The woman’s face twitched. “I called on him this morning with his breakfast. He is weak and melancholy. But he will recover in no time. He always does.”
Melancholy because he thinks his only daughter is a trollop. If he does not recover this time it will be entirely my own fault.
Again, her thoughts traveled back to the evening of the Festival. She was haunted by the memory of their kiss, by the feeling of Daniel’s lips on hers. A part of her longed to feel it again while another, larger part wanted to undo it all. Shaking her head, she descended the stairs and stopped for a moment in the drawing room. She swallowed as she remembered her father’s voice, thick with disappointment when she had returned from the Festival.
He hadn’t even allowed her a chance to explain. Instead, he’d made his upset clear. She could tell that very night how evident the hurt was in his face and how much her misstep consumed him. The memory of the sadness and the disappointment in his eyes would haunt her forever, she knew.
Pushing the thoughts away, she took her seat on the chaise lounge in the drawing room. The September weather outside was dreary. The sky hung heavy with clouds and in the distance, there was a rumble of thunder. She took a blanket from the back of the chaise and covered herself, focusing on the landscape through the window.
For a moment, she closed her eyes and listened to nothing but the sound of the flames as they licked the wood in the fireplace. It was a comforting sound, consistent and soothing. It was peaceful and she clung to the moment, a stark contrast to what she has been feeling these past few days.
* * *
“My Lady?” The butler’s voice called out and she sat up with a start. The blanket fell to the floor and she looked around, her eyes wide. The butler, an older man named Roberts, stood before her, a frown on his forehead.
“Yes? I am sorry, I must have fallen sleep.” She glanced around the room. Indeed, the fire was no longer roaring with fresh wood and outside, rain was rolling down the window pane. How long had she been asleep? She spotted a tray on the table before her. It was filled with honey bread and a cup of chocolate which was no longer hot. A strange feeling of unease overcame her, almost as if she were in a dream. It was not until the butler cleared his throat that she turned once more.
“You have a visitor. The Earl of Carlton.”
“The Ea…” Her voice caught and she stopped speaking. Her breathing quickened and at the same time she felt as though her chest constricted. Why was he here? What did he want? She turned her attention back to Roberts. Spotting the uncertainty on her face, he leaned forward.
“If you like I can tell him you have gone out.”
Out. She had not been out but once these past few days and she’d almost instantly regretted it, for the stares and whispers proved unbearable.
She shook her head. “No. Have him enter. But please, send for Mrs. Swinson. I do not wish to be left alone with him.”
She had, if nothing else, learned a lesson. Chaperones, as vexing as they could be, were there for a reason. Had she been attended to properly, Daniel would never have dared to kiss her the way he had. Moreover, a chaperone would have stopped her from throwing away her reputation in so reckless a manner. Her hand traveled to her throat again and she clutched the little necklace that hung there, a gift from her father, containing a portrait of her mother.
Footsteps sounded down the hall and she rose, forcing her shaking legs to bear her weight. She held on to the back of the chaise as he came closer, her knuckles popping white as she dug them into the plush material.
He stepped into view, his face as pale as her own, his eyes as heavy with the strain of the past few days. She wanted to walk toward him then but the moment she let go of the chaise, her legs buckled beneath her and she found herself falling.
“Penny!” Daniel called out, his voice full of panic. She wanted to respond but before she could so much as utter a word, her head hit the marble floor and her world was swallowed in black.
Chapter 25
“Penny!” The panic in his voice was evident as Daniel rushed forth and knelt beside her. She’d fallen on her side and he carefully rolled her onto her back. There was activity in the hall as servants rushed back and forth, calling for help. Daniel hardly noticed. He looked down at her and saw how pale she looked, and how her cheeks had sunken in.
“Penny, please wake up.” He gently placed a hand on her cheek when the sound of keys clanging together made him look up. The housekeeper, a woman he remembered from his childhood, rushed in.
“My Lord! What happened?” At once she knelt beside him, gently pushing him away as she placed a hand on Penelope’s forehead. “My Lady, wake up.” She patted her cheek and looked up. “Get me a cool cloth, at once. And bring a fresh chocolate and some more honey bread, at once! Make haste! Bring me the smelling salts as well.” She called to one of the servants who had been standing helplessly in the doorway.
“Lord Carlton, help me place her on the chaise, and gently.” The housekeeper, a robust woman with a red face and kind eyes, moved to lift Penelope by the armpits while he picked her up by the legs.
How light she is. I do not recall her looking quite so frail just days ago. She must have lost near a stone.
He watched as the housekeeper placed a pillow under her head and then covered her with a blanket. A footman brought in a container with smelling salts which Mrs. Swinson waved under Penelope’s nose. The faint scent of lemon oil drifted into Daniel’s nose. He was quite familiar with the practice of reviving a fainted lady with smelling salts. Ladies in London seemed particularly prone to catching a case of the vapors, as they called the sudden fainting spells which seemed to come on at the slightest cause for alarm. So much so that many a London home had a fainting couch, for just such an occasion.
While many of his gentleman friends seemed eager to rescue a fainting lady, he found the frequency with which fainting occurred overly dramatic and pretentious. Especially since recovery, once caught by a handsome lord, often seemed to commence instantaneously.
Alas, in this case, he found himself only wishing for a speedy recovery, for no matter how rigorously Mrs. Swinson waved the smelling salts, Penelope did not wake. It wasn’t until a different footman came with a cold cloth and it was carefully placed on Penny’s forehead that her eyes fluttered open.
“What has happened? Mrs. Swinson? I thought I saw Daniel here and then…Was it a dream? I thought he was announced and I… I cannot recall…”
The housekeeper moved and sat in such a way that Daniel’s presence was kept from her. “My dear, you’ve given us all a fright. You came over all faint. It is because you have not eaten or taken much of a drink. I told you all about the importance of nourishment.”
Daniel, in spite of the seriousness’ of the situation, found himself smiling at the stern and maternal tone of the housekeeper. When they were children, Mrs. Swinson had often been the maternal influence they both so severely lacked due to the deaths of their own mothers. Of course, a servant could never take the place of a true mother. Still, seeing her so caring toward Penny made his heart swell.
