He shuddered. He didnotneed her. She only made his life more difficult, and he hated that she truly believed she was what kept the household running. Most servants were terrified of her, and his wife looked as though she had seen a ghost after each interaction they had.
But he could not say that. If his mother felt threatened, she would strike, and she was always angrier than him.
“I know how tirelessly you work,” he said comfortingly, though he did not dare touch her. “I know that you do so much for us, which is precisely why I thought a trip would be good for you. It need not be long, only a few days, but you deserve some rest.”
Fortunately, he knew how to handle his mother as well as she knew how to manipulate him. He could see her trying to argue, but there was nothing she could say. She wanted time away—she had for years—but she had never dared to voice it.
“What did you have in mind?” she asked.
“Perhaps the next village? We could even arrange for you to stay by the sea for a week. It would be good for you, Mother.”
“And how will you cope in the meantime? That wife of yours will not be able to handle matters the way I do, so I will have to fix everything when I return.”
“Or you could leave a list of things to do for the servants. You know they will do as you say.”
He leaned on her authority, appealed to her demanding nature, and it was working. She was not smiling at him, but her face no longer showed pure disgust, and that had to mean something.
“Very well. When am I to leave?”
“In three days, perhaps?”
“If that is what you want.”
The tension left his shoulders. It felt good to win, even if it was a small victory. It made him want to push it further, even though he knew that it would risk the progress he had made.
“And Mother?” he asked. “In the meantime, would you mind showing Adelaide some kindness? I know that you do not want her here, but she is, and it would be easier for both of you to get along.”
“She does not want to like me. I can see it.”
“And you do not want to like her. However, if we are going to live together, it is for the best that we all try.”
“Have you lectured her, too?”
“As a matter of fact, I have,” he lied. “I will not allow the three of us to live unhappily, so we must try.”
There was no argument for her to make, and she did not invent anything either. Her eyes fell to the floor, and she mumbled something unintelligible, but it seemed to resemble acceptance.
He thanked her for her understanding and left the room more quickly than was normal.
He hated that she sat in the dark. He hated that he recognized the same trait in himself, finding clarity in as little light as possible. He did not want to be like the woman who had made him so miserable for years, but there was no changing himself.
“My mother will not be present when your friends come over,” he later told Adelaide.
Her face lit up. “I—thank you! How did you do it?”
“That is what I must discuss with you. As far as she knows, you do not have friends visiting, the trip is a token of gratitude for everything she’s done for the estate, and I have told you to be nice to her.”
Her brow furrowed, as he had expected.
“But Ihavebeen nice to her. I have perhaps asked too many questions, but I was never unkind.”
“And that is the case. But if we want her to do what we want her to, we have to make her believe that it was her idea. She is happy to go as it stands, but you will have to play the part for a few days.”
She nodded.
Although Cassian had planned to leave, he did not. He remained standing before her, and she continued to look up at him. The air thickened with tension, as though so much remained unspoken between them.
“Would you like to have tea with me?” she asked. “I understand that you are busy, but it feels as though I do not know you at all, and I do not want that for our marriage, even if it is what you would prefer.”
