Adelaide nodded.
Cassian thought back to how his mother had changed when she heard that he was going to marry. He had expected fury, but it never came. She had not been pleased by any stretch of the imagination, but he had assumed that it was out of fear for Adelaide.
He had not expected her to form a plan to get rid of her. He thought about the unkempt appearance she had insisted on, and how she had led Adelaide to believe that she trusted her. It was insidious, and he shuddered at the thought of it.
“I do not know how I will face her,” Adelaide whispered. “I want to believe that she was doing it for my sake, but knowing how she treated you, I cannot do it. I do not think I can hide how I feel about all of this, Cassian.”
“Then it is just as well that you do not have to, for I have had her sent away.”
Her eyes widened. “But?—”
“I asked her where you were, and she lied to me. I gave her one last chance, and she lied again. I will spare you from her accusation, but it was vile, and I will not have you put at the same risk I was at for so long. You are my wife, and you will never be treated with anything other than utmost respect.”
Adelaide nodded slowly, leaning against him.
For the first time, Cassian felt as though he had done right and protected someone. He knew that they would have to wait a short while before his mother was gone, but when they returned, it would be to a quiet house. There would be no more lies and no more secrets, and they could try to have a real marriage.
It was what Adelaide deserved, after all.
“I will only send her away if that is what you want, of course,” he murmured into her hair. “You are not as cutthroat as I am, and if you wish to give her one last chance?—”
“How many have you given her?” she interrupted. “No, this is what she wants. I excused her behavior because I thought she needed us, but it has all been a scheme this entire time. She is capable of being alone, so she can enjoy it. We have an estate in Northumberland, yes?”
“We do, indeed.”
“Then she may reside there. That way, she can be far away from her cruel son and his useless wife. She will be happier that way.”
Cassian was stunned by her words, for he had never thought that she could think that way of a person, but he understood. It had been a long time coming, and he was relieved that it was all over.
At least, it would have been if they had waited long enough.
Unfortunately, for all her talk of propriety, his mother did not want to leave with grace. They returned to the house to find her being dragged out by two footmen. When they saw Cassian, they immediately released her, as though not wanting to be seen handling her harshly.
She ran into Adelaide’s arms, weeping loudly.
“Oh, Adelaide, thank goodness you are home!” she cried. “I told you that my son was a cruel man, but upon hearing that I had not stopped you from enjoying your evening, he became brutal. He is sending me to the poor house!”
“Oh, Mama, he is not,” Adelaide said gently.
His mother turned to him with a look of triumph, but Cassian knew better than to question his wife.
“You see,” Adelaide continued, “we are not cruel. We would never send you away penniless. Instead, we are going to sendyou north, where you can have all the peace you have wanted for so long.”
“But I—what do you mean?”
“Well, you cannot stand your son, and you want no part in his marriage, and you want to get rid of his wife. That is what you said, is it not?”
But she did not wait for a response.
“And so, as an act of kindness, we have agreed to give you precisely what you want. There is no need to fight it, for it is not cruel at all. Perhaps you might consider it a gift: your own estate to run, with nobody there to ruin it for you.”
Cassian wondered just where his wife had gotten that tone from. He had never heard her speak that way to anyone, even at her angriest, but then he had never seen her so calm and composed either.
“I trusted you,” his mother whispered. “I thought that—yes, all right, I wanted to get rid of you. I did not want my son to put someone else at risk, so I thought it would be easier if you were not here at all. But then I grew to like you.”
“So much so that you would accuse me of something unspeakable.”
She did not have to know what it was.
