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She had tried to get some much-needed rest, telling herself she deserved it, but it was hard to fall asleep due to the worry clouding her mind. Although she had left Timothy to Hudson on purpose, she wondered how the little boy who was sensitive to noises and had a tendency to cry for a long time after he began would fare in his father’s embrace.

“I hope he is all right,” she muttered, readjusting the position of her pillow.

She squeezed her eyes closed and willed herself to fall asleep, only to feel restless again and sit up.

“He ought to be punished for waking Timothy up in the first place,” she told herself resolutely. “It is only fair that he be responsible for lulling him back to sleep.”

While she felt as though she was right and was not out of turn to deliver the consequences of her husband’s actions, she couldn’t help but feel uncertain it was the best course of action.

“I’ll just have a peek, just to ensure the children are well,” Anna told herself, rising out of her bed.

She grabbed her robe and headed down to the nursery, walking hurriedly through the dimly lit hallways. When she arrived at the nursery, she slowly opened the door and peered inside, frowning when she did not see her husband inside or hear any sound coming from within.

Carefully, she opened the door wider and walked towards the cots, sighing in relief when she found Timothy sleeping soundly. Lucy was still asleep, which made the rest of the tension bleed from beneath her skin.

Scarcely had her body relaxed when a hand closed around her wrist, and she was pulled out of the nursery.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The door to the nursery fell shut, and Anna turned around, gasping as she came face to face with her husband.

“What –”

“You did that on purpose,” he accused with a sadistic smile that made her stomach churn with unease. “You knew he would be difficult to put back to sleep. You knew it would take me hours to get him to calm down, and you left him with me in a bid to punish me.”

Anna pulled her arm out of his grip and retorted,

“It had taken me hours to get him to sleep as well, before you stormed into the nursery, making a fuss about things that are inconsequential in the face of my efforts to raise our children. Perhaps now you will think twice before you repeat such mistakes, no? You cannot be careless with your behavior around them. You need to get to know them.”

Hudson looked angry, and she braced herself for his remark, but instead, all he said was, “Follow me. We need to talk about this,” before walking away.

Although she did not want to, she followed him reluctantly, feeling nervous again when she realized he was leading her to his study. She had not been in that room since their wedding night, when she had approached him in a bid to get him to indulge in the activities of that night.

A warm blush spread over her cheeks, and she tried to distract herself as she stepped into the room after him, closing the door behind her as he leaned against his desk, fixing a blank stare on her.

“Firstly, I wish to address your blatant disrespect towards me. It was rude to leave me waiting for you, without any word of your whereabouts or even an apology. At every mealtime today, I sat alone in the dining hall, and not only did you refuse to join me, but I had no clue what you were doing during that mealtime. Such disregard should not happen again. Now that I am here, it would be ideal to remember your manners. Secondly, I would like to know more about our children – without being abandoned to figure things out by myself, as you did earlier. That was unfair,” he pointed out.

Irritated, Anna burst out, “I was all alone as well. But I managed to cope regardless for months. You spent a few hours, and you already sound as though you are out of your depth. That is equally unfair.”

“Maybe, but need I remind you that you made the choice to deal with things alone by choosing to not inform me when you were with child? And when you birthed them as well?” he questioned, folding his arms.

Anna had to concede this time, because he was right – as irritating as it felt to admit that to herself.

“Fine. I will not abandon you to handle them again. But I have no intention of bending to your whims and pretending to be an obedient wife, simply because you have decided to return. We will stick to our initial arrangement and live separate lives.”

“That is fine,” Hudson nodded easily. “As long as we attend some events together. It has not helped our reputation to stay out of the public eye, and now that we have children, we must begin to create good spaces for them in society – as well as build reliable connections on their behalf.”

Once more, Anna found herself unable to disagree with the intent behind his request. She knew firsthand what it was like to live without societal connections that would have made things easier for herself and her siblings when they were growing up. After her sister Phoebe had gotten married, it was the influence of her husband that had gotten rid of the scandal Anna had been involved in. Being the children of the Duke and Duchess of Wolvesley would grant them immense advantages, but so would having good allies.

“All right. We can do that,” she replied, believing that was all.

Hudson, however, had other ideas.

“Lastly, I would like us to have breakfast every morning,” he requested curtly.

Anna glared at him, feeling her stomach clench at the idea of sitting with him for a meal.

“What did I just say about –”