Page 10 of The Duchess' Ultimatum
“An hour ago,” Walters said. “Also, he made sure that I was to tell you that he will not be coming back.”
Penelope stared stupidly at Walters, searching for the joke, knowing at the same time it wasn’t coming. “I… I don’t understand. What do you mean he won’t be coming back?”
“It is His Grace’s permanent lodgings,” Walters explained. “He has lived there these past five years, having stayed beneath this roof for perhaps a handful of days at most. As I understand it, he has returned permanently without any plans of coming back.”
Penelope was rendered speechless.
She might have laughed. She might have cried. She might have demanded that Walters give her the address so she could write an angry letter. Still not understanding, still not knowing how she felt, Penelope sat in a state of stunned silence as her world and everything she knew rattled around her.
As she reckoned with this most bizarre news, a knock from the front door brought her back to reality.
A moment later and the sound of heavy footsteps coming toward her had Penelope turning, wondering for an inexplicable moment if it was her husband.
Her heart sank to see that it was a rider. No one she knew. But he carried a letter and even before she opened it, somehow, she knew what it would say.
Time stood still. Her mind left her body. The world vanished so that she was an empty vessel sitting on a lone chair, bereft of emotion or thought or feeling as everything she knew crashed around her completely.
She took the letter. She unfurled it. Read its contents. A single tear dripped down her cheek. The letter fell from her hand. She could hardly breathe. Hardly think. Again, the sense that this was not reality and that maybe, if she was lucky, she would wake up and this past day, this past month, would be a dream.
“Your Grace…” Walters’ voice cut gently through the darkness. “Is everything… is something the matter?”
“No,” she said without emotion, staring blankly across the room as she reckoned with the news the letter had brought. “My father. It seems that… he has…” Her chest tightened and she very nearly collapsed from the chair. “He has died.”
CHAPTER THREE
Three Years Later…
“The nerve of him,” Evelina scowled. “After all this time.”
“If he thinks we’re going to attend – to encourage this behavior! He has another think coming.” Alexandra crossed her arms and matched her sister’s angered scowl.
“Do you know what we should do?” Penelope’s third sister, Margaret, flashed her eyes with a sense of wickedness. “We should write back and tell him we will be attending, and then simply not go. See how he likes that.”
The three sisters laughed together as they nodded along, each seeming to agree that this was a most wonderful idea and that they were evil geniuses of unmatched ruthlessness for thinking of it.
The only one who didn’t join in was Penelope.
They had arrived at Penelope’s home less than ten minutes ago, coming together because they wished to present a united front in support of their youngest sister.And likely, they wished to gossip about it fully without me there to stop or judge them.
When Penelope was informed of their arrival, she’d known exactly the reason for it. Thus, she asked to have tea and sweetmeats served in the garden, set by the oak tree which grew from the garden’s center and spread over much of the grounds. Under its shade, the four sisters gathered around the table, their skirts barely even touching the seats before they launched into their assault.
As to who they were assaulting? That was Penelope’s husband, of course.
“Penelope?” Evelina was the first to notice that Penelope was not joining in. “What do you think?”
“We can do something else,” Margaret was sure to add. As she did, she leaned around the table and rested a hand on Penelope’s leg in support. “If you have a better idea. We are all ears.”
Margaret was the second oldest of the Balfour siblings, and like Evelina and Alexandra, also married to a duke. Of all the sisters, she was perhaps the most judgmental and eager to assert her opinions, a natural consequence of growing up in Evelina’s shadow. But like all the siblings, she cared deeply for Penelope and her well-being, always wanting nothing but the best for her.
“He needs to know that this sort of behavior cannot be tolerated,” Alexandra said with a righteous nod. “Personally, I think we should go further than simply not turning up. Perhaps a rumor needs to be spread?”
“No…” Penelope said cautiously. “I don’t think we’ll be doing that.”
“What then?” Evelina asked.
“You don’t need to protect him,” Margaret said. “We are well past that. And most know by now that he is the one who ran off – it is not as if your reputation will suffer. We will make sure that he is the one who bears the brunt of judgement.”
“How fun,” Alexandra agreed with a giggle. “Look at us, sisters working together to punish a deserving duke. Father would be proud.”
