Augusta glowered at Evan openly. “Is that so? Pray, tell, Evan. What exactly do you take me for? Do you presume that I do not have Nancy’s best interests at heart?”
Evan laughed a dry laugh. “Quite on the contrary, Augusta.” He made a sweeping motion with his hand, gesturing at the empty area around them. “You do have Nancy’s best interests at heart, evidenced by the alarming lack of men who have approached either of you tonight.”
Nancy laughed and Augusta rolled her eyes again. “You do have quite the reputation, Augusta,” Nancy said, echoing her brother’s accusation.
Augusta knew that she was notorious among the ton for her behavior. If anything, it was a reputation she was proud of. She had made it a habit of helping ladies, even strangers she did not know, sometimes interrupting a conversation rudely.
It had been months since a gentleman of the ton approached her, and now, they made it a point to avoid balls where she would be present. She had slowly turned herself into a thorn in the side of ill-meaning men, and they hated her fiercely. She didn’t mind, as she hated them just as much.
“Is it asking for too much?” Evan asked, his voice low but angry. “I would just love to attend these things, enjoy a dance, enjoy a drink, and go home. Just once, can you leave your… hobby behind?”
Augusta eyed her brother speculatively. “If I didn’t know you to be a gentleman of excellent quality, I’d have suspected you of being a rake yourself, what with your vehement criticism of what I do.”
Nancy laughed out loud, but had the common sense to turn it into a cough, her eyes watering along the edges. Evan patted her lightly on the back but glared wickedly at Augusta.
Augusta returned his glare. She wasn’t afraid of him. She hated how he always made her seem like a dog worrying at an old bone. What annoyed her more was that Evan had witnessed what their mother had gone through.
He should have understood her more than anyone else. He’d been older, more knowledgeable about such things. He saw everything. And yet, he always spoke about their father fondly. Not to say that Augusta hated her father, she didn’t. She only hated how he had hurt their mother.
Nancy’s coughing fit passed, and the three siblings stood quietly, watching the ballroom. Nancy opened her mouth to speak, but after looking at the faces of Evan and Augusta, thought differently about her choice.
When the silence persisted for a few minutes, Nancy started to shift from foot to foot uncomfortably. “I’m bored,” she finally declared, and earned a pitiful look from Evan.
“I’m sorry,” he said, patting her shoulder. “There are several fine, young men around today. Too bad none of them would touch your sister there with a ten-foot pole.” He leaned closer and whispered. “I suspect we will have to step away from her if we are to have any hope of enjoying the ball at all.”
Nancy squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to laugh out loud. Augusta’s face reddened and Evan shot her a smug look. He looked down at Nancy and placed a hand on her shoulder. “About to have another coughing fit?”
“No,” she choked out, smiling as she did so.
“I’m happy to see how well you’re enjoying yourselves,” Augusta said, feeling affronted. “My point remains. No well-meaning man will find issues with what I do.”
“You’re jesting!” Evan whispered harshly. “I’m a well-meaning man and I must point out that I frown on what you do. Your meddling borders on inappropriate at best, simply rude at worst. You can’t presume so much. You certainly should not interrupt a gentleman asking a lady for a dance, regardless of your opinion of said gentleman.”
“Oh, I don’t doubt the lords of the ton would mind such a thing, now, would they?” she retorted. “They would love to go about with their questionable intentions, sweeping through unsuspecting women like a sickle in a wheat field. I would not have that.”
Evan watched her for a long time, speculative. Finally, he turned to Nancy and said, “Run, Nancy. Run far away from her and never look back.”
Nancy gave Augusta a pleading look that said she was on her side, but that she still found Evan hilarious. “Leave off poking fun at her, Evan,” Nancy said, her eyes still wet with laughter.
“Let him have his laugh,” Augusta said coldly, every bit the image of affronted dignity. “I shall not deign to reply his barbs any further. He can have as much entertainment as he wishes to have.”
“Oh, Augusta,” Evan said placatingly. “I apologize. I didn’t mean to give offense. I was only jesting. But my point remains. You really should stay out of people’s business.”
Augusta nodded along absently, but her attention had been on the crowd the entire discussion. Now, she saw what she’d been looking for all evening. The one thing that made such events worth her while at all.
Maybe Nancy is right,she thought.Maybe this really is a hobby for me.
Some thirty yards away, something interesting had caught her attention. There was a group of people standing together, two men and two women. As she looked closer, she confirmed her guess. One of the men standing in the group was Lord Colin, a notorious rake who only ever went after debutantes who knew nothing about his reputation.
Lord Colin and Augusta had run into each other more than a few times, and their encounters had only gotten more and more vicious every time they met.
As a matter of fact, Augusta made it a point to seek him out at the seasons. Knowing that the vile man was endlessly on the prowl to beguile the unsuspecting.
To the innocent observer, he was a charming gentleman, without rival. That was until he was in his cups, and then he would invite you to see his private gardens. Always. Augusta hated him as much as he hated her, and the fire of their little feud burned brighter.
Lord Colin was talking to a remarkably beautiful girl, who seemed too excited to be speaking with him. Beside her was her chaperone, a woman who looked so identical to the younger woman that she had to be her mother.
She turned her attention to the last person in the group, and her breath caught instantly in her throat. He was the most handsome man she had ever laid eyes on.
