Page 34 of A Duke's Wicked Secret
The girls headed up to their chambers to change into clothes appropriate for shopping.
“Oh, thank the Lord, I am so happy you got your mother’s permission to go out today. I was beginning to feel stir crazed if I did not get out soon,” Georgina exclaimed.
“I know, and it is getting quite warm out today; perhaps after we are done shopping, we can go and enjoy some frozen cream.”
“Yes, that would be wonderful!” Georgina replied.
Penelope and Georgina changed quickly and went out for an enjoyable day, free from the boredom of home.
Chapter 13
As Theo rode back home from his appointment at the tailors, he thought about his chance encounter with Penelope. He looked out the window as the tailor was just finishing up his sketches for Theo’s new suit. The tailor looked very excited to finally be creating the duke something more interesting than the typical dull brown suits he had always ordered in the past.
Outside the window, Theo spotted Penelope and Ms Stuart walking down the street headed towards the sweet shop, and once he had thanked the tailor, he headed out of the store. As he stepped out of the shop, though, he ran into Mr Henry Carlton, tipped his hat to him, wished him a good day, and went toward the front of the shop. Georgina and Ms Brown were walking ahead of her when Penelope and Theo locked eyes, and he gestured to the back alley.
Once he got to the back-alley, Penelope soon joined him out there. Theo quickly checked that no one was in sight, pulled Penelope into his embrace, and kissed her long and hard.
“Oh, my beautiful, Penelope, these past two mornings have been so hard not to be able to see you. I swear if it storms again tomorrow, I shall lose it!” said Theo as he held her close to him, and Penelope noticed that it was indeed ‘hard,’ so to speak.
“I know it has been terrible not getting to see you. Seeing you last night at dinner only made it harder for me. To be so near you and not be able to touch you and afraid to look at you for too long in case someone noticed … It was utter torment.”
“I am so glad you picked up on my reference from last night that I would be at the tailor today at this time. I was hopeful that if the weather did work against us meeting again this morning, we would be able to steal a few moments together here.”
“At first, I did not think much of it, to be honest, but then I was trying to think of a way to see you again, and I remembered you saying that you would be here, so I concocted this plan in hopes of meeting you.”
“That is because you are the smartest and quickest woman there ever was or will be, my love!” Theo stated as he kissed Penelope once more.
Penelope giggled and rolled her eyes at his exaggerated compliments of her intellect. “Oh, Theo, do stop; that is so outrageous!” Penelope laughed and playfully hit his chest.
“What? I am in complete earnest! OK, maybe in this scenario it is a bit overstated, but Penelope, I do find you so very smart and quick on your feet, and I love that about you,” Theo said in a more serious tone.
“Thank you, lover. I find you equally intelligent and clever … for a man, that is,” Penelope said as the corners of her mouth twitched in an attempt to hide her smile.
“Oh, that is unfair. My sex is not entirely unintelligent and unclever, surely?”
“Well, I suppose it depends on where one was to set the bar to measure that,” replied Penelope. Moments after Penelope had said this, they both froze at the sound of a twig snapping on the ground nearby. Both Penelope and Theo looked towards the sound but breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that no one was there.
“Hmmm, well, I think we may have to continue this debate at another time. I would not want your chaperone to come looking for you and find us here together. I will not be able to meet you tomorrow morning since I will be hunting with Alexander and your father.”
“I heard about that, and I think it will be a great next step. Do be careful out there, though. His sight is not as good as it once was, though he will never admit it.”
“I will do my best to keep a watchful eye on him while not letting him know I am doing so. Have a wonderful rest of your day, and I look forward to seeing you soon,” Theo said.
“You, too, Theo …” As Penelope said this, she stood up on her tiptoes and kissed him goodbye one final time before returning to the shop.
Theo watched Penelope walk away and was tempted to swoop her up and carry her off to his home so that he could spend the rest of the day with her all to himself without the worry of any other onlookers. But he told himself to be patient and follow the plan, and hopefully, soon she would be his, and he could be with her, onlookers or not.
Henry had seen Penelope with her friend and chaperone walking the streets that day and had been following them at enough of a distance so as not to be seen or noticed by the group of ladies in the crowds out doing their shopping. He had hoped to find a moment alone with Penelope and ask her to reconsider his offer of marriage, and when she stepped out of the sweet shop, he had thought this was the perfect opportunity to approach her.
But when he got close to the alley, he heard a man’s voice. He peeked slowly around the corner to see who it was first. There he spied Penelope alone once more with the duke, but this time he had his arms around her and was kissing her passionately!
***
Henry burned with bitterness at the sight of the woman that should have been his wife by rights (in his mind, if nothing else) flagrantly in love with that madman! He wanted to charge at them both and challenge the duke to a duel right then and there, but Henry had heard what an excellent shot the duke was and did not care to take a chance at killing him, no matter the injustice of it all.
No, a better course of action would be for him to creep up closer to where the couple stood and try to hear what they were saying. As Henry did so, he accidentally stepped on a twig in the dirt, and shortly thereafter, the couple separated. Thankfully, neither of them could spot him from where he hid behind some tossed out crates in the alley. After Henry was sure they were gone, he stood up from where he was crouching and dusted his clothes off.
I must go and find Mr Lancaster and tell him about this. He must know what has happened. He will know the best way to exact revenge upon that bastard.
