Page 4 of The Duchess' Ultimatum
I just wish people would understand and accept such a thing. As strange as it might seem to them.
“I am glad that you went tonight,” her father began once he was in bed and settled. “I just wish you had put in some effort…” He coughed to clear his throat, the sound painful on Penelope’s ears.
“I did, Father. As much as I was willing.”
He sighed as he looked at her. Lying in bed, sunken into the mattress, he looked as weak and worn as she had ever seen him. “Penelope, did you stop you wonder at all why I was so desperate for you to attend the ball?”
“I imagine Evelina had something to do with it.”
“It was my idea entirely,” he said. “Done because I need you to understand that this life…” He gestured to himself, coughing as he did. “There is more to life than forcing yourself to care for me. It is a waste, Penelope, and I hate seeing you trapped like this.”
“I am not trapped,” she said. “Father, I want to care for you. Why do you not understand that?”
“You think you do,” he corrected her. “And I know why, just as I am grateful for it. I was not a good father to Evelina or Margaret… or Louisa and Alexandra for that matter. But you, Penelope…” He affected a smile, one which reached his eyes and told of the love he felt for her. “You were always my proudest achievement. A reminder of what it means to be a father.”
Penelope took his thin hand and smiled back. “I know it, Father.”
“And as your father…” He coughed noisily, hacking away for a few seconds. “As your father, it is my duty to think about your future.”
“My future is here with you –”
“For now,” he spoke over her, raising an eyebrow to show that he was making a point. “But I will not be here forever.”
“Father…”
“It is simple fact, Penelope. I am not what I once was and each day I feel myself growing…” He laughed as if at a joke. “Small. And as your father, it pains me to consider that when I pass you will be left with nothing but an empty bed and an emptier home. Wondering all the while why you wasted these years –”
“It was not a waste!”
“Now it might not seem that way, but it is.” He kept that eyebrow raised, his stare fixed on her. Penelope felt her stomach knot, sensing a point about to be made that he’d spent some time considering. “I asked you to attend the ball tonight because I wanted you to see that there is more to life than this.”
“There isn’t –”
“And maybe come to understand that there is more to this life than looking after your sick father.” His smile grew warm. “I am going to die one day soon – don’t argue,” he said sharply. “It is fact. And before I do, all I want is to know that my baby girl is taken care of.” He groaned as he reached over with his other hand and wrapped it on the one that she was holding.
“I will be, Father,” she assured him. “But that is a conversation for… for years from now.”
“No,” he said. “It is for now. I… I did not want to bring this up tonight. I hoped that you might do it for me, after having such fun at the ball.” He laughed to himself. “Alas, now is as good a time as ever.”
“Father…” Penelope’s stomach knotted further. “What are you saying?”
“First, I ask that you forgive me, for I only have you best interests at heart.”
“Forgive you for what?”
He took a deep breath. “I have found for you a husband.”
“What! Father, no –”
“One who I expect you to marry.” His tone hardened, one which told her it was not a conversation to be argued against. “Not as a punishment, Penelope. This is not…” He coughed further. “Please, see this for what it is. An old man, trying to do right by his daughter. All I want is for you to be happy.”
“But I am happy.”
“And you will continue to be,” he said. “I know it. Please, Penelope. One last favor for me, an old man who can barely make it out of bed without aid. Do this for me, and I will be at peace.”
Penelope was struck speechless.
Mind whirring, stomach knotting, room spinning, she looked at her father for a sign that this was a joke or a trick or… or… orsomething! But she found in his aged eyes the truth of his words, just as she saw in them the reason.
