Page 12 of The Duchess' Ultimatum
When Penelope read the request, her first thought was again to be angry, but only because that felt right to do. That he didn’t even apologize… well, in that he had not changed. Her husband did not strike her as one to say sorry, so she supposed she should not have expected him to bother.
Thus the question becamewhyhe wanted this. An invitation to a party was one thing, but a request for her to come ahead weeks in advance was another thing entirely.
Penelope had done much thinking since yesterday, which was the reason she found such calm. Maybe he wanted to apologize in person? Maybe he wanted to try and make this marriagework? Or maybe he just wanted to explain himself and felt now was the time? Whatever it was, Penelope did not care.
What Penelope had in mind… she found herself smiling to imagine the look on his face when she told him. Would he agree? Would he turn and run? And what would it take for him to accept? Time would tell, she supposed.
“Oh, wipe that look off your faces,” Penelope told her sisters. “I agree this is all very strange, but I am done being angry. At first, yes, but now the last thing I wish to do is enact some sort of revenge.”
“We would not blame you,” Alexandra muttered.
“Do you think…” Evaline bit into her lip. “That he might wish to make the marriage work? That this is the true reason behind the party?”
“Perhaps.” Penelope shrugged. “We shall see, won’t we.”
Penelope did not want to make the marriage work. She was well past that point. For a time there, she had wondered if it could do. Living alone as she did, with her father gone, her life was not one to brag about. Empty. Without meaning. Yes, she kept herself busy, but there was no fulfillment to be found.
Not yet, anyhow…
“All that is to say, that I expect you all to be there,” Penelope told her sisters. “As I expect you each to be on your best behavior.” A raised eyebrow in warning because in this she was most serious.
“But when it is?” Evaline asked. “There was no date attached. Why on earth would there not be a date?”
“Something is going on,” Alexandra agreed. “I don’t like it.”
“Questions to be answered in time, I am sure,” Penelope said simply, feeling a slight thrill at what was to come.
Penelope had not heard from her husband in three years. And now, she would be seeing him within the week. When she did, she would make a request that she doubted he expected but would have no choice but to accept.Or he will do, if he knows what is good for him.
Was Penelope looking forward to the reunion? Not even a little bit. But what would come from it was reason enough to smile. For three years she had lived a simple life, a fun life, and an empty life. That would soon change.
Of that, she had no doubt.
“You’re the one who wants this, Dorian, not me – as I have told you more times than I care to count. Meaning, that if you insist on going through with this –”
“Which I will do,” His Grace Dorian Campbell the Duke of Blackfort interrupted. “For which you will thank me when it is done. I promise you will.”
“I doubt it.” An amused scoff and a shake of the head. “But all this is to say that nothing has changed from yesterday, or the day before. You want to go through with this farce, I can’t stop you. Just as you can’t force me to help organize it. You’re on your own, Brother.”
Dorian groaned and rubbed his eyes. “I’m doing this for you, Barbara. Why can’t you see that!”
“Oh, I see it well enough. That doesn’t mean I agree with it.”
Another groan from Dorian. “I look forward to when this is all over with. When you come to me, a smile on your face and laughter in your voice, thanking me for forcing this on you. And when that happens, an apology might be nice also.”
“If such a day does occur, I will be sure to be most magnanimous.”
Dorian attempted to fix his younger sister with a scowl, one he hoped would tell her just how annoyed he was with the way she was behaving. But when he did, she smirked and cocked a dismissive eyebrow right back, refusing to back down.
The result of this rebuke saw Dorian’s frustration simmer, a smile forcing its way across his lips because he never was muchgood at staying angry with his sister. Even if he very much wanted to be, she always had a way of bringing out the best in him.
Dammit, I do love her. Even if she frustrates me to tears.
“What am I going to do with you?” Dorian sighed, letting his posture slump. “You’ll be the death of me, Barbara.”
“I sure hope not,” she said, allowing herself to smile now. “If that was to happen, I’d feel awfully guilty. Not to mention how lost I would be without you.”
He was standing in the doorway of his sister’s bedroom, while she was sitting under the window with a book in hand. Now that the argument was had – and lost – Dorian crossed the room to her, holding out his arms to bring her into a hug. She did not deserve such things but… well, again, when it came to Barbara, Dorian had always been rather forgiving.
