Page 23 of Claimed By Her Forbidden Duke
She leaned towards Penelope. “He says he is my chaperone to distract you from the fact that he rather misses the ton’s way of things.”
“I do not.” The Duke’s response was curt, sharp, and Arabella only rolled her eyes, settling back at his side. “Arabella, this is Finley Stewart, the Marquess of Langwaite, and his sister, Lady Penelope Clarkin.”
Arabella frowned, looking between them. “Forgive me, but I cannot help but notice the two different family names.”
Penelope opened her mouth to explain, but Finley cut in first, and she supposed it only made sense.
“Pen’s mother remarried after losing her first husband. Her second husband was, of course, my father, so we are mere stepsiblings, but that does not stop us from being as close as biological siblings. I look out for Penelope as if we were blood-related, do I not?”
He turned to her expectantly, but she was a moment too late to agree. His eyes narrowed, and she swallowed back guilt at the hurt on his face.
“Yes,” she said quickly. “Yes, indeed.”
Arabella’s gaze flicked between the two of them, seeming inquisitive, but she asked nothing else. All she did was beam at Penelope.
“Well, it is lovely to meet you, Lady Penelope.” She nodded once at Finley. “My Lord.”
She moved closer, trying to tug Penelope from Finley’s side, but he held fast to her.
“Penelope has already had some wine,” he said. “Heaven knows if she was not propped up by me, she might just topple over. It seems she has been inebriated often lately.”
“Brother!” Penelope chided, glaring at him. “Do not say such things. I have not even gone to the refreshments table yet.”
“Me neither,” Arabella answered excitedly. “We should go together! And, oh, do you see over there? Lord Milton is over there. I believe he is here on a long visit from Spain, and that he has family here in London. He might just settle down if he meets the right lady. Shall we go and speak with?—”
“Absolutely not,” Finley spoke darkly. Penelope glanced up at him, seeing how his pleasant expression had shut down into something stoic and unimpressed. “No man present is worthy of my sister. No offense, Blackstone.”
The Duke narrowed his eyes, clearly insulted at being included. “None taken.” But then his eyes slid to Penelope. “I understand what it is like caring for a sister. They can be wicked things when nobody is watching them.”
Penelope tried to mask the way she went rigid at the familiar words.
“But good girls are always the most wicked when no one is watching.”
His parting words to her in the dark. Almost a promise, a challenge—perhaps even a warning.
“And what of the sisters who are always watched?” She could not help her retort, spoken about Finley but aimed at the Duke.
“One cannot be watched constantly,” he answered.
Penelope was aware of Arabella and Finley looking between them, before Finley laughed.
“Well, it is not for a lack of trying. Do you agree, Blackstone?”
“Indeed.” Yet the Duke did not take his eyes off Penelope, not for another minute, until she looked away.
“Lady Arabella, I must take you to meet my friends,” she offered. “They are near the glass swans over there.”
She pointed to the two arched-neck glass swans that framed the doors to the terrace, where her friends were gathered, their gloved hands barely concealing their mouths as they gossiped.
When Mary caught sight of Penelope with the Duke behind her, her eyes widened, and she turned to the other ladies. Daphne and Cecilia both looked, and there was that mischievous excitement in Cecilia’s eyes as she took in the group.
“Why do they look so concerned?” Arabella whispered.
Penelope laughed nervously. “It is quite a complicated story,” she said quietly. “I shall tell you about it another time.”
For if you do not know the rumors about your brother by now, I shall not be the one to tell you about them.
“Edmund, may I go with Lady Penelope to meet her friends?” The hope in Arabella’s voice struck something inside Penelope—desperation, perhaps, a need to be somewhere, to belong in even the smallest of places, among others who did not always feel included.
