Page 68 of Her Sinful Duke

She had no idea how long she had been asleep. It could have been a few minutes, but at the same time, it could have been several hours. Penelope had completely lost track of time. The sound of a key turning in the lock jolted her awake. Her heart leaped with a mix of hope and fear.

The heavy door creaked open, and Ciara appeared, carrying a wooden tray with a small piece of bread and a cup of water. Her eyes, filled with that same sympathy from before, met Penelope’s as she approached.

“Here,” Ciara said softly, placing the tray on the table. “I brought you some food. You need to keep your strength up.”

Penelope pushed herself up to a sitting position, her body protesting in pain from the cold and unforgiving cot. She looked at Ciara, gratitude mingling with desperation in her eyes. She was not hungry at all.

“Thank you,” she said as if every word caused her great physical discomfort to pronounce. “But please… you have to help me. I don’t belong here. I’ve been taken against my will.”

Ciara glanced around nervously, her fingers fidgeting with the edge of her habit. They both knew that someone might overhear them at any moment. But Penelope was desperate for help.

“I… I want to help you, truly,” Ciara managed to muster. “But Mother Superior is very strict; you know that yourself. If she finds out I’ve spoken to you like this, I will be punished.”

Penelope was torn. She didn’t want to be the reason for another girl being punished in this cruel manner, but desperation won over. She reached out and grasped Ciara by the hand, her grip weak but determined. “Please, Ciara. You know this isn’t right. I’m not meant to be here. My husband didn’t send me here. He doesn’t even know where I am. I need to reach him somehow, get back to him. Can’t you do something to help me, please? Anything?”

Tears welled up in Ciara’s eyes as she looked at Penelope, torn between compassion and fear. “I… I’m afraid, Penelope,” she admitted, her voice on the verge of breaking. “You know how much power Mother Superior has here. If I help you and we get caught, it will be terrible for us both.”

Penelope’s heart sank although she knew that Ciara was right. Still, a small sliver of hope burned brightly inside of her, refusing to be extinguished. “But… what if you could get a message to my husband? Or tell someone outside the nunnery what has happened to me? Please, Ciara. You might be my only chance.”

The torch light burned bright from the corridor, shaping Ciara’s silhouette, making her appear to be a beacon of hope in dreary darkness. She bit her lip, her gaze darting towards the door as if expecting Mother Superior to appear at any moment. “I… I don’t know,” she whispered. “It is too dangerous. But… I will think about it. I promise.”

Penelope nodded, squeezing her hand in a conspiratorial manner. “Thank you, Ciara. Your kindness means more to me than you could ever imagine.”

With one final, conflicted look, Ciara gently pulled away from Penelope, standing up. “I… I have to go before someone notices me,” she said, her voice a whisper. “Please, Penelope. Eat the bread and drink the water. I know it is not much, and nourishment is probably the last thing on your mind right now, but you need to keep your strength up. And don’t lose hope.”

Penelope watched as Ciara slipped out of the cell, the door closing behind with a soft thud. The lock clicked into place, and Penelope was alone once again. She reached for the bread and water; her hands barely had enough strength to grip anything. It wasn’t much, and Ciara was right. Food and drink were the last things on her mind right now.

Still, she nibbled on the bread, thinking of Ciara’s words. The young nun’s fear was palpable, but so was her compassion. In the darkness of her cell, Penelope held onto the hope that Ciara might find the courage to help somehow or at least, to get word to someone who could. If only Penelope could send word to James, she was certain that he would come for her. He would save her.

She finished the bread and drank the water, leaning back against the wall. She had to stay strong. She couldn’t give in to despair.

There was a way out of this nightmare. She just hadn’t found it yet.

CHAPTER33

The following morning, James awoke with a start, slumped in the armchair in his study. The first rays of dawn filtered through the curtains, casting a pale light over the room. He rubbed his eyes, feeling the stiffness in his neck from having slept in such an awkward position. Disoriented, he took a moment to gather his thoughts, the events of the previous night flooding back to him.

He pushed himself up from the chair, running a hand through his disheveled hair. Determined to get answers, he decided to freshen up before setting out. As he splashed cold water on his face and changed into clean clothes, his mind raced with possibilities. He had to find Penelope, and his best lead was Adeline, who might have some insight as to where Penelope could have disappeared off to. If Penelope was to contact anyone or tell someone anything, it would be her.

He had no idea if Adeline would even speak to him, especially after the argument he and Penelope had had. Or if her parents would allow that. There were so many unknowns in this equation, but he knew he had to start somewhere. He couldn’t believe that Penelope would just leave like that, without a word. She didn’t strike him as such a person. While it was true that she’d ended up in a nunnery, he couldn’t believe that she had ever done anything even remotely deserving of being locked up.

Her family, on the other hand, seemed more than odd. He had met them only a handful of times, but he never got the impression that the mother and the father loved all three daughters equally which was even more strange. Penelope seemed to be the one they cared least about, and that made him furious at such an injustice. That was why he knew that something wasn’t right. Things weren’t fitting into this puzzle the way they were supposed to, and he knew that he had to find Penelope and speak to her, even if this was the last time he did so. The truth would set them both free whether it was on a joined path of marriage or separately.

Just as he was about to call and have the carriage readied, a knock on the door interrupted him in this plan.

“Come in,” he called out, glancing at the door and expecting his grandfather. However, it was Milligan.

“Good morning, Your Grace, I apologize for the intrusion, but there is a visitor here for you,” Milligan announced.

“A visitor?” James echoed. Although it wasn’t very early in the morning, James wasn’t expecting any visitors.

“It is Her Grace’s sister,” Milligan replied, as if he could read James’ mind and knew that he was wondering about the identity of this unannounced visitor.

Instantly, James wanted to ask which sister, but the very fact that Milligan recognized her meant only one thing. It was the sister who had already come to their home which could only be Adeline.

“Bring her to the drawing room, Milligan,” James replied, feeling a surge of anticipation and concern. “I’ll meet her there momentarily.”

Milligan nodded and hurried off, leaving James with a few moments to himself to regain his senses. He inhaled deeply, closing his eyes. Then, he rushed out of his study and headed to the drawing room. The moment he opened the door, he could see that Adeline was standing by the window. She wasn’t sitting, and he could immediately see why. The concern in her eyes was visible from a mile away. She walked over to him as she silently cracked the fingers of one hand with the other.

---