Benedict sighed. He ran a hand down his face before looking at her. She waited for him to close off and tell her that he did not need to explain himself to her but instead, he nodded.
“That lady you just saw was once my betrothed. She broke our engagement without any explanation, and just before our wedding too.”
Augusta gasped. “What?”
“I have never been one to trust people easily and she knew it. We were friends from when we were younger and she was my only friend. I did not know why until too late. She often told people I had no intention of being friends with them and I didn’t like them, whenever they tried to get close to me,” he continued.
“Eventually, they stopped trying to be friendly as news had already spread about the image she created of me. My father had always wanted me to marry her and I suppose it was perfectly logical that I should, considering how long I had known her. However, after we were betrothed, she broke things off and left. This is the first time I have seen her since then.”
“Oh,” she said, biting her lips. Augusta was aghast but somewhat relieved to know that she had been wrong. While it felt terrible to realize that there were times when her desire to help could do more harm than good, she was happy to know that she had not truly been wrong about Benedict.
“Indeed, Lady Augusta.” He stood with his eyes boring into hers, not an ounce of amusement in them.
Augusta knew that although she sought to protect ladies, there were some who could be extremely vile and pretend to be innocent until they were caught. This interaction with Benedict had taught her to ask questions and try to find out the truth first before jumping into conclusion, no matter how glaringly obvious the truth seemed.
“I do apologize for my actions, Your Grace. It was quite out of turn and unseemly for me to attack you with accusations the way that I did,” she said, filled with remorse.
“I do forgive you, Lady Augusta. However, I will be glad to put this behind us,” he said.
Augusta knew what he meant and she nodded. Not a word of what he had told her would be uttered to anyone else. Although she was certain there were many who already knew of it, still, she would speak of it again. It was the least she could do after her accusations.
She stood still for a moment. There was no sound, neither from them nor from the ball going on inside. Augusta’s eyes widened. She had been so carried away earlier that she had not realized that they were all alone.
She stumbled back. “We should go back in. I did not realize that we were alone and quite far from the hall too. It will be a scandal if we were to be found out here.”
She turned to leave, not waiting for him to follow after her and had taken but a few steps when his hand on hers stopped her in her tracks. She looked from his hand to his face, confused.
“Do you not want to know the reason why she was crying earlier? I did explain to you what she did wrong and why I was not sympathetic despite her tears but not what had caused her to cry.”
“Oh, I had assumed that…” she stopped when his brows lifted and smiled at him sheepishly. “Do go on, please.”
“The lady wanted to get back together,” he said.
“Oh, I see.” She bit her bottom lip, looking away from him. Would he consider it? After all, she appeared to have been sincere and their courtship was fake. There was nothing stopping him.
“I rejected her. That is the real reason she was crying. She could not understand why I couldn’t just take her back after she disappeared and be grateful for it.”
Augusta scoffed. “That is absurd.”
“Yes, quite so,” Benedict said, walking up to her. “I am glad to see that you are annoyed at the right person this time and have taken my side to protest her ridiculousness.”
Augusta smiled bashfully, her cheeks turning pink. She hoped that he would not be able to see her in the moonlit space. He was standing very close to her. Even closer than they had been when they danced.
Her breath caught in her throat as she lifted her face to look up at him. Her lips parted when he lowered his head to hers. She could feel his warm breath caressing the side of her face, his eyes darting from hers down to her lips and then back again as if he sought her permission to kiss her.
Kiss me already,she willed him. she wanted terribly to feel his lips on hers, to taste them. To feel his hands wrap around her in a sweet embrace. Her eyes flickered close but just then the warmth from his body near hers disappeared.
She opened her eyes in confusion. He had pulled away from her and was staring at her with a strange expression. Augusta was embarrassed. Had she misunderstood? Did he not want to kiss her?
She had so many questions that she could not bring herself to ask in fear of the answer she would get. If she got any at all.
“We should return to the ball before they notice our absence,” he said, gesturing for her to go on.
Augusta eagerly walked in front of him, ready to be back at the ball and be distracted from her embarrassment.
CHAPTER15
“What has become of the world when Lords commit such baseless acts against the lower class and there’s no justice system to hold them accountable?” Matthew scoffed, smacking the top of the paper to get a better view of what he read.
