I should have gotten rid of him from the very moment she explained why she was always against him.
He raised the hand in his, gently caressing the red bruise Colin had left her with when she tried to escape him. Benedict looked at her and sighed when he saw the distraught look on her face.
“I hope you know that I have never had any interest in Colin,” she said suddenly, her eyes fixed on him. He could tell from the look in her eyes that she’d been worrying about it ever since he happened upon them.
Benedict nodded. His jaw ticked angrily. She never needed to explain something as silly as that to him. He’d have known the truth even if he wasn’t already privy to a part of it because he knew her.
“I never doubted you for a second. I’m sorry if I made you think that I did.”
He turned her bruised hand in his and brought it up to his lips, kissing it softly.
Augusta gasped, her hand stiffening in his grip. He loosened his grip on hers, expecting at any second that she would tear her hand away from his grip but she didn’t.
“What do you think you’re doing?” she asked him, her voice shaky as she spoke.
“Your hand should never be bruised. I’ll make certain that it never happens again,” he said, kissing her hands softly.
Ever since the talk with his sister, Benedict had been thinking of how best to approach her after how he’d made her feel the last time they spoke. He didn’t like the event that led up to this moment that he had her in his arms now but he was glad nonetheless, that he was finally able to speak with her and explain everything to her.
After Letitia finally left him alone, Benedict had been thinking deeply on the best way to do what he was about to do. There had been no way that seemed good enough after how he’d made her feel but he’d reconciled himself with the truth of his feelings and the truth he knew about her. Augusta would never betray his trust.
After seeing her in the position she was in earlier, he was more certain than ever that he was making the right decision. He slipped his hand into his pocket, bringing out the ring and held it out in front of her.
He smiled when her jaw dropped, her eyes staring back and forth between him and the ring. She snapped her mouth shut and tried to speak, stopping herself as she stared up at him blankly.
“What’s going on, Benedict?” she asked him quietly, her brows furrowing.
He sighed. He had hurt her and now she did not dare hope that he was making a promise to her. He wished he could take back all of the hurt she’d felt that night and every other day since then. He would’ve done it without a second’s thought but now, all he could do was tell her how he felt and hope for the best.
“This is my mother’s ring. It’s the official ring of the duchess,” he said, unable to keep the smile from his voice.
Perhaps he should’ve been scared to hand over the ring to her but he’d had enough time to think about this and there was no other finger he would rather place the ring on than hers, no one else he could ever imagine spending his life with than her.
His family had seen how happy she made him and they approved of his choice, had approved even before he spoke to her civilly. He smiled as he remembered the night he’d been given the ring.
He jolted back to the present, taking her hand in his once more. “Mother gave me this ring because she knew, even before I did, that there was no one else for me than you and now I’m handing it to you, its rightful owner and I hope that you will accept it.”
Augusta stared at him dumbfounded. “I thought you didn’t care for me and didn’t wish to be married?”
Benedict looked away for a moment. “Augusta, I have always cared for you, longer than the first moment I can think to pinpoint as when I first fell in love with you. I’m sorry I made you doubt my love for you but it has never been in question.”
“I was a fool and a coward for not confessing how I truly felt about you sooner and for allowing the past to have a say in how my future must go. Because of my fears, I almost lost you. You’re the best part of this season, the best thing that has ever happened to me. When I’m with you, everything is colorful and I can go through the anything that’s tossed my way.”
Augusta lifted her hands to her face, her eyes showing her disbelief at what was happening. As he spoke, the disbelief in her gaze slowly morphed into excitement. He smiled, pulled in by her reaction as he slowly got down on one knee.
“I have let my fears hold me back for long enough and I cannot continue to allow it to do so, not when it’s with someone as important as you. Augusta, I have seen my life without you in the past days where we stayed away from each other and our courtship was over and it was a dreary time for me. I don’t believe Matthew can take any more of my depressed state,” he said, grinning when she laughed, all the confusion and anger fading completely from her eyes.
Sounds of audible gasps and whispers reached their ears and Augusta’s eyes widened as she stared at them. Benedict waited patiently on his knee. He had eyes only for her and cared not about how many people watched him propose to her. As long as she accepted him, he would be happy if everyone could watch the moment he became the happiest man.
She turned to him finally and he blocked out the noise as he waited nervously for her to answer. “You’re right. You’re a fool for ever thinking you needed to hide your love because of your fears and you’re a coward.”
Her downward turned lips made a slow progression from a frown into a straight line as she pursed her lips and then, she smiled at him, her eyes glowing with love and happiness. “Although you are those things, I love you anyway and yes, I will marry you.”
With those words, she made him the happiest person ever. Benedict slipped the ring onto her slender fingers and stood up, kissing her hand as shouts of congratulations reached him from the onlookers.
CHAPTER28
In the years since Augusta started her first season, there’d been one thought that remained in her head above all else, and that was that she never wished to be married.
