"Yes, milady," Sarah said, immediately setting to work brushing out the knots in Penelope’s hair and arranging it in a delicate chignon that looked far more intricate than it actually was.
With only seconds to spare before her mother’s inspection, Sarah finished lacing the dress and handed Penelope a cloak. "It’s cold this evening, milady," Sarah explained.
"Thank you, Sarah," Penelope said with a true smile. "You always rescue me. If only you could save me from having to go to this ball…"
"Oh, I’m sure you’ll have fun, milady," Sarah said, already tidying away the pins she hadn’t used. "Blackthorne Castle is truly beautiful. And I hear the Duke’s cousin will be in attendance with his wife – so that will be interesting." She raised her eyebrows and met Penelope’s gaze in the mirror. Sarah could always be relied on for local gossip.
"Oh?"
"He’s the one who married the Duchess’s lady’s maid – remember?"
"Oh yes. Have they been back here since they wed?"
"Not at any public functions, from what I understand. I was quite amazed that it happened, considering who the housekeeper is."
Penelope frowned. "Do I know her?"
"Henrietta, my lady. She was housekeeper at Wardringham Castle, many years ago…when you were just a child. It’s said that a romance developed, between her and the young lord who would one day inherit the title…"
"Goodness, really?" Such romances were rarely spoken of, but Penelope rather thought that they were more real than many of the matches of the ton. While there was a disparity in stations, they surely knew each other better than a lady and a gentleman who had simply danced together a handful of times in a ballroom, never without a chaperone.
"I was only young," Sarah said, placing the brush away in the drawer. "But I heard his parents hurriedly sent him away, and married him off to an heiress."
"How sad."
"It is hard for relationships like that to succeed, my lady," Sarah said, gentle admonishment in her voice. Penelope didn’t have plans to run off with a stable lad, so she wasn’t sure why her lady’s maid felt the need to be disapproving.
"Of course. I only meant… Never mind. Do relationships like that happen very often?"
The disapproving look did not disappear from her maid’s face. "Not successfully, no – in fact, the Duke’s cousin is marrying the girl is rather unusual. I did hear of a housemaid over the border in Scotland, who… Well, it’s not for me to say, but–"
At that moment, her mother knocked and entered without waiting to be called in, and Penelope never would know what her maid had been about to tell her.
She stood to greet her mother, who was dressed in an ice-blue gown that far better complemented her complexion.
Sarah bobbed a curtsy before disappearing from the room, and Penelope stood tall, hoping her mother had not noticed how late she had entered the castle and how hurried her preparations for the ball had been. For, of course, her mother did not think there was anything more important than the effort required to secure a suitable husband.
Penelope knew, with each passing season, that her mother was growing more frustrated with her refusal of the several marriage proposals she had received. Each time, they argued, and her mother would take to her bed for several days, unable to handle her wilful daughter’s defiance of what was expected.
But, as Penelope explained to her father every time, she was willing to do her duty. She knew she would one day marry – most probably a man with a great title – and take her place in society. It wasn’t that she didn’t want that; she just wanted to be sure he was the right man. A man she knew, a man who knew her. Not just one with the right title, or a handsome face, or reasonable dancing skills.
"Very nice," her mother said, checking her hair from the back and seemingly finding nothing to fault.
Thank goodness Sarah could work such magic in such a short time.
Penelope did not know how long her parents’ patience with her would last. She was of age, and they could not refuse her choice of husband, nor particularly force her into a marriage. But there were certainly ways to make it difficult for her to refuse. Cutting her off from the family home and money, for one–although she did not think they would be that cruel. Reducing her allowance was another option, as was simply announcing a betrothal and assuming that Penelope would not deny it and risk social embarrassment.
If they became desperate enough, there were certainly options they could resort to – and she didn’t want that to happen. She wanted to find a husband, have her own home, and children. But she did not want to be tied for the rest of her life to a man she did not know and might later discover was entirely unsuitable.
"We must have some more gowns made in that shade of pink when we go to London, Penelope," her mother remarked as she finished checking her daughter’s appearance. "It is very becoming and suggests that you are a little younger than you are, which, with this being your fifth season, is no bad thing."
Penelope pressed her thumbnail into her arm to stop herself from saying something rude in response and managed to maintain the smile on her face. She wasn’t sure her mother saw what she did when she looked in the mirror. To Penelope, the pink washed her complexion out, making her look even paler than usual. And she wasn’t so old – twenty-two was hardly an old maid. It was perhaps a little older than one would wish to be when still searching for a husband, but as the daughter of an earl and countess with a rather large dowry, she was confident she could secure a husband, even if not precisely the one she wished for.
No, she did not think that all hope was lost – she just wanted to have her own choice. To find a man whom she could love and who would love her in return.
"But who knows," her mother said, rubbing her hands together in glee, "perhaps you’ll meet someone at the Duke of Coldingham’s ball, and there will be no need for a season at all!"
"Perhaps, Mama," Penelope said, although she did not truly believe her own words. She had yet to meet a man at a ball whom she was willing to marry, and she could not imagine tonight being any different.
