Page 49 of Scars of a Passionate Revenge
“You stupid girl! You idiot!” the baroness shouted.
Benedict groaned again. He could stand it no longer. He allowed the blackness to engulf him and fell into unconsciousness.
***
Alice wiped away her tears and took a deep breath, then shoved the letter into her pocket.
Her immediate instinct on reading the terrible words that Benedict had written was that she wanted to go back to London, to leave this house party and all its painful memories behind. But in the time that she had spent on this bench, alone, considering all the things that had happened in the last few days, she had decided against it.
Because if she went home to London, she would have to face Dorothea, and all her questions. Her stepmother would be expecting an engagement, not a scandal, and Alice knew that she needed a few more days to prepare herself before throwing herself into the bear pit.
She sighed and stood up. She would have to stay here until the end of the house party, as planned, and then return home to London with Clara. She had resolved already to ask her friend if she could stay with her for a few days after their return, just to delay the pain of returning home. And she knew, too, that she would enjoy the relative tranquility of Clara’s home, a little outside the city.
She thought that plunging herself back into the busy center of London life straight away, following the rural tranquility of the house party, would be too much for her to bear, especially with the pain that she was now carrying in her heart, since learning of Benedict’s betrayal.
She started to walk slowly back towards the house. She still could not believe that Benedict, who she had known for all these years, could really be capable of doing such a thing to her. She had given him her trust, her love, and her virtue, and he had thrown it all back in her face. And now there would almost certainly be a scandal.
She was immensely relieved that the letter had fallen into her own hands, and not her father’s, but she also knew that this would only delay the scandal. Benedict would begin to spread the story far and wide, to ensure that her father was fully shamed and that her own reputation was destroyed.
Scandal seemed inevitable now, and Alice wondered if it was at all possible that she could enjoy these last few days, before the story broke and her dishonor and shame was the talk of every breakfast table and every card party in polite society.
She forced herself to go into the drawing room and join the rest of the party, even though all she wanted to do was flee to the solitude of her own room. But she was desperate to see Clara’s familiar face, even if she did not confess everything to her friend just now.
“Oh, Alice,” Clara cried when she saw her. “I was just wondering where you had got to! Come and sit with me.”
Alice followed Clara across the room to a window seat, a little set apart from the rest of the group, and the two girls sat down close together.
“Cecil has just told me that he is leaving too,” Clara whispered.
“Oh?” Alice hoped that her friend’s potential romance was not also doomed to failure; at least one of them deserved to be happy, surely, after everything that had happened over the last few days.
“It is not so terrible,” Clara replied. “Although I shall miss him. He said he wants to go and check on Benedict, since he left so suddenly, and also that he too has some business to attend to in town. I will see him soon, I am sure.” Clara leaned forward and dropped her voice to a whisper. “He said that when we are in London he will begin to court me properly. He said that I am the sweetest girl he has ever met!” Her eyes shone with delight as she shared her news.
Alice felt a pang in her heart. She had hoped to be able to share news just such as this about herself and Benedict, perhaps even to share an engagement, but it was not to be. She would have to bear the shame of the scandal when it came out, and know that she would never see him again.
But she was happy for Clara, of course, and she forced herself to smile. “I am delighted for you, Clara,” she replied. “I knew that it would all turn out for the best.”
Clara nodded. “I am more excited than I can possibly say, Alice!” She looked as if she was about to continue gushing about her own happiness, but she paused and looked at Alice closely. “Are you quite well? You look very pale?”
“I must admit that I am feeling very tired,” Alice said softly. “I feel that I need to rest, rather than join in with whatever everyone has planned for this afternoon. Perhaps then I will feel better this evening.”
Clara frowned. “Has something happened?”
Alice shook her head. “No, indeed, I just did not sleep very well last night. I will go and have a nap now, and I will be right as rain by dinner time.”
***
A little while later, Alice lay in her bed, the curtains in her room drawn tightly but the sunshine from outside still managing to find its way into the room. Normally Alice would have enjoyed their warm rays, but now she wished for darkness. She closed her eyes and eventually fell into a fitful sleep.
His hands were all over her body as they lay together naked in a four-poster bed. He moved so that he was lying on top of her, his weight resting on his hands, and he stared into her eyes.
“Alice, I am so glad that you are my wife, at last, and all the pain is behind us.”
He pressed his lips against hers and she opened her mouth, hungrily receiving his tongue as he pushed it into her mouth and explored every corner.
She let out a groan as he reached down and pushed her legs apart, his hand finding the wetness in her center. He began to caress her and the whole of her body began to tingle under his touch.
She could feel the hardness of him, pressing against her.
