Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Alone as she was, Florentia knew one thing to be certain.
She could not stay in this house. It had been different when Hudson was there.
Even if he was avoiding her, she had still hung onto the vain hope that this might change.
Hearing him every morning and every evening, knowing that despite his avoidance of her he was likely thinking about her as she was him, had been a comfort she had not known she’d needed until it was gone.
She wandered through the empty manor as if she was a ghost. Oh sure, the members of staff still filled it as they always had, and they spoke with her and asked if she required anything of them.
But it felt emptier without Hudson, crushing her with a sense of loneliness that was telling of how she was bound to spend the rest of her life.
A husband who wants nothing to do with me. No chance of starting a family, of having a child to raise as I grow old. What kind of life will that be, and how am I expected to live it?
It was only an hour after Hudson left that she came to the decision that she would move back in with her parents for the week.
Not that she planned on telling them the truth of why she was back, figuring they would likely believe that Hudson had simply gone on a business trip and demanded she stay with them because he didn’t like the idea of her being alone.
As it turned out, things never got that far.
She was in her room, deciding what she would pack, when there was a knock at her door. She looked up, seeing a member of the staff standing there awkwardly.
“Your Grace,” he said. “So sorry to disturb you, but you have a visitor.”
“Oh...” She blinked with surprise. “Who?”
“The dowager duchess, Your Grace,” he said. “Lady Worthington.”
Florentia balked at the news, unsure of how to feel. Never mind the surprise to hear that Hudson’s stepmother had come to visit without first sending word, but the timing itself was odd. And then there was the consideration of who this woman was and what Hudson had told her about his stepmother.
There had been a time when Florentia might have refused to see her.
Or rather, done so with extreme reservation and a grain of salt attached.
After all, hadn’t Hudson told Florentia that the woman was a sneak and a rat, a self-centered cretin who used people for her own gain and was not to be trusted?
If that was the case, then her reason for being here could only be bad.
Then again, what do I care about what he said? For all I know, he was exaggerating or lying entirely. How can I trust him at all, after what he has done?
“See her to the sitting room,” Florentia said. “And see that she is served tea.”
“It shall be done.” The member of staff bowed and hurried from the room.
Florentia had liked the dowager duchess well enough when they had first met. Yes, she was a little eccentric, but that did not make her evil. And if Hudson’s judge of character was all she had to go off, then there was a very good chance she wasn’t nearly the monster he claimed her to be.
Five minutes later, Florentia entered the sitting room to find Hudson’s stepmother, Caroline, standing in wait. And upon seeing Florentia, her arms spread wide, as did her smile.
“Florentia,” she crooned and swept across the room. “Oh, it is good to see you again.” She was on Florentia in a second, pulling her into a tight hug.
Florentia hated to admit it, but it felt nice to be greeted so warmly. For someone to be glad to see her for a change.
“Caroline,” Florentia said as she held her, then pulled back and offered her a warm smile. “It has been a too long.”
“An age, dear,” Caroline tittered. “An age.” She was only forty years old or so, but she looked younger, so much so that she and Florentia could be sisters. Her long face, her sharp nose, and her big eyes made her look a little wild and mischievous, but certainly not evil.
The two women made their way to the seats at the room’s center, the pot of tea already there waiting. They sat down and Caroline was quick to pour a cup for Florentia. “Drink,” she said with a smile. “You look parched.”
“Oh, I am not...”
“Nonetheless, it would be rude not to.”
Florentia shook her head but smiled, finding the woman’s oddities charming in their own way. She took a sip of the warm tea, grimacing because the taste was odd. “I think the leaves may have turned,” she said as she put the cup down.
“Oh? It is fine if that is the case. I am not thirsty.”
“No matter then.” Florentia put her tea down and folded her hands on her lap, the taste of the tea lingering. “Now, tell me, what brings you to visit?”
“You are going to think the worst of me,” Caroline said with a deep sigh, looking down at her lap. “But I am here for selfish reasons.”
“Oh...”
“I am afraid so...” She sighed again and shook her head before looking back at Florentia. “I have come to apologize.”
“Apologize?”
“No doubt you thought I was here to see how you are, or to further what I am sure will one day be a budding friendship. Alas, my own needs have taken precedence. Shame on me, I know, but I simply had to come and see you, for my guilty conscience would not allow anything else.”
“Caroline...” Florentia frowned, not entirely sure what was happening. “What on earth do you have to apologize for?”
“You are so kind to pretend that you do not know. For that, I cannot tell you how grateful I am. But please, dear, do not play the fool with me. You and I both know for what I must make amends.”
Florentia’s mind raced as she tried to figure out what Florentia was talking about. Had she done something that Caroline did not know? Was she somehow involved in Hudson’s rejection of her? No...that was madness to think. But then, what?
“Honestly, you have me at a loss,” Florentia laughed. “Whatever you have done, perhaps it is best if you do not apologize, otherwise it might just upset me.”
Caroline chuckled lightly. “You are too kind, Florentia. Hudson is a lucky man to have you.” That had Florentia’s stomach twisting, but she did what she could to ignore it.
“I speak of course about what occurred between myself and your husband at the Turncott ball last month. The argument that we had, which I have no doubt fouled your husband’s mood, turning him into a beast which I am certain was no pleasure to live with. For that, I cannot apologize more.”
“Oh...” Florentia blinked in surprise. “That is why...Caroline...” She smiled with relief. “Is that why you have come here? To apologize for some silly fight?”
“What else? You have no idea how much it has pained me.”
It was so nice to be reminded that there were good people in this world. Those who thought about others before themselves. Those who felt guilt and remorse because of what they had done, rather than ignoring the problem entirely. How very refreshing.
Florentia smiled warmly. “If that is why you are here, Caroline, I hate to say it, but this trip has been for nought. Although you and my husband may have argued about things which I can only imagine, I can assure you that it has had no effect on his mood whatsoever. Truly, I have not even thought about it once.”
“You speak the truth?” She brightened. “It did not sour the night? Ruin the next day? Soil this marriage? I know as well as anyone how that man gets when he is in a temper.”
Despite herself, Florentia smiled at the memory of that night.
It seemed so long ago now, and so quaint when compared to all that had happened after.
The fight of which Caroline spoke, ironically, had brought them closer, leading them down a road which at the time had seemed a fruitful one, only to lead to utter tragedy.
Not that Florentia was going to blame the dowager duchess for such a thing.
“It was fine,” she assured Caroline. “While Hudson was a little...” She clicked her tongue. “Put out afterwards, I was able to coax him from his stupor and he put it well behind him. Truly, you have nothing to worry about.”
“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.”