly. “How did I do?”
“Ah...rather succinct...” A nervous chuckle, as she had hit the nail right on the head.
Caroline sighed and shook her head despondently. “Would it surprise you to find out that most of what Hudson told you was either grossly exaggerated or an outright lie? And that is not me calling him a liar, dear. I do not want you thinking that I came all this way to smear your husband. Sadly, Hudson and I have always had a tense relationship, precisely because I married his father when Hudson was still grieving the loss of his mother. Not my fault, and nor was it his. But it colored his opinion of me early, and I’ve never been able to change his mind, no matter how hard I try.”
Florentia watched the woman as she spoke, searching for the lie or the mistruth. She was quite good at reading people, and she was certain that if she was being played, she would have been able to tell.
But she sensed honesty in Caroline, a real desire to do right in a world that had wrong her so frequently. And having recentlyfound herself on the wrong end of Hudson’s stubbornness, she could sympathize with what he had likely put his stepmother through.
“I am willing to hear the truth, if you would tell me.”
She rolled her eyes. “You do not want to hear my sob story.”
“Please...” Florentia leaned over the table, resting her hand before Caroline. “I would very much like to hear. I get the feeling too that you might appreciate an unbiased audience.”
“Is that what you are? Unbiased?”
