Sebastian’s eye twitched at her words, his gaze intense. “Is that what you think I did?”
“It is what Iknowyou did. You and Reginald and all the men like you, you sit around giving orders, but what do you know of work? What do you know of actuallywantingsomething?”
And there they were - the tears. They burned as they fell down her cheeks. She hated them - wanted them to dry up in an instant. She did not want to display sadness when all she felt was fury.
Sebastian sat up straighter. “Workis not something that you ever would have been able to do, no matter how much you wanted it.” He said it with pure vitriol, nearly spitting the words out until Augusta felt numbed to his burn. Then, something in him softened. With a scoff, he ran his hands through his hair.
“God, I thought we were both sensible people. How did the two of us get so caught up in our own ridiculous schemes?”
“Do not compare what I have done to your lies. They are not the same in the least.”
“I am not saying our sins are equal. Only that neither of us seems good at avoiding the embarrassment and scandal that we so obviously despise.”
Augusta shook her head in disbelief. Feeling as though she could burst, she stood suddenly, tossing her napkin to the table where it landed unceremoniously in her eggs. “I find I am no longer hungry. Good day, my lord.”
She only made it a few steps before the sound of Sebastian’s chair scraping backwards hit her ears.
“Where are you going?” he demanded.
“I am going to see Ginny,” she lied.
“I will be checking to ensure that that is true.”
She halted at the dining room door and spun around. “Check all you want, my lord. As you appear to have nothing better to do, I am sure that it will keep your little mind busy.”
The rage in his expression only made her strides more confident as she swept from the dining room and out the door, only pausing to grab her overcoat. It was, after all, a long walk to her destination.
As she stormed the sidewalks with more purpose than she hadever experienced in her life, she thought of the Society- the women studying alongside her, all the women who had died before the law had changed to allow them into university, and all the women who would surely die before the law was changed to allow them to work.
And itwouldchange. She was certain of that now in a way she had never been before. If she had to see to it herself, then so be it. Someone was going to listen to her, damn it. Someone was going to let her speak, and it had better be with a megaphone, this time.
It was this thought that led her through the door of the building, down a long hall of offices, and through a door which was labeled, in gold letters, DR. PINKTON.
Inside, the man sat at his large oak desk eating what appeared to be roast beef.
She slapped her hands down on his desk, earning her a startled look from him. His forkful of food remained frozen in his hand, his mouth hanging open.
“I have changed my mind,” she said in a rush. “I wish to speak at the rally.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Sebastian wondered how many times he would have to stand outside of his own chamber door, afraid of the woman within.
Evidently, at least one more time.
There he stood, having heard from the servants that she had returned from her outing. The outing which he was positive had not been to see Miss Greene. Now he would have to apologize for yet another sin against his wife, which she was sure to dismiss.
He hadn’t meant to speak cruelly to her this morning. But he had wanted her to see what she had risked by playing out her scheme. He’d wanted to know for himself, beyond a doubt, that his wife understood what she was doing.
He’d walked away believing that she did understand it, and largely did not care. This had surprised him beyond measure. The Augusta he had married weeks ago was so in line with the crowd. To hear her speak of being tossed from thetonso casually had made him wonder if he’d known her at all.
How had he gotten here?
Completely by his own hand, that was how. And now, he would have to get out by his own hand as well.
He knocked on the door before he could convince himself to turnaround and walk away.
The silence this time was shorter than the last. As ridiculous as it seemed, this gave Sebastian a sick hope.
