Page 1 of The Duchess' Ultimatum
CHAPTER ONE
“There you are!” Sweeping toward the young women came Her Grace, the Duchess of Dunmore. But seeing as she was also her oldest sister, Penelope thought of her simply as Evelina. “What are you doing back here?”
“Clearly we are hiding,” Miss Penelope Balfour responded simply. She was the youngest of her sisters, always seen as the one who needed looking after. Even if such a title primarily created resentment in her. “And just as clearly, we are not doing a very good job of it.”
“Hiding from whom?”
“Everyone.” Penelope could not help but keep the smirk from her lips—she couldn’t help teasing her older sister in that way younger siblings often did. “You, especially. I ask that you not take it personally, Evelina, as I still enjoy your company as a sister and a friend. But only in settings removed from this one.”
“I told you this was not such a wonderful idea.” Standing with Penelope was her close friend, Lady Eliza Jones, who also happened to be Penelope’s stepdaughter. “Did I not say?”
“And did I not say that as uncomfortable as she would find it, it was just as necessary,” Evelina responded.
“Still unsurprising,” Eliza argued. “Clearly, she is not ready.”
“She never will be, unless we force the issue.”
“Oh yes, because that always works.”
“What then? Do nothing?” Evelina crossed her arms and cocked a dismissive eyebrow at her stepdaughter, who was just shy of thirteen years younger than her. “I have tried that – for two years now, I have tried. She is twenty years old, Eliza, and desperate times do call for desperate measures.”
“I would hardly call the situation desperate,” Eliza snorted.
“It will be if the Season ends and she finds herself without a single lord courting her. Or showing any interest! Another year of this and the word ‘spinster’ will start being thrown around like rice at a wedding.”
“That is absurd.”
“A sad truth,” Evelina sighed. “And encouraging her as you are doing is not helping.”
“Nor is badgering her!” Eliza accused.
“I do it because I care, that is all.”
“And I don’t?”
As mother and stepdaughter argued about her as if she was invisible, Penelope took a small step back, happy to be ignored because it meant that for a few minutes longer she would be able to pretend as if she was not there.
The way they talk about me suggests that this is not the first time they’ve had such a discussion. And where a part of me appreciates how much they want to help… a larger part wishes they would just leave me be. Save us all the headache.
No need to say that Penelope was not having as delightful a time as might be expected for one her age attending a Seasonal Ball. Indeed, a quick glance beyond the corner where she was hidden and Penelope saw clearly the throngs of partygoers enraptured in the revelry of the evening.
The event in question was the Westchester Ball, the first ball of the Season, attended by nearly every lord and lady of theton. There were hundreds of guests present, dressed in their colorful gowns and smart suits, drinking wine and brandy, chattingmerrily, dancing and laughing and enjoying themselves becausethiswas what being a member of the peerage was all about.
At least that was the case most. Penelope, as she’d learned time and again, thought differently.And for good reason.
“Penelope.” Evelina turned on her, an exasperated sigh escaping her lips. “Please, if you would just give it a chance. Thirty minutes is all I ask, and I know you’ll see things my way.”
“And what way is that?” Penelope responded dryly.
“You know very well what,” her sister said sharply, frustration showing. “This is not a night to shy away from or… or to be scared of –”
“I am not scared.”
“Wary then,” she pivoted. “I know why you do not wish to be here. Just as I know your feelings concerning courtship and marriage.” A rolling of the eyes next and a shaking of the head. “But you are not a little girl anymore, and you cannot hide yourself away and just hope that will solve everything. The world continues to move on, and I worry that do you not move with it, you will be left behind and then, when you are finally ready to join it as I know you secretly wish, it will be too late.”
“And I think you are being far too pessimistic,” Eliza defended. As she did, she stepped beside Penelope in support. “When sheis ready, that is when such things need to be worried over. Not before.”
“By the time she is ready it will be too late!”
