Augusta excused herself and walked in the direction of the refreshments, stopping only when she was out of their sight before turning around and heading out through the side doors. She was careful to make sure that her sisters did not see her leave.
Augusta had only walked a few minutes, her eyes and ears peeled out for any movement or noise when she heard Benedict’s voice, only it was not much like she’d ever heard him sound before. He was angry and shouting.
She inched closer, confused. Never in the short time that she’d known him, not even during their argument had she thought of him as one who gave in to his anger and exploded with rage.
She had not noticed the person opposite him until she angled her body in a way that she could see them without giving herself away.
Why is he shouting at a lady like that?
If there was one thing she could’ve never thought possible, although she had only known the Duke for a short time, it was that he was not much given to anger. Especially not to a woman. Yet here he was.
She watched as the woman started to cry, her shoulders shaking slightly. Augusta felt compassion for her although she didn’t know who she was. She looked from her to Benedict.Surely, he will feel guilty for making her cry.
Her eyes widened when instead of remorse or guilt, he simply stared at her blankly. Augusta leaned closer to hear what the woman was saying.
“I can’t believe you would break my heart like this,” she cried. “How could you?”
She frowned at the familiarity that she sensed between them as they seemed to really know each other.
Did he already have a lover before he made the bet with me? Is our bet causing a misunderstanding?
The last thing Augusta wanted was to be responsible for the pain of another woman. She watched as the woman turned away and ran off when Benedict said nothing.
Augusta waited until she was certain that the lady would not be returning before she came out hiding and walked up to him.
“Augusta,” he said with shock, clearly not expecting to see her.
“Why did you do that to her, Benedict?” she asked him, not giving him time to say anything.
“What do you mean?”
She scoffed, watching as his brows furrowed. “You’re hurting a lady over a bet.”
“What?”
Augusta glared at him, annoyed with his confused act. “You shouldn’t have entered into this courtship with me. Look how hard she was crying from finding out about it. You hurt her feelings.”
At her words, his face contorted into one of rage from his initial confusion. Augusta had never felt his anger directed to her in this way before. Not even when he had confused her actions the first time they met had he been this angry with her.
“You do not even know what happened and yet you have chosen to take her side,” he said angrily.
“I do not have to know what happened to know that you made her cry. You should never treat a lady in such fashion,” she said, standing her ground.
“Have you considered the fact that you just might be biased, lady Augusta?” Benedict inquired through gritted teeth.
“Biased? When have I ever been biased, Your Grace?” she asked him, utterly irritated. “All I have a done is ask a question and you have given me absolutely no explanation for why a lady speaking to you ran off crying.”
Benedict’s jaw ticked with anger. “You have already decided that I am guilty of whatever it is you have chosen to believe.”
“Perhaps if you have given me a reason to side with you, then I would,” she said, her voice strained with anger.
“You do not need to go around playing hero to every young lady you see, Lady Augusta. Some of them are very undeserving of it. And considering you are not aware of who the victim is in this situation, you shouldn’t be so quick to judge me,” he countered.
Augusta opened her mouth to argue but then she shut it just as quick. Perhaps he was right that she had assumed that he was in the wrong when she saw the lady running off with tears in her eyes and heard her last statement. But in her experience, men could be such despicable monsters to women sometimes.
Despite her anger, she knew there would be something broken and irreversible if she ever said those words to him, especially since a part of her knew that he was not the type of man she often warned ladies to steer clear of.
“Would you care to tell me why you let her cry off then?” she asked in a softer tone.
