Page 49 of Five Nights with a Rakish Duke
She opened her eyes again to see Veronica was staring at her with intensity over the barrel of the pipe.
“What?” Penelope asked, affecting a look of innocence.
“Something tells me the Duke has worked his way under your skin more than you care to admit.”
“I will admit to nothing.”
“Thank you.”
“For what.”
“For that confession,” Veronica said, pointing at her with the mouthpiece of the pipe.
“It was a confession of nothing!” Penelope insisted, sitting straight in her chair once again.
“It was as good as one,” Veronica said with a smile as she sat back. “Well, if you care for him, why can’t you marry the Duke?”
“I…” Penelope trailed off, shifting uncomfortably in her seat as her godmother stared at her, tilting her head to the side in encouraging a quicker response. “He only wants five nights from me, Veronica. He doesn’t want any more. Besides, he is courting my cousin. Not me.”
* * *
“This is hopeless,” Penelope muttered as she extricated herself from her latest suitor. Wrapping her short spencer jacket around her body, she reached for Veronica, eagerly linking their arms together as they walked away from the gentleman across a bridge in Hyde Park.
“What was wrong with Mr. Thorne?” Veronica asked innocently. “He is a wealthy man indeed!”
“His eyes were more concerned with looking at any other lady than me,” Penelope pointed out. They crossed the bridge out onto the other side of the park where there were borders draped in dahlia bushes with tall spindly flowers shaped in purple and pink starbursts. Penelope trailed a hand along the flower heads, trying to think of something else other than her problem with suitors.
“That simply means you would not have a husband that visited you very often at night.”
“Might as well not be married then.”
“I thought that was the state you wanted anyway?” Veronica’s perceptive words made Penelope snap her gaze back toward her. “Ah, I see.” Her husky voice held humor in it. “Could it be that a certain gentleman has made you think that such duties of a marriage bed could be more fun than you first thought?”
“Shh! Someone may hear you,” Penelope urged, looking around the park in fear, but there was no one nearby.
“Your attempt to make me be quiet is a poor one,” Veronica pointed to the empty path around them in protest. “Well, if you have been awakened to the joys of a marriage bed –”
“Veronica!” Penelope blushed, wishing with all her might that she could stop this conversation before it got any further.
“Then we must consider other gentlemen for you. I suppose any gentleman over the age of forty will have to be excluded now.”
“I rather hoped they would be excluded anyway,” Penelope said, wincing. She did not wish to marry a man twice her age, after all.
“Then we come back to a gentleman we have discussed before.” Veronica pulled on her arm, jerking her to a stop. “Who is walking this way now.” Penelope turned her hand, trying to see just who she meant. Adam was walking toward them with a wide smile on his cheeks as he approached.
“I am not marrying my cousin!” she insisted in an agitated whisper.
“You would hardly be the first cousin to marry their –”
“I love Adam as a brother, and he loves me as a sister.” She spoke increasingly quickly, aware that as Adam was getting nearer; he would soon be able to hear what they were saying.
“Are you sure that is all he feels?”
“What?” Penelope asked, her body flinching at the words.
“You said he bought you a new gown and that locket,” Veronica said, pointing down at the necklace around Penelope’s throat.
“He did. It was very kind, the action of a loving cousin.”
