“Thank you for understanding,” he said before turning to Benedict. “You have nothing to fear about your betrothed’s safety. I suppose that is the least I can do for you, considering how much pain my daughter has caused you.”
Benedict held back from reaching out to the man as he stood on heavy legs. He appeared to have aged since the time that they arrived for the visit.
“I will have her sent to her aunt to live at the monastery. Perhaps if she surrounds herself with people who live right, she might learn to cultivate some good behavior from them. as impossible as it sounds, I still hold out hope that my daughter will someday be better than she is now.”
“Father, how could you do this to me?” Juliet burst into the drawing room, yelling.
Lord Terell scoffed, his eyes heavy with disappointment. “It is highly unladylike for you to stand behind doors and listen in on conversations you should have no business listening to.”
Juliet ignored her father’s chastisement, glaring at Augusta with so much venom instead. She turned to her father finally. “You cannot send me away to the monastery. I will not go.”
“You will go wherever I tell you to and that is final, Juliet. I should not have to repeat myself especially when you live under my roof and with my finances,” he said in a grave tone.
“It’s not fair at all,” she whined. "You always choose Benedict instead of me even though I am your daughter and he is just the son of your friend. Perhaps you should have adopted him as your child and sent me away all those years ago instead of taking his side every time.”
Benedict watched in complete awe as she whined and stomped her feet like a child. He had always known her to be selfish and spoilt but he had never seen such a ridiculous display from her before. She had thrown tantrums whenever she didn’t get her way but now, it seemed instead of maturing and growing out of her negative habits, she seemed to embrace the even more.
“You will not embarrass me more than you already have, Juliet,” he bellowed, shocking her as she stopped her stomping to stare at him with wide eyes.
“When you chose to run away and abandon Benedict, I had let it happen only because it would do him no good to be married to a woman who didn’t want him. You’ve caused me more grief than any daughter has ever caused her father but I knew that letting things happen as you wanted them would be the best way to avoid any unnecessary drama and embarrass Benedict some more.”
“You are still thinking about Benedict only and not what I want,” she screamed before pointing a hand at Augusta. “This woman here stole him away from me. he would have come back to me if it hadn’t been for her placing herself where she shouldn’t be.”
“Is that why you chose instead to ruin her reputation?” the Marquis asked incredulously.
“She deserved everything she got. She should have known when to leave him alone but she didn’t. he’s mine and no one else’s.”
“You have gone too far, Juliet. Where did I go wrong in raising you other than making your life easier than that of other people. Benedict is not some toy that you can pick and discard whenever you feel like it. You have crossed a line and I fear there is no going back for you if you cannot see how you have done wrong,” he said, almost matching her tone.
Juliet yelled, the sound of her voice startling Augusta. “You. it’s all your fault and I will make you pay.”
She launched at Augusta, screaming as she went. The Marquis caught her before she could do any harm just as Benedict stood in front of Augusta. He had been silent all along as he let the marquis deal with it his own way, knowing that he deserved that respect, however, now, he was too angry to let this continue on for much longer.
He held onto Augusta who let out a shaky breath and the sound annoyed him even more. There was no way he could stand around while his woman was assaulted and insulted.
“I urge you not to try anything stupid, Lady Juliet. I am not yours to do with as you please. You made your decision to leave and I respected it, however, you cannot simply waltz back into my life just because you were disappointed in what you considered to be a better option. There will never be me and you. I need you to understand that before it is too late to do so.”
Augusta held his arm and he calmed, letting his anger fizzle out just as quickly as it had come. He held her closer and tuned to the marquis one last time.
“Thank you for your hospitality and once again I am sorry to drop by unannounced like this. We will be taking our leave now.”
The marquis nodded, his eyes losing whatever little happiness had remained when he was filled in on Juliet’s actions. He held on to his crazy daughter as she continued to scream and rain curses at Augusta.
“I apologize once again for my daughter’s misdemeanor. I promise I will take care of this at once and you will not have to see her ever again. I wish you all the best and I wish the circumstances for our meeting had been different, Lady Augusta.”
The butler closed the door behind them, silencing Juliet’s enraged screams. Benedict held onto Augusta tightly. It was all over now.
CHAPTER30
“Calm yourself, brother. I can sense your nervousness from here,” Letitia stifled a laugh, her hand fan fluttering gently as she fanned herself.
“Be quiet, Leti,” the Dowager Duchess scolded although her lips were curled up in a smile. “When you finally find the man who makes you happy, you will be as nervous as he is right now.”
Benedict sat with his back pressed tensely against the seat of his carriage, his mother and sister sitting opposite him. Letitia did not know just how nervous he was, otherwise, she wouldn’t have been so merciful with her teasing.
It had been four days since he asked Augusta to marry him after he feared he’d lost his chance with her. He was grateful that she accepted his proposal. He couldn’t imagine his life without her now. She’d changed him from the man he was, so scared to trust, to love, to the man he had now become who was willing to take a leap and marry the woman he loved without fear and previous reservations.
If there was one thing that Benedict was certain of, it was that she would never purposely go out of her way to break his trust or do anything that would make him think she did not care for him. he had seen her love for him as clear as day in her eyes while she stood, Lord Colin towering over her as she willed him to believe her.
