Chapter 3
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.”
“My meaning is…” Penelope considered what she was about to say, knowing it would not be taken well. “To be honest with you, I would rather like to attend.”
“What?” all three sisters exclaimed together.
“Yes,” Penelope continued, reaching for her saucer of tea and taking a sip. “In fact, I am rather looking forward to it.”
“Penelope…” Evaline grimaced.
“I don’t think you know what you are saying,” Margaret added.
“Did you take a fall?” Alexandra joined in. “Landing on your head, perhaps?”
Penelope laughed. “Nothing as bad as that, I assure you. But my husband has chosen to throw a house party, he has extended an invitation to my sisters and myself. And…” She shrugged as if it was no big thing. “It would be rather rude not to go, don’t you think?”
In response to this, Penelope’s three sisters looked at her as if she announced that she’d fallen in love with a horse and wished to run away with it.
Not that this is a surprise…. after everything that has happened.
And still, Penelope could not help but smirk to herself, knowing something that her sisters could not know, but that which brought with it much excitement. Better still, a sense of resolve that she desperately needed like she never had before.
“So.” She looked at her sisters and smiled as she picked up her saucer of tea and took another sip. “Shall we discuss what to wear? It would be rather embarrassing if we all turned up in the same thing.”
Again, her sisters looked at her with expressions of utmost shock.
For all those who knew Penelope and her situation, they might have shared in her sisters’ surprise at the casualness in which she spoke about her husband. After all, it was three years ago that he abandoned her one day after they married, during which time she had not heard from him once.
Rightfully, when her husband came to mind – even if she did not like thinking about him as such -- fury was what should have filled Penelope. A rightful hatred because her husband deserved nothing less. And for a long time there, that was exactly what used to happen.
Oh, how I used to loathe him. Funny that in all that time, there was a large part of me that knew it to be a forced thing because as much as I hated him, I also felt little for the man I hardly knew. And even less than that.
Truly, Penelope was well past the point of caring about her husband. She had never loved him. She had never wanted to marry him. So, when he left her as he did, she found it hard to really care. Rather, she tried to see the positive.
Her life had become her own and for the first time ever, she decided to treat it as such.
Penelope went to parties when invited. She attended balls.
She hosted dinners and was never shy about being seen in public.
She resolved to be happy in ways that many might have thought to be impossible, and happiness was exactly what she found.
At least, for a while.
All that was to say that when a letter arrived from her absent husband, she was not taken by wrath or distrust, but curiosity. What on earth could he be writing to her about after all this time? She simply had to know.
And that was not even the strangest thing.
What was even more surprising, to Penelope as much as anyone, was the plan which she decided upon but would not tell her sisters because she did not want them to judge her. Just as I do not want to voice it out loud, in case it comes apart.
“Penelope, you cannot be serious,” Evaline was the first to say. “His Grace… after what he did to you…”
“I am aware of what he did to me,” Penelope said simply. “But it was years ago now, and I am not one to hold a grudge.”
“In this instance, you might be forgiven,” Margaret added. “No one would blame you.”
“You are being silly,” Penelope laughed. “My husband saw fit to extend me an invite, and I shall accept. To not do would seem petty.”
“Petty?” Alexandra scoffed. “Petty is his abandoning you in the first place! Aren’t you curious why he has written to you after all this time? I mean…” She scoffed again. “A party? Why now? To what end?”
“I suppose I will find out.”
Her three sisters stared at her, their confusion growing. Not surprising, because Penelope was only telling them half of what she knew.
As well as the invitation to his house party – the date of which was curiously absent – her husband had also written a personal letter to Penelope.
It was a strange letter, no apology given, no explanation at all for why he had left her.
Rather, it was a request for her to come visit him as soon as she could so that she might help him arrange the party and ready the house for his guests.
A most strange thing. And was it not for the fact that my name was attached, I might have thought it was meant for someone else.
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 became why he 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 marriage work? 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.