Page 72 of The Duchess' Ultimatum
Well… I suppose that is it then. A decision made for me. Likely for the same reason that I was forced to make it.
The ballroom was a hive of activity when she entered as most of the guests were already seated at the long table. She was dressed in a gown of emerald and gold, rubies adorned her neck and ears, hair worn in tight ringlets and make-up worn so her skin glowed. It was no wonder that most eyes turned to find her, smiles on faces, hands beckoning her to join them.
All but Dorian, that is.
He sat at the head of the table, paid her a glance, and then went back to speak with Joseph who was on his immediate left. Shemade her way to the position on his right, stopping to talk to a few of the guests, sharing a joke with her sisters, but not in the moment because her mind was elsewhere.
“You look beautiful,” Dorian said as she sat down. The words were sincere but there was a sadness behind his eyes.
“Thank you,” she said with a soft smile. “As do you… handsome, I mean.”
He laughed. “As was the goal.”
They shared a smile but there was an awkward tension behind it. The sense that they both had more to say but now was not the time.
How could things change so quickly? It was just last night that they shared that kiss and all seemed to be so perfect. And where Penelope knew why she felt the way that she did, she wondered about Dorian. Had he heard the same as she? Or was there another reason?
Time will tell, I suppose. A moment I am not looking forward to.
Thankfully, supper was a chaotic and noisy affair and Penelope was able to disappear into the clamor. As she did, she watched those nearby, noting a tension that existed beyond her own worries.
Barbara was silent for most of the night, and her gaze flicked from her brother to Nicholas Wood to Lord Kenbrook. She sat with a withdrawn posture, awkward and almost afraid it looked like.
Lord Kenbrook was glaring at Dorian, and scowling at Barbara.
Nicholas Wood looked utterly depressed, his gaze never lifting from his plate and he did not touch his drink. While Henrietta, who sat beside her father, was shifted away from him slightly, the sense that he was angry with her.
Penelope might have thought more about it all. But her mind was on one thing and one thing only. And as the supper wore on, she felt the sense of foreboding hovering over her because each time she dared to meet Dorian’s eyes she knew that something was wrong. And that what was to come would not be a pleasant thing.
In hindsight, when I was first sent that invitation, I should have done as my sisters had said and thrown it out. Saved us both the pain…
“I think you’re crazy,” Evelina said.
“I think you’ve lost your mind,” Albina agreed.
“I think –” Alexandra started, before Penelope cut her off.
“I didn’t ask you all here so you could berate me.” Penelope looked warningly at two of her sisters and her cousin. “I asked you here for your support. Now, are you going to give me it, or not?”
“Penelope…” Evelina sighed and put an arm around her. “Of course we are. But just because we support you, doesn’t mean we think you’re doing the right thing.”
“We get it,” Alexandra agreed, taking her hand. “But surely, you can see where we are coming from.”
“A place of love,” Albina added. “You don’t deserve this, Penelope. No matter what you think.”
“And Barbara does?” Penelope argued. “And Dorian?”
“This isn’t about them,” Evelina pushed. “It’s about you and what you want.”
“What you deserve,” Alexandra chimed in. “You deserve to be happy. Why can’t you see that?”
This was not what Penelope had in mind when she asked two of her sisters and her cousin to join her in her bedroom. Supper had long since been called to an end, and the remainder of the guests who had not retired for the night were in the drawing room downstairs enjoying a drink as they wound toward the end of their weekend.
Penelope had no desire to be there. That, she realized, would require her to either speak to Dorian or avoid him entirely. Better that she leave him be and seek him after.
Besides, it also gave her a chance to air her grievances to these three women, hoping they would understand the logic in it. That she had decided to leave the estate tomorrow, putting Dorian and this marriage behind her, hoping that was enough to suffocate the rumors that might threaten to spread.
She did not want to do it. She did not relish the conversation she would soon have with her husband. But in her mind, it was for the best. Sacrificing her own chance at happiness so that Barbara might have her own happy ending.And maybe even Dorian, in time.
