Page 78 of The Rise of a Forsaken Lady
“My Lady?” Martha asked quietly.
“Nothing,” Penelope said, vowing to not tell Martha about her find and only ask Heath when he got back.
She got back to her room where a tray of tea and sandwiches rested on the table. Taking her place beside it, she took the tea and sipped it. Martha’s eyes were on her, but she took painstaking care to drink her tea. Martha’s eyes lingered on her for another long while but gave up soon.
What on Earth are those instruments?
She was halfway through the second sandwich, surprised at how hungry she was when Martha came in with a tight look on her face.
“What?” Penelope asked around a mouthful.
“Lord Hillbrook is here,” she said while settling a card near her. “He is asking for you, My Lady.”
The food was forced down and settled into her stomach wrongly. Looking down at the last square of her meal, now utterly unappetizing, she sighed. “Where is he?”
“The drawing room, My Lady,” Martha said with a slowly-arching eyebrow. “Are you considering seeing him?”
Dropping the last morsel on the plate, she wiped her hands on the napkin. “I think I might have to apologize. I was not…very polite last time we met.”
“Well, if you want to see him…” Martha hedged. “I think is best to get it over with now, don’t you?”
There was no refuting that logic and Penelope stood. “Let us not put off the inevitable.”
Hillbrook was pacing the drawing room, clad in shades of black and grey. His usually-immaculate blond hair was askew like he had raked his hands through his hair. Very unsettling.
“Oh, Lady Penelope,” Hillbrook said with anxiety coloring his tone. “I am beside myself. I cannot stomach knowing that you take me for a cad. I am sorry, My Lady. I passed a boundary I should not have. Please, forgive me.”
Penelope blinked with surprised and blinked again. She had not expected that and fidgeted, “I have to apologize. I behaved wrongly.”
“No,” he said with a tight smile. “You did not. I was out of place with Mr. Moore, and I have paid for it in the past days. I truly do want this to work between us and that cannot happen if I am a jealous cad, despising the presence of any man within ten feet of you.”
She forced a smile on her face, “Green does not favor your complexion, My Lord.”
He smiled a little brighter this time, “I never liked the color. Am I forgiven then?”
“Yes,” she inclined her head while fighting down the conflicted feelings inside her chest. “You are.”
The tense line of his shoulders lessened and bowed. “Thank you.”
An awkward silence began to fill the air, but then, Edward came in and she was inordinately glad for the abrupt presence of her brother. The Earl’s eyes looked between her and Hillbrook and smiled like the sun emerging from under a raincloud.
“All is swept under the rug then,” Edward asked.
“I would say—”
“Yes,” Hillbrook said gaily.
And, just like that, the inch of respect Hillbrook had gained was erased and lobbed back a mile because of his impudence. She turned to Martha as her brother and Hillbrook began speaking. “I’ll see myself out then.”
Before anyone could say a word, she was out and halfway down the corridor with annoyance fueling her feet. Hillbrook had not changed and probably never would. The ting of the metal rods in her pocket shifted her mind to Heath. Her fingers shifted to reach to them but stopped halfway as it would look suspicious.
She barricaded herself in her rooms for the rest of the day, hid the metal rods in the middle of Don Quixote,took her dinner there, as well, and went to sleep with Heath on her mind.
The next morning was a bit unforgiving, as she woke up with the cruel lifelike image…or was it a memory…of Heath arms around her as they rode on Duke’s back. Yes, it was a memory. That night before it all went to hell had been lovely, magical even. She wanted to feel him hold her again.
Hating to open her eyes as the images…the feeling would fade, Penelope prayed that she would not pass another day with Heath gone. She needed to feel comforted that he was well, and then she wanted to ask him about the metal instruments. She could not evade reality anymore and opened her eyes. The ceiling above of her was hard proof of her loss.
Sitting up, she rubbed the back of her hands on her eyes. Shifting her feet out from under the sheets, the soles hit the cold floor and she flinched. Winter surely was coming. Finding her slippers, she stood and grabbed her thick wrapper.
