Chapter 125

His first reaction was not surprise but incredulity.

"What makes you think Cassandra could attract someone like that?" He retorted.

Vivienne genuinely could not decide whether she was more furious with him or astonished by his stupidity.

"Margaret told me herself. She only just left. She says our daughter is engaged to the Duke. How could you not know?"

She hated how calm he remained, how nonchalant, as though the matter were of no importance whatsoever.

"Then it must be true." He shrugged. "Though your friend has been known to peddle gossip." After a moment’s thought, he added, "Laci did mention seeing Cassandra with Montague at Kingswood Park, but I thought nothing of it."

Vivienne’s eye twitched.

"You thought nothing of it?" She echoed incredulously.

Nathaniel’s expression hardened with mild irritation. "I saw no reason to."

"You knew Montague was promenading with our daughter and thought nothing of it? You did not think perhaps I should know?" She struggled to keep her temper under control.

"I saw no reason why I should tell you. It is not as though it concerns you, given how thoroughly you have withdrawn from society." He delivered the words in a manner that made it clear he regarded her withdrawal as a personal failing.

Vivienne’s indignation flared.

"It concerns me because she is my daughter."

"Do you think she cares about that?" Nathaniel’s patience finally began to wear thin as the argument dragged on. Her voice grated on his nerves, like nails scraping against a surface. "I have no time to listen to your caterwauling. If Cassandra regarded you as her mother in the way you seem to imagine, you would have heard this from her. You would have known about the courtship. You would have known about the proposal. You would have been involved from the beginning, but you were not. What does that tell you?"

Vivienne’s expression hardened.

"That does not mean she can simply exclude me from her life."

"She already has. You need to understand your position and stay in your place."

The words struck harder than Margaret’s had.

"I am her mother." Vivienne clenched her jaw so tightly that she nearly chipped a tooth. "You and Edmund may have ruined your relationship with her, but I am still her mother. I still have a place in her life. She cannot take such a significant step and simply decide to leave me out. That is not how these things are done."

"Perhaps your daughter has decided that she no longer cares."

Nathaniel looked thoroughly bored, as though her outrage and the entire conversation were beneath his notice. Her concerns were trivial to him, her anger nothing more than an inconvenience.

Another wave of anger and humiliation burned through Vivienne’s face.

There was so much she wanted to say. She wanted to scream at him, to throw every curse and insult she could think of into his face, but none of those things were becoming of a dignified noblewoman. She hated that Nathaniel always seemed capable of dragging this ugly side of her to the surface.

With a sharp turn, she marched back toward the house, her maid hurrying after her.

Nathaniel did not bother following.

"Have my carriage prepared. I am going out," she snapped the moment they stepped inside.

"Yes, my lady," the maid replied.

Vivienne hurried upstairs before her maid could ask where she intended to go.

Once inside her chambers, she quickly changed into another gown, choosing one more suitable for the place she intended to visit. She stood impatiently while her maid fastened the buttons and laces before turning her attention to Vivienne’s hair, smoothing away every stray strand as Vivienne stared at her reflection.

The fact that she had to go through all this effort in the first place irritated her.

She had never bothered much with her daughter before. Why would she? It was not as though they had ever been particularly close. They were entirely different people, with barely any shared interests. All of that was true, yet none of it managed to lessen the fury churning inside her.

Vivienne hated being denied unrestricted access to her daughter. She hated feeling denied.

Cassandra couldn’t care less about her own mother, surrounded by luxury, by royalty, by Draven Montague himself. All while her own mother was left in the dark.

She could not allow that to continue, not now that Cassandra was about to become a duchess.

Such a position came with enormous influence. Connections. Access to circles and opportunities that would otherwise remain beyond Vivienne’s reach. The wife of a duke would command attention wherever she went, and surely her mother would naturally have a place within that sphere.

Vivienne intended to reclaim what she believed was rightfully hers.

She wanted her share of the pie.

Her carriage was already waiting outside. The coachman assisted her inside, and moments later, the carriage set off toward the palace.

The journey passed quickly beneath Vivienne’s restless thoughts.

She would remind Cassandra of their relationship. Of family obligations. Of what was expected of a daughter.

An engagement to a duke changed everything, and Cassandra needed to understand that.

People would talk if Vivienne had no involvement in the wedding preparations. Worse still, they would certainly notice if she were excluded entirely.

When the carriage finally arrived at the palace, Vivienne stepped down and lifted her gaze toward the imposing structure of Kentigern Palace.

Her lips pressed into a thin line.

So this was where Cassandra had been hiding. No wonder she had refused to return home.

Surrounded by such luxury, comfort, and importance, why would Cassandra ever wish to return to Ashford House?

The bitterness in Vivienne’s chest deepened.

She approached the guards stationed at the entrance and stated her purpose.

"I am here to see my daughter, Lady Cassandra Ashford."

There was no reason for them to deny her access. Cassandra had been residing within the palace for some time, and Vivienne was, after all, her mother.

She was admitted without difficulty.

One of the guards escorted her through the palace and into an elegantly furnished parlour, where she was invited to sit while someone went to inform Cassandra of her arrival.

Vivienne lowered her

self into one of the upholstered chairs and looked around the beautifully decorated room as she waited.