What else was I supposed to think?!
It only made sense to think that when he said he would change her mind he meant he would make her agree to become his wife.
Now him asking her if that was what she thought was the biggest blow to her pride, as it became clear that he did not plan to.
Ugh! Now I seem like I am the one who wants to marry him, and he has rejected me.
She would usually not allow herself to be embarrassed by his words, and would have a quick comeback to make him regret even engaging her, but not this time.
She was utterly mortified.
“I should have worded it differently,” Benedict said. He had the grace to look apologetic.
“You claim your goal was to show me how men are not all bad, but all you have done is prove to me that you are the worst one yet!” Augusta ground out, still red as a tomato.
“How utterly pompous!” she continued. “How conceited can one man be? So you think yourself so great that you will change me, and in your words ‘warm my frozen rock of a heart’. Only to end our courtship and have me find a suitor who wants me when you succeed?”
Of course Augusta had no intentions of letting him win the bet, so even if his intentions were marriage they would never get that far, but still. The premise of the bet in his mind, still made her infuriated.
Benedict looked properly ashamed. “I did not think of it like that. For some reason the end goal of the bet never came to mind. I think I have grossly under estimated the gravity of things.”
Augusta glanced over at her brother who was still focused on the papers in his hands. She and Benedict had lowered their voices so as not to alert him, and were talking in hushed whispers, but she figured it would be too much if she were to suddenly hit the Duke. Evan would be beside himself if she did that, so she held herself back.
“I’m sorry, my lady.”
The words drew Augusta’s attention back to Benedict in a flash.Did the Duke just apologize to me?She wanted to stay angry, but she was too surprised. He looked so deeply remorseful, she was glad that his back was to her brother and his face could not be seen by Evan.
It was not usual for someone of his standing to apologize, and especially not to a person way below them in status. She was merely the daughter of a deceased earl.
Goodness, he is exceedingly humble.
She frowned, reminding herself she was upset. “I am not a plaything, Your Grace.”
“I did not mean to imply that you were,” Benedict said. “I also did not mean to insult you just now. That was just me realizing the situation. You were not wrong to assume. I am the one with the problem. Marriage has not really been in the books for me either.”
Augusta’s expression softened despite herself. There was a hurt in his eyes as he spoke that she knew came from heartbreak. It reminded her of her mother on the days when she wept, pining after a man who did not love her.
Augusta shook the memories away as Benedict continued to speak.
“It was because of this that I failed to consider the full consequences of our bet,” he explained.
“Hmm… it seems there is a story there.”
Benedict smiled slightly. “Yes there is. Unfortunately I have no inclination to share. I’d rather not think about it.”
Augusta was curious, but she wasn’t going to push it.
“I understand. Perhaps in this bet, I might be the one to make you reconsider marriage,” she teased, her anger subsiding. “Unless of course you have decided not to go through with the bet after all.”
Benedict bristled slightly. “I told you I don’t go back on my word.”
CHAPTER8
After their last meeting, Benedict was not sure Augusta would want to see him again, or continue their bet, yet there he was, two days later, sitting on a blanket with her for tea.
It was a proper outing this time, one that he had planned with her this time. A picnic at the park. Benedict had given specific requests to the servants to have their meals prepared and served.
Her brother, Viscount Evan and his wife Lady Jane sat a little way off from them, chaperoning their little outing while also giving them the privacy they needed to converse on their own.
