misscassandrahale:
Cassandra noticed a flash of dismay fly across Edward’s face momentarily, but she said nothing of it. It wasn’t any of her business, and she had no reason to pry into whatever matter was floating through his head at the moment.
She smiled somewhat warmly and glanced down at her hands.“It is certainly not one of the most pleasant circumstances I could find myself in, but thankfully God has given me the strength to recover from Alexander’s death without too many tears.”
In her heart, she knew the statement was a lie. More than too many tears had been shed for both the man and the loss of her position, but she wasn’t naive enough to let others know such a thing. It would be comparable to a wounded dog biting itself, only making it weaker than it already was.
She would be no dog.
“How have things been going for you, my dear Edward?” she asked, straightening her spine. “I am sure that the loss of Lord and Lady Hudson have made you quite busy.”
There was little that Edward, from his limited interactions with the lady, suspected was untrue. There had been a great age difference between the woman and her husband and it could be supposed that the conversations he had with her on other visits had indicated she had tired of the stale air amongst the usual set. Perhaps, in some way, it lifted a certain burden off of her. Surely her husband would have left her something and she could rely on some support from her step-children.
“Busy,” he agreed. “The Hall has had a steady stream of mourners and friends.” ‘Friends’ was a diplomatic way of putting it. Anyone with any interest in the estate was coming in as a ‘friend’ or ‘relation’, even if the connection was distant or even non-existent. In his own complicated way, Edward had liked Lord Hudson. He’d heard enough horror stories from visiting servants to know Lord Hudson’s treatment of the staff was good and he thought well of him for the access he gave Anthony to the library. Though his views about those upstairs had been tainted by too much ill-use, Lord Hudson hadn’t been an entirely bad sort. It was a shame so few were truly mourning his passing.
“They must have been well liked,” he said a little sardonically.
“They indeed were,” Cassandra replied, folding her hands into her lap. “Alexander absolutely adored Lord Hudson - they used to chat about politics and such and were quite good friends. Unfortunately, I wasn’t as close with Lady Hudson as my husband was with the Lord, a fact which I deeply regret. They were good people.”
There was a slight tenseness in the air while she spoke of the late Lord and Lady. A certain uncomfortable tone in her voice that hinted at knowing something she shouldn’t. Though it was true that the Hudsons were good and kind on the surface, the young widow always sensed something was amiss when she visited. She felt as if something sinister was crouching behind a thinly cloaked veil, just waiting to be let out.
She did her best to push such thoughts out her head.
With a forced smile, Cassandra cleared her throat, an indication that she was done with the topic of the deceased. “Enough of that. Tell me, Edward, do you read much? You seem to be well-read.”




















