“I simply…well, I have been thinking a great deal about something, and an opportunity has arisen, and I might have said yes to it.”
She took a shallow breath, then a deeper one, as if to brace herself. Then, she stood up from her chair and walked over to the window, leaving him with only a view of her back.
“There have been enough lies between us already,” she said. “Besides, you have made it quite clear that you will inquire about my whereabouts if necessary. So I thought you ought to knowthat I will be speaking on behalf of the Society of Women in Medicine during a rally next weekend.”
Society of Women in…
Memories of news articles came flooding back to him. Rough, blue-stocking women causing trouble. Rowdy crowds. Jail.
All silly thoughts of starting afresh in Derbyshire quickly evaporated.
“I shall only be on stage for a few moments,” Augusta rushed to say, twisting around to face him again with pleading in her eyes.
He stood, and as he did so, he wondered whether he ought to call a doctor. Or, rather, an exorcist.
“The Society of Women in Medicine?” he asked.
She nodded, trying to look confident, but failing. “Yes, the very same.”
He blinked. Surely he would awaken soon. Likely back in his study, with his financial papers sticking to his face, still full of foolish hope.
“Those women have been jailed.”
“Some, yes.”
“You are a viscountess.”
“I assure you, they are aware of that.”
He scoffed, unable to offer a retort for several long moments.
“So, what then? Are you going to set fire to buildings now?”
“I…” she started, then stopped to slow down. “I would set fire to this whole city if I thought it would make a difference. It is only that I did not know it until now.”
Sebastian did not believe he could have been more surprised tohear such radical talk. Even knowing of her past subterfuge, he’d never thought that she would take it to such a degree. And yet, if she’d intended to make him think, then it worked.
“You…you cannot. Augusta, you are…” He exhaled sharply, his thoughts running too fast for his words to catch up. “People die at these kinds of rallies. People get antsy and riotous, and suddenly there are bodies in the streets. If you are stirring the pot, you could be targeted.”
“I understand your concern, but I am simply to wait behind the stage, then perform my speech, then retreat. I will not be in the crowd at any point, and I have no reason to believe my life could be in danger.”
“Perhaps not, but your reputation will surely be ruined.”
Augusta looked down at her hands then, fiddling with her fingers. It was what she had done that day in his study, when they’d finally spoken about everything and she’d asked him to allow her to continue on in her work. She was wildly afraid of him, of what he would say to her.
“Yes. About that. I do not believe that it will be the complete ruination that you may imagine, but I cannot deny that it will cause scandal. That is why I would like to offer you the opportunity to negotiate an agreement between us.”
Sebastian threw his hands up in frustration. “I don’t want to negotiate, I want you to tell the Society that you are no longer speaking.”
This was the breaking point, he knew. He could tell her no. He could lock her away the day of the speech and ensure that she never had the chance to make waves again. He wanted her to go north with him, to start over, to forget all of this.
But he wouldn’t.
And she wouldn’t.
And that made him realize, for the first time, precisely what the outcome of all this would be.
“I am sorry,” Augusta said after a long moment. “I wish that you could have married someone different from myself. But the fact remains that you married me, and I cannot change the way that I am.”
