“Sir, was your mother not well when you saw her?”
“Oh, she was well.” His reply was cold. “Her life has been just fine without me in it.”
“She was not happy to see you?”
Sir Hugo huffed. “She was quite happy to see me. I thought perhaps things would be different between us now. Only she then proceeded to ruin everything.”
For a second Lily didn’t know what to make of his snapping outburst. She reached out to touch his shoulder, the way she would a friend.
“I’m so sorry, sir. I’m sure she didn’t mean any harm.”
Hugo’s hand was white-knuckled around the glass as he slowly set it down on the table by his chair. “Perhaps. But it does not change the facts laid before me.”
Lily wasn’t sure what she wanted to say, but she wanted to offer him some words of comfort. “Sir, I know it’s not my
