Page 5 of Suddenly a (The St. Clairs 5)

As tea ended, Jeremy said, “I’ll walk you up to see Cor.”

“Don’t forget to stop by the nursery after,” Laurel reminded him. “If you don’t, we’ll send the mob of children looking for you.”

“Is that a threat?” he teased.

“Most certainly, a promise,” she said.

Hudson laughed and left the drawing room with Jeremy. He knew his brother enough to realize Jeremy had something to tell him, apart from the others.

“What do I need to know?” he asked.

“You’ve always been intuitive. That, along with your common sense, makes you the businessman you are,” Jeremy noted. “The various family fortunes are in good hands and have almost doubled in your time at the helm.”

“I brought a few boxes of documents for us to go over,” Hudson told him. “Regarding bridge construction and steam engines. I also have an inventor I’m going to see two days after Christmas. With the Stockton and Darlington Railway now open, more public trains pulled by steam engines will begin operations. I have a group of investors that will go in with us to create our own railway company.”

“Men you trust?”

“Of course. Besides the family, Lords Neville and Morefield. Lords Merrifield and Rutherford, too. All close friends to the family and in a position to invest. But we can talk more about this later. What about Cor?”

His brother stopped. “Cor is dying.”

Hudson knew it was coming. His grandmother was eighty-five. It was unheard of for anyone to live to that age. Yet Cor seemed ageless to him. She’d had the most influence on his life and taught him so much. Next to Laurel, he loved Cor most of all. Trying to picture his life without Cor in it was unthinkable.

“Does she know?” he asked.

“Yes. The doctors have come and gone. She has a few weeks, at best.”

“I plan to spend every minute with her then,” Hudson said with determination. Then he remembered his appointment with the eccentric inventor, which had been hard to come by. “I have that one pressing business commitment just after Christmas but I will return then and not leave her side.”

They continued to Cor’s rooms and Jeremy paused outside the door.

“I’ll let you speak to her alone. She’s been eager for your return.” With that, he nodded and left.

Hudson took a deep breath, gathering his courage. He didn’t want his grandmother to see defeat in his eyes. He forced a smile on his face and tapped on the door and then pushed it open, knowing Cor had grown a little hard of hearing in recent years and might not hear his knock.

She was lying on a chaise lounge next to the window, a place she loved because she could look out and see the lane leading up to Eversleigh. He’d spent hours with her sitting there, talking about everything and nothing.

A book sat in her lap but she wasn’t reading. Her gaze was turned out the window. Her abundant, snowy-white hair was piled high on her head. Jet earrings dangled from her earlobes. Her gown was simple but his grandmother was a commanding woman who wore her clothes. Her clothes did not wear her.

“Cor?”

She turned and her smile grew radiant as she caught sight of him. Even at her age, Hudson thought Cor a great beauty. She must have been breathtaking in her youth.

He bent and brushed his lips against her wrinkled cheek and then took her hands and kissed them reverently.

“I have missed you,” Hudson said.

“Have you?” Those brows arched. “I heard you’re keeping company with a new mistress.”

He flushed. “I’m not sure where you could have heard that. I’m not one to be tied down. You know I’m a confirmed bachelor.”

Her eyes assessed him. “So you say.”

Hudson had recently gotten rid of the mistress his grandmother referred to. He wasn’t in the habit of keeping one because he found them too needy. Seeing one woman—even a courtesan—was too time-consuming. He’d rather have a light, casual affair every now and then with a married woman who’d produced her heir and spare and tired of her husband. An experienced woman who wouldn’t cling or make demands on him. It amused him how many women of Polite Society wouldn’t have acknowledged him if he entered a ballroom yet they welcomed him into their beds.

He kissed her hand again. “I have no mistress.”

“Good. Because I want you to find a wife. I know Jeremy told you that I’m dying. It’s no secret. The doctors came and went all in the last week.” She sighed. “Frankly, it’s time. I’ve had a wonderful life, Hudson, thanks to my grandchildren. My marriage was arranged. My only son was a disappointment. It’s my grandchildren, though, who have added richness to my life. Raising Jeremy, Luke, and Rachel and then seeing how they turned out to be kind and loyal warmed my soul. Then discovering you and Laurel and having you become double blessings late in my life has made these last years worthwhile. I felt useful again, teaching you what I know.”

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