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“I don’t. I don’t want to blackmail you at all. But he’s why I’m here, Sophie.”
I drew in a deep breath.
“I know he came to see you and you sent him away.”
“I wasn’t going to welcome him with afternoon tea, was I?”
“No. And your reception of us both was valid, and I understand entirely how little you want to speak with me right now.”
“I’m not sure you have any idea how badly I want to be anywhere but here.”
“Two minutes. Please allow me two minutes to say my bit, and then I will leave you and your parents in peace.”
I turned and looked at her. “One more word to them, ever again, and I will call the police.”
Anna inclined her head and motioned for me to sit. “Two minutes is all I ask for, and I know I am asking an incredible lot from you.”
I pulled out the chair and sat down, keeping a good few feet between me and the table. “Two minutes. Then I’m leaving.”
If she noticed, she didn’t mention it. “Would you like some wine?”
“Tick tock.”
She held up her hands. “I am so very sorry for the manner in which I’ve treated you. At no point did you do anything to warrant my behaviour, and I am fully aware that mistaking you for Camilla is entirely my fault, and I am the reason you were unable to be truthful about who you were. Who you are.”
I folded my arms across my chest and stared at her.
“I should not have insulted you, belittled you, or treated you as anything less than the incredible young woman that you truly are. You were able to pull off an incredible party for Evelyn despite your lack of experience, and that is to be commended. It’s a credit to who you are as a person that you were able to achieve such a thing in the situation you found yourself in.”
I wasn’t buying it.
“I should have listened when I was told that Nancy had kept information from you—or Camilla. I didn’t want to believe that someone I had trusted so implicitly for so long had done anything that would ultimately hurt Evelyn for her own gain. My mother-in-law and I have a tempestuous relationship and it might be difficult to believe, but I do love her greatly.” Anna peered down at her hands on the table. “None of this excuses my behaviour towards you, Sophie, and please accept that I am wholly aware of how unnecessarily rude I have been towards you since you entered my home for the first time, and how much I have hurt you.”
I swallowed.
Good.
I hoped she really did know how badly she’d hurt me.
“I fired Nancy before I left to find you. I’ve never been quite as ashamed as I was when Hugo told me the whole truth,” Anna continued, raising her gaze to meet mine. “He told me everything, Sophie. How Nancy manipulated the situation, how you did what you thought was best for your friend, how you thought you had no other choice.
“As misguided as your intention was, it was honourable all the same, and I want you to know that Camilla’s business will receive nothing but glowing recommendations from me.”
“Why?”
“Because anyone who counts you as their best friend must be an exceptional judge of character.” Anna pulled an envelope from her bag and slid it across the table to me. “And she insisted that the cheque be made out to you because you’d done the work.”
“You came all this way to give me a cheque?” I shoved it back at her. “I don’t want your money.”
“I know. But it’s yours all the same.” She nudged it back in my direction. “I can arrange a bank transfer. I have your information for it. Either way, you’ll get the money.”
“What do you really want from me?” I asked her. “This is a long way to come for an apology you could have slapped a first-class stamp on.”
“Hugo is in love with you.”
I looked away.
“Which you already know.”
