Page 84 of Saved By the Rakish Duke

“And yet...” Rebecca interjected, playfully elbowing Penelope in the side, “...he found a way to come visit our lovely Penny even if only briefly.”

“The mark of a good man.” Mother beamed, lithe fingers releasing the curtain to allow it to fall back to its original place. “Pardon me for stating the obvious, but every visit of his reminds me of what a dutiful husband he shall be.”

She was right, of course, Penelope had no doubts about it. But Penelope worried that she wouldn’t be as dutiful of a wife, especially not when her thoughts continued to drift towards-

“-isn’t that right, Penny?”

“A-Absolutely,” Penelope blurted in response in the hopes that if she replied quickly enough, they wouldn’t realize that she hadn’t been listening at all.

“It’s settled, then!” Rebecca squealed. “I shall speak to William at once! Once you return from your honeymoon, we shall be the very first to invite you to dinner!”

During a previous visit, Penelope’s fiancé had recommended a brief, quiet honeymoon in the countryside while Mother watched the children on their behalf.

“We could also bring Mother and the children along,” Penelope had offered. “That way, we won’t have to cut the honeymoon short.”

“No, no, dearest!” the viscount had opposed. “The honeymoon will be one of the rare chances we’ll have to bask in each other’s company. After that, you shall be very busy in your maternal duties, and I in my paternal and patriarchal ones.”

Over the course of their discussion, Penelope had quietly pondered whether Lord Gloushire’s insistence was borne of genuine love for her or borne from the fact that he knew it to be the right thing to do.

“Love is all-consuming.”His Grace’s voice echoed in the walls of Penelope’s mind.

‘All-consuming’ was not how Penelope would define Lord Gloushire’s feelings for her or vice versa.

As she resumed her place at the table, attempting to appear interested in the proposed plans for the wedding breakfast’s seating arrangement, Penelope’s mind showed hersomemercy and finally stopped wandering.

But she knew that once all had fallen quiet, it would get right back to tormenting her once again.

All-consuming.

CHAPTER28

“I'm ever so sorry, pet,” sighed the dowager duchess as she passed the note that had just arrived to Penelope, “but it appears that something unexpected came up and the seamstress will only be able to do your fitting tomorrow.”

Penelope skimmed through the note as she spoke. “That’s quite all right, Your Grace. At least we no longer have to rush home after doing our shopping today.”

Even though the wedding was still about three weeks away, the dowager duchess had suggested conducting rehearsals of the wedding breakfast—more to the point, she wanted to ensure that all of the dishes were made to perfection and thus arranged for the cook to create practice dishes until she was satisfied.

Penelope had expressed her concerns that the dowager duchess was generously spending far too much on ingredients and materials for the rehearsal dishes, but the older woman was quick to hush her protests.

“It’s no bother at all, my pet,” answered the dowager duchess. “Besides, given Duncan’s aversion to marriage, this may very well be my only chance to properly plan a wedding, so please do not deny an old woman this pleasure.”

Indeed, after everything that Her Grace had done for them, who was Penelope to get in her way? Today, the women found it necessary to get as early of a start as possible because, in addition to stocking up on ingredients, the dowager duchess desired to get in touch with a cheese-making family rumored to be the best in London.

The gentle morning breeze danced between the women's skirts as they left the house. Mr. Rowley helped Her Grace descend the steps while Penelope similarly assisted Mother.

They had been so engrossed in their conversation that they didn’t notice a coach pull up to the gates.

“Duncan?” the dowager duchess breathlessly exclaimed.

Penelope’s head snapped to follow her line of sight.

Sure enough, the Duke of Blackmoore was climbing out of his coach, his eyes alert and his smile bright as he gave everyone a cheery wave.

Before she could catch herself, a giant smile spread across Penelope’s face, an instinctive response as her heart shamelessly fluttered upon seeing him.

Something about him had changed, however.

When His Grace jogged towards them with his usual cocky smile, he seemed more at ease, and even more confident than before—a feat that Penelope didn’t even realize was possible.

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