“Mrs. Swinson… I… I feel rather weak.” Penelope’s voice sounded thin and faint as if she were speaking from a dream. The housekeeper turned toward him and motioned for him to depart the room. Unaccustomed to taking orders from a servant, he momentarily hesitated. Seeing the woman’s stern expression, however, he rose and slipped out of the room, standing in the hall outside.
The housekeeper motioned once more, this time for him to wait where he was. He did and watched as she gently helped Penelope sit up. She wrapped a blanket around her and then, after yet another servant had entered with the requested chocolate and honey bread, placed the tray on Penny’s lap, encouraging her to eat.
Only after Penelope had finished several sips of chocolate and eaten a slice of honey cake did the housekeeper rise and exit the drawing room.
“Now, you enjoy another slice. Dunk it in the chocolate if you must. I will check on you in a little while.”
She exited and stopped in front of Daniel. “Lord Carlton, do not worry, she will recover once she has taken some food.”
He looked at the woman and rubbed his lips together. “She fainted in front of me. As if seeing me was too much.”
The housekeeper nodded. “Lady Penelope has had some difficult days. Once she has eaten and had some more chocolate, she will be better.”
He glanced past her at Penelope, who was taking another small bite of the honey bread. Her jaw bones were sharper than before and her neck looked fragile.
“She looks so thin.”
“She has not eaten in three days, not a morsel. She has not slept, either.”
Daniel gasped at this. While he had fled into sleep, albeit with questionable results, it seemed Penelope had not been granted such reprieve.
“Why has His Grace not interceded? He is always so concerned over her health and wellbeing.”
Mrs. Swinson shook her head. “My lord, His Grace has not left his chamber for days, either. He is not in much better condition than is Lady Penelope. It is his ill health that is affecting hers, I fear.”
He hesitated, feeling the weight of his guilt on his shoulders. This was all due to him.
If I had just kept my wits about me, if I had just done what I set out to do—kiss Bridget and seal our future—neither Penny nor His Grace would now be paying this price.
“Mrs. Swinson, I must speak to Lady Penelope. I must… I have caused such heartache for her and her father. I must apologize, I must make it right.”
The woman nodded but there was a heaviness in her expression, a reluctance.
“Mrs. Swinson, you have never been good at keeping your thoughts to yourself. Do not start now.”
The woman smiled. “It was one thing to tell you off when you were but a boy, but you are a lord now. It would not be right for me to say anything.”
He sighed. At times, his status as a peer of the realm could be cumbersome. Amidst the many perks there was always the burden of the title. It kept people from speaking their mind around him, from treating him as they would anybody else. It kept them from telling him the things he needed to hear.
“Do you believe my calling on her might worsen her condition, or that of her father?”
The woman sighed heavily and looked around before speaking, her voice dropping low to almost a whisper.
“My Lord, Lady Penelope has not been herself since you returned. And the events of the Harvest Festival… I do not see how they might improve anything for anyone. You must know what it has done to her reputation. You have always been a conscientious young man, with an understanding of how the world works. I know you and Mr. Percival have had frank talks since your arrival here and if he were here now, I suppose he would tell you that neither His Grace nor Lady Penelope would benefit from your presence here unless you were able to somehow undo the harm done to Lady Penelope.”
He nodded. He’d already assumed as much.
“I am prepared to do whatever it takes to undo my mistakes and to ease the burden which I have brought down on the family.”
The woman nodded at him but before she could say anything else, a small voice came from the drawing room.
“Mrs. Swinson? Is that you?” They both turned just in time to see Penelope get up from her chaise and walk toward them. “I thought I heard your voice. To whom are you…”
She stopped in the doorframe and for a moment, he feared she might faint again. However, she did not. Instead, she stood silently and looked at him, blinking her eyes.
“Lord Carlton.” At last, she spoke. Her voice was no longer weak. Her tone was laced in anger and he noticed how her nostrils flared. The fact that she’d reverted to using his title instead of his name felt as though he’d been doused with cold water.
Just when I thought we were growing closer once more, we are back to where we started. And it is all because of me and my foolish mistakes.
