CHAPTER13
“If you would please excuse me, ladies, there is something I must do,” he said, bowing slightly before walking off.
He went through the side doors, feeling overwhelmed. Earlier, he was already reeling over Augusta’s confession of the reason behind her desire to protect women from rakes. A part of him had always assumed that she did so because she had gotten her heart broken on her first season, which was why she never wanted to tell him about it when he asked. He could not have imagined that man who made her this way was her father who was supposed to protect her from harm.
He had still been processing that information as they danced, when he saw a face he would have much preferred never to see again… It was Lady Juliet Terrel His previous betrothed who had left him for another man just before their wedding.
He had been angered by how brazenly she stared at him. Had she no shame that she could stand in front of him like that.
Benedict scoffed. Of course, she had none. She had always been the type to go for whatever she wanted, no matter what it cost others, so there was no way that she would have cared much for what her sudden appearance would cause him to feel.
All she cared about was herself and no one else.
Juliet had not only been staring at him but she had been watching him with so much anger as though she was a betrayed wife who had caught her husband in the middle of an affair. That had annoyed him even more than anything else.
Benedict did not want Augusta to see him angry which was why he had chosen instead to get some fresh air. Perhaps the air would do him some good and calm his nerves. He did not want to be affected by her anymore. Benedict had already allowed much of her actions hover his head for so long. He would not allow it to go on for much longer.
He let out a puff of air as he looked up into the sky. The sound of music and conversation had finally faded enough that he could be alone with his thoughts. He massaged his head to stop the headache that he felt coming on. It was a wonder people did this all the time.
The sound of rustling bush pulled him away from his thoughts. Benedict turned around, squinting as he tried to pinpoint where the sound had emanated from.
“Who is out there? I would advise that you step out now,” he said in a strong voice, taking a step toward where the bushes rustled. He stared fixatedly at a spot just as Juliet stepped out from behind the bushes.
Benedict watched her quietly. In the first week after she left, he had always wondered what he would say to her as the days wore off into weeks and she never sent a letter either to apologize for her behavior or to explain the reason behind her actions, Benedict had quickly given up on that.
“Benedict. It’s been a while,” she said softly with a smile on her face as she approached him. her tone was that of old friends who had not seen each other in so long but had parted on good terms with the unspoken promise to meet again.
Benedict stepped back, his lips turning down in a frown. He stared at her coldly, keeping all expressions from his face.
“I do not believe we are close enough to refer to each other by our first names, Lady Terrel,” he said in a very formal tone, blocking her off in every way.
The smile dropped off her face, her blue eyes dulling in disbelief, slowly morphing into what looked like hurt.
Benedict was not fooled. He had known her long enough to know she was too much of a snake to feel anything close to such an emotion, not to speak of the actual emotion itself.
“Why are you putting distance between us, Benedict? Aren’t we so much closer than that or are you still heartbroken about what happened?” she asked him as her lips turned up in a smile, her eyes brightening with hope and something else he did not care to know.
His lips curled with disgust. She was ever the snake he already knew her to be. She had so easily shed her fake emotion of hurt and replaced it with the true her. Of course, she wanted him to be heartbroken over her actions. That would make it clear to her that she had power over him and she loved nothing more than to be in control.
It was too bad for her that he saw her for who she truly was. He would not give her the satisfaction to think that he was still hung up on her.
“I am by no means heartbroken, Lady Terell. I don’t think I ever was,” Benedict said blankly.
Her eyes grazed over him, her mouth pulling down. “How could you say such a thing, Benedict? We were meant to be together,” she said in a small voice.
Despite his irritation at having to stand before her and listen to the meaningless words that she spoke, a part of him was amused as she made herself appear small and looked up at him with a pitiful expression like she truly meant what she just said. Perhaps that could work on anyone else, but it certainly wouldn’t work on him.
“Did you not know that when you absconded just before our wedding and left me to deal with the consequences of your actions with no remorse?” he asked her.
“But I was only doing what I thought would make me happy and I thought that as my friend, you would want that for me as well,” she said, her voice shaky.
Benedict took a step in her direction. “If you really believed that we were friends, you would have at the very least, explained yourself instead of running off. You would not have been so comfortable doing what you did and returning so freely to show yourself to me as if your actions bear no consequence.”
“I knew you would be able to take care of yourself while I was away but I’ve always known we were meant to be together,” she said, looking like she believed what she was saying.
Benedict sneered at her. He could not understand how he had managed to be friends with her for so long and how he had allowed himself to be coerced into marrying her. Her running away from him had turned out to be the best thing she could ever have done for him although it angered him still to see her.
“If there is one thing I am quite sorry for, it is that it took me so long to realize that what kind of a witch you are,” he paused when she gasped, moving back like he had struck her. “You knew how difficult it was for me to trust people and you used it to your advantage. You reveled in being my only friend and even made it harder for me to make other friends by alienating me without my knowledge,” he spat at her.
