Page 59

She closed the magazines and opened her armoire, a small smile teasing the corners of her lips.

How fortunate, she had just the dress to wear for the ball that weekend.

He was going out of his bloody mind—that had to be the only explanation as to why he had been staring at the half-finished hunk of marble before him, his tools lying untouched on the worktable.

Ever since that night Scarlett had shown up in a diaphanous robe and he’d bent her over the worktableexactlyas he had pictured so many times, he had not seen her.

She had not gone out promenading with Phoebe and the other female guests. She rarely went out of the manor, and even then, it was only to take her puppy out for walks. She did not join the others for meals, and on the rare occasion he would appear for dinner, she had absconded with claims of a headache or some other malady.

Headache my arse!

Hudson growled as he stood up. She was avoiding him, that was what!

And he deserved it. Completely.

That did not mean he had to like it, though.

“Oh, good heavens! Has this room not seen a broom or a feather duster in years?”

He looked up at the sound of the annoyed voice coming from the door to find hismotherglaring at him.

“Well, greetings to you, Mother,” he greeted. “What brings you here?”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You.”

He walked over to the table and unscrewed the cap of his flask, before taking a drink. He would need it, from the look of his mother’s face.

“I suppose.” He shrugged. “Seeing as you have never expressed an inherent desire to carve or whittle before this visit.”

“And you have never been one to hide from a woman,” she retorted dryly. “Scare them off? Yes. Send them away crying? Most certainly. Lock yourself away in your tower?” Her eyes gleamed with shrewdness. “Now,thatis something new.”

He smiled coldly at her. “I thought you were the one who told me that I should deal with ladies with more restraint.”

Her response was to slowly raise an eyebrow as she stared him down. “Did you, now? Show restraint, I mean.”

Hudson nearly choked when he attempted to take another swig from his flask. He glared at his mother. “Of course, I did.”

Except that he did not, and every secondshestayed under his roof, his control continued to fray into nonexistence.

“Well, that is a blessed relief, then!” His mother let out a sigh and raised her eyes heavenward. “Seeing as I intend to find awonderfulmatch for dear Scarlett.”

Hudson closed his eyes and reminded himself that he could not possibly launch the flask at the wall in the presence of his mother.

Control, he told himself through gritted teeth. If he repeated the word over and over in his mind, maybe he might still be able to grasp the last few bits of sanity he had left.

“Poor thing, she was already beside herself when I saw her yesterday…”

His head snapped up at that. “You saw her?”

His mother shot him a look that said,“Do not be daft.”

“Of course,” she told him, looking extremely affronted. “I see toallour guests diligently. Wolverton Estate might not have seen a ball or social gathering inyears, but I am still an exceptional hostess.”

Hudson ran a hand over his face. He needed a shave. Badly.

“That you are, Mother,” he sighed.

“And you might consider doing the same,” she admonished him. “Even your friend, Sinclair, has been wondering where you went off to.”