Page 56 of Persuading Penny
“Are you all right, dear?”
“Yes.” I looked at her. “Aunt Sally”
“Yes?”
“Aunt Sally,” I said with difficulty. “Would this young man happen to go by the name Steve Seagram?”
“Yes!”she said rather excited. “That’s it exactly. Have you already heard the rumor here in Bath?”
I shook my head.
“Then how do you...?” She gasped, her delicate hand coming to block her parted lips. “Penny. Oh, Penny. Please tell me that you’re not the girl he’s looking to take advantage of. Oh, Penny.”
I nodded. “I’m afraid so.”
She backed up and looked me up and down. “Did you...? I mean, have you been... you know?”
“No. We’ve never been intimate.” Come to think about it, we’d never even kissed, other than a peck on the cheek.
“Oh. Thank goodness.”
I closed my eyes in shame. “I’m so embarrassed.”
“Don’t be, honey. Like I said, the man is a charmer. I’m sure he did everything he could to weasel his way into your life.”
“He has, indeed, been charming. He’s very agreeable and easy to be with.”
She looked at me with tender concern in her eyes. “Oh, dear. Are you in love with the scoundrel?”
Smiling, I shook my head. “No.” I let out a snort and found my shame fading as pride took over. For all his charm, he had not won my heart. “Actually, that’s exactly what I realized last night.” I looked into her eyes. “He proposed last night. He told me I was a one in a million woman who made him feel like he’d never felt before.”
She immediately looked down at my hands.
“No, Aunt Sally. That’s the thing. There is no ring...I mean, there was...a very beautiful ring, but I haven’t answered him yet. While I was flattered by the proposal, something just didn’t feel right. Besides the fact that we’ve only known each other for a few weeks, I realized that I’m not in love with him. Oh, there’s affection and respect, but not love. Come to think of it, as he proposed last night, he never even mentioned love. He talked about marriage and kids and a house and a future, but nothing about love.”
She grasped my shoulders. “I’m so happy to hear that you didn’t fall for him, honey. After all, you are a little naïve when it comes to matters of the heart. He could have reeled you in, insist you elope and before you know it he owns Copperfield Corner and he’s turning it into Seagram Mall.”
I laughed.Maybe I’m not quite as naïve as you think, Aunt Sally.“Truth is, since the very beginning, there’s been something that was a little...a little off about him. There was something too smooth and practiced, too rehearsed. I tried to ignore it and tell myself that he was simply that worldly. That everything came so easily to him; the amused laughter and always knowing what to say. But there was always this lack of sincerity that bothered me.
She cupped my cheeks. “Perhaps you're not as naïve as I once thought. You’ve grown up, my little Penny. You're a lot more mature than you were so many years ago.”
The back door to the cottage opened and my father came out, a white envelope in his hand.
“Please don’t say anything to Dad about the proposal,” I quickly told Aunt Sally. “He’s determined to have me marry a rich man set to inherit millions. I’m sure he’d be happy to see Copperfield Corner demolished if it meant I’d be married to a Seagram.”
“Nothing about the proposal.” She zipped her lips shut. “But, leave it to me. I’ll deal with your father.”
“This is a sign of a well-bred man,” Dad said, waving the envelope in the air.
“What do you have there, Boris?”Aunt Sally said.
I was afraid to hear the answer. Had Steve been so bold as to bypass me and ask my father for my hand in marriage?
No. Surely, he wasn’t that old-fashioned.
“This,” Dad said, a little breathless as he finally reached us. “This is what class looks like.”
“What is it, Dad?”
