Chapter 14 #2
“Oh, please,” Temperance ignored the insult entirely. “She was distracted in the carriage as well.”
“I was not. Now you are making things up at my expense.”
“You were. Charity asked whether Sarah had enjoyed the books she sent, and you answered that the weather had been pleasant.”
Augusta frowned. “Did I?”
It was truly a surprise to her as well, just how far off she had wandered in her own mind.
“And it’s doubly concerning that you seem to not even have a recollection of it.”
Charity’s amusement had begun to give way to curiosity. “I assumed you had not heard me, but now I am beginning to think something happened last night.”
Nothing in Charity’s tone was accusatory, but Augusta immediately felt herself becoming warm.
Temperance saw it. Her eyes widened slightly, and then a slow smile appeared. “Oh.”
Augusta looked at her suspiciously. “What does that mean?”
“It means I have just become considerably more interested in your distraction.”
“There is nothing to be interested in,” Augusta tried to shrug it off.
“There absolutely is. I have known you for years, Augusta, and I have never seen you blush because Charity asked what happened yesterday evening. Did you quarrel with Ravenhill?”
“No.”
“Did he say something? I am sure that it concerns him in some way. I know how young girls act, and you are abiding by the book.”
“No, I think you’re imagining things.”
“Right, tell that to someone who might just believe you.” Temperance’s smile deepened. “Did he do something?”
Augusta stared at her. How had she figured it out so easily?
Her silence was apparently answer enough.
Charity set the green silk aside. “Temperance.”
“What? I am asking her a question,” she replied. “It’s only natural for me to be curious, especially when she is acting this strange. Don’t you think?”
“You are circling her like a hawk. I would say that the girl deserves some breathing space.”
“I am merely being efficient,” Temperance replied. “Besides, I am sure that the rest of you are just as curious as I am, even though you are not saying it outright.”
“Concerned, surely. But maybe not curious,” Alethea smiled. “That is not the word I would have chosen.”
“Oh, please. It is all the same thing,” Temperance insisted. “We all want to know what the duke has done, or not done perhaps, to get you acting like this.”
Augusta glanced toward Madame Laroque and the assistants, all of whom had suddenly found reasons to busy themselves at the far end of the shop. “Could we perhaps not discuss my husband while half the establishment pretends not to hear us?”
Temperance immediately turned toward the modiste. “Madame, may we use the private fitting room?”
Augusta stared at her, mouth agape. Trust Temperance to find a solution to everything.
“That was not what I meant.”
“I know. But this is for your own good,” she laughed. “It helps to clear your mind, you know. Too much overthinking is not good for you, and we are only here to help you out.”
Five minutes later Augusta found herself sitting in the private fitting room with Charity on one side of her, Alethea near the window, and Temperance directly opposite her with the unmistakable expression of a woman prepared to remain there until the truth was extracted.
“This is absurd,” Augusta said. She felt as though she was being presented before a panel of judges. Though these judges only had the best of intentions for her.
So that was at least some comfort for her.
Temperance folded her hands in her lap. “Then end the absurdity quickly and tell us what happened. Come on, I know that you wish to do so.”
“Nothing happened,” Augusta maintained at first.
“Then tell us about the nothing.”
It was clear that they were not going to drop the topic so easily. Augusta looked toward Charity for help.
“You can’t really blame us, dear,” her sister smiled apologetically. “I am afraid I am curious too.”
“You are supposed to protect me,” she feigned hurt.
“I have protected you from many things. Temperance’s curiosity is beyond my abilities. You know that she has a mind of her own, and it is difficult to stop her when she puts her mind to something.”
Temperance looked pleased. “Very wise. Good. Now can we please stop wasting time?”
Alethea shook her head, though she was smiling as well. “You do not have to tell us anything you truly wish to keep private, Augusta. But you have clearly been thinking about something all morning, and if it is troubling you, perhaps it would help to say it aloud.”
That was precisely the sort of reasonable suggestion Augusta had hoped nobody would make.
She looked down at her gloves. “It is not troubling me.”
Yes, trouble was not the word she would use. Because it meant something negative. Surely, what she was experiencing was not negative but just confusing, perhaps.
Temperance leaned forward. “Excellent. Then it is exciting.”
“Must there be only two possibilities?”
“When a newly married woman spends an entire morning thinking about her husband? Usually.”
Augusta closed her eyes briefly. There was no escaping them.
Even if she refused now, Temperance would simply resume asking questions in the carriage, and Charity would undoubtedly watch Augusta with that quiet, patient expression until Augusta confessed everything simply to make her stop.
“If you really must know…” she sighed. “Ronan almost kissed me.”
For perhaps two full seconds, none of the women reacted. Then Temperance leaned forward so quickly that Augusta almost recoiled.
“He what?”
Augusta immediately regretted the confession. “You heard me.”
“I did, but I want to hear it again.”
“Temperance.”
Charity’s eyes had widened, but unlike Temperance, she seemed more delighted than scandalized. “When?”
“Last night.”
“After dinner?”
“Yes.”
Alethea sat down beside Charity. “And when you say almost…”
“I mean almost. He did not actually kiss me.”
Temperance looked offended on Augusta’s behalf. “Why not?”
“How should I know?”
“You were there.”
“That does not mean I had access to his thoughts.” Augusta’s cheeks warmed again. “I am beginning to regret telling you any of this.”
Charity reached for her hand. “Ignore Temperance. Tell us what happened.”
Augusta looked at her sister, then at Alethea. Both were waiting without impatience now.
She drew a breath. “It began the evening before, I suppose. Ronan, Sarah, and I spent some time together. We were reading stories, and Sarah eventually fell asleep. Ronan and I were sitting close to one another, and our legs touched. It was nothing. Truly. It should have been nothing. But suddenly I became so aware of him that I could hardly think. My palms were warm, my face felt hot, and when he noticed and asked whether I was ill, he touched my forehead.”
Temperance’s lips twitched but Alethea intervened. “Continue.”
Augusta sighed. “I panicked and told him it was late. He thought I was sick. Apparently he continued thinking that, because last night after Gregory left he asked whether I was feeling better.”
They were listening to every word that Augusta was saying now, and she felt herself blush deeply.
“He kept asking what had been wrong with me, and I kept insisting that I had never actually been ill. Eventually we stood to leave. We reached the door together and ended up rather close.”
“How close?” Temperance asked.
Augusta refused to answer.
“Very close, then.”
“Would you stop interrupting?”
Temperance pressed her lips together. “I am only trying to extract all the details I can out of her.”
Augusta continued. “I stepped away from him. He noticed and asked whether he had done something wrong. I told him no, but apparently I moved away again, and then he became convinced I was angry with him.”
Alethea smiled faintly. “That sounds rather sweet.”
“It did not feel sweet while he was interrogating me.”
Charity laughed. “What happened then?”
“He asked whether I was afraid of him.”
The laughter disappeared.
Augusta’s voice softened. “I told him I was not. He seemed… concerned by the possibility. More than I expected.”
Charity’s expression became thoughtful. “Considering what he told you about his first wife, I suppose he would be.”
“Yes.” Augusta looked down at her hands. “I think I understood that afterward. He was not offended exactly. He seemed afraid that he had repeated something without realizing it.”
Alethea said quietly, “And you reassured him?”
“I tried. I told him he had done nothing to frighten me. I meant it.”
Temperance’s tone softened as well. “Good.”
Augusta nodded. “Then he noticed something on my face. I must have had a little chocolate near my mouth from dessert. He tried to tell me where it was; I kept missing it, and eventually he came closer to wipe it away himself.”
Temperance’s eyes brightened again.
Augusta ignored her.
“I moved, and he put his hand around my waist to steady me.”
Charity smiled, and Alethea’s expression shifted into immediate understanding.
Temperance looked as though she might burst.
Augusta gave them all a warning glance. “If any of you laugh, I am leaving.”
“Nobody is laughing,” Charity said.
Temperance looked pained by the effort.
Augusta continued. “I gasped. He thought he had frightened me, so he started to pull away. But then he looked at me and realized that was not why I had reacted.”
“How did he realize?” Alethea asked.
Augusta looked at her, and Alethea’s smile deepened.
“You were blushing.”
Charity laughed and squeezed Augusta’s hand. “And then?”
Augusta’s embarrassment returned so strongly that she considered inventing an interruption. Perhaps the shop might catch fire. Perhaps the king might arrive.
Nothing obliging occurred. “He told me to look at him.”
Alethea gave Augusta a slow, knowing smile.
Augusta immediately became defensive. “Do not all look at me like that.”
“Like what?” Charity asked.
“As though something extraordinary happened.”