“I really wish you would erase that idea from your mind and simply read for the sake of enjoyment only,” she said, biting her lips.
Benedict studied her quietly, his eyes never straying from hers. He smiled suddenly, the small action causing a bigger reaction in her. She turned from him and looked out the window, squinting. She couldn’t understand why she was suddenly so shy in his presence.
He chuckled. “I will consider your request, my betrothed, but I cannot promise that I’ll be so easily convinced.”
The carriage rolled to a stop before he could say anymore and Augusta heaved a deep sigh of relief. She did not know what it was that had changed between them but his teasing and smile suddenly had much of an effect on her.
Calm yourself, Augusta. It is the same man that you have known all this time.
Augusta climbed down the carriage, her hand in Benedict’s as she looked up to take in the gloomy estate Lord Colin lived. They walked up to the door, greeted by the butler who ushered them into the drawing room.
Benedict had sent a calling card immediately after the dinner party, to Lord Dunn, the Marquis and he’d swiftly agreed.
“Your Grace, to what do I owe the honour of your visit?” Lord Dunn asked the moment he stepped into the drawing room.
Benedict got straight to the reason for their visit, his expression changing from the lovely one he usually wore with her, to that of a disappointed and terribly displeased aristocrat.
“It’s about your son, Lord Colin and the way he wished to humiliate my fiancé two nights ago.”
Lord Dunn’s face turned a ghostly shade of white as Benedict filled him in on his son’s affairs.
“I am terribly sorry for my son’s actions. I cannot understand why he would choose to bring shame to me in that manner,” he said, ringing for the butler who arrived swiftly.
“You called for me, my lord.”
“Yes, have Colin come in here,” he said, his voice steeped with wrath.
“What is this I hear about your actions at the dinner party?” his voice boomed as Colin stood before him, shaking with fear.
“I do apologize, Father. I assure you it was not my intention to do so. I disliked the lady for her actions but I never thought about doing any of this to her. It was Lady Juliet who put me up to this. She paid to have Lady Augusta’s reputation smeared so she could have her out of the way. I already didn’t like Lady Augusta so I thought it was the perfect plan to make her pay,” he confessed.
Augusta gasped as she listened to his confession. How could anyone so easily seek to destroy her when all she did was protect those who needed it.
“You and Juliet conspired to ruin her, and yet you stand here with little remorse, passing the blame around as though you were not responsible for the choices that you made. How dare you?” Benedict raged angrily, his hands balled into fists as his eyes shot arrows at Colin.
“Your Grace, I must apologize for my son. Please, forgive his stupidity. I assure you I will see that he’s punished for what he has done.” he turned to Augusta. “I apologize, my lady. I didn’t know any of this was underway else I would have done everything in my power to put a stop a stop to it.”
For the rest of their very short visit, Augusta was out of it, her mind reeling from Colin’s confession and the hatred a woman she didn’t know felt towards her.
CHAPTER29
Benedict was tired. While Juliet had turned out to be a big disappointment with her obsession with herself and with him, he had never expected her to take the steps that she did just to make sure that she could have him.
After his conversation with her at the dinner party, he’d already known that she had bad intentions, however, he hadn’t thought that she would actually hire Colin as a way to get Augusta out of the way.
He still got angry whenever he was reminded of the scared look on her face as she resigned herself to being caught with someone like him. her reputation would have been damaged beyond repair, all because someone had decided to take advantage of the help she rendered and use it against her.
Benedict’s hand bunched into fists. This had gone on for long enough. He had allowed Juliet to do as she pleased because it had no direct effect on him and he knew that she would soon tire and move on to her next victim. That had turned out to be a grave mistake on his part, one he had no intention of making again.
Benedict had his eyes on Augusta. He’d been watching her ever since they found out about Juliet’s involvement in what had happened to her.
“I cannot fathom what I could have possibly done to make her do this to me. I have never even spoken to her,” she said.
Benedict winced at her upset tone. Her eyes showed her despair as she looked out the window after those words. It was the first thing she’d said since then and she didn’t seem to want to say anything else about the matter.
“I apologize for what you have gone through in the hands of Lady Juliet. She has always been extremely selfish. She’s been that way ever since we were children and it has become clear that she will never change and become better,” he apologized.
Augusta remained silent, her eyes fixed outside the small window. Benedict sighed. He wished she talk to him but he also knew that she needed time to herself to take all of this in and figure out a way to move past it.
