“You’re welcome to stay home if it pains you so,” Penelope exhaled dejectedly. She had heard enough of her father’s taunts over the last week.
“That would be what you deserve,” George glared at her. “You’ve embarrassed this family beyond repair. You humiliated him at the altar. Lord Burton did not deserve what you did to him.”
“He humiliatedmebefore it. Would you rather I stood there and let it happen?” Penelope fired back.
George did not have a reply to that immediately. How could he? He knew that it was futile to defend someone who had tried to harass his daughter.
“I do not understand why a lord would do such a thing,” her father went on. “Maybe he had intended something else and you interpreted it differently.”
Penelope did not even know how to respond. How typical of her father to reduce her concerns to something trivial.
“There was no error in my interpretation, Father,” she said, feeling her throat close up.
“I suppose none of us will ever know,” he scoffed. “Since you and him were the only persons there.”
“That is why you need to take my word for it,” she pressed. She hated how much she had to explain herself, when her father should be looking out for her.
“I would have preferred that you came to speak to me, instead of creating a scene,” he said finally.
Penelope laughed. “Father, it is easy for you to say this now, but I am certain that you would have forced me to go through with the whole thing.”
“And would I be wrong to?” George argued. “Every time I manage to secure a match for you, you conjure up some issue at the altar. Tell me, what respectable man would wish to marry you after all of this?”
“Now, Father,” Isadora interjected, gently. “Why must you be so harsh on her? All that happened is in the past now. Perhaps we should all remember that today is meant to mark a fresh start. Continuing to punish her for choosing freedom doesn’t serve anyone.”
“If her freedom is at the cost of embarrassing this family, then I have every right to punish her.”
“You are acting as though she has ruined her life entirely,” Isadora shook her head. “She is to marry a duke, and that alone is enough to redeem her for whatever wrong you believe she has done.”
“You think marrying a duke erases what’s already been said? The damage is done,” George replied. “The rumors will follow her wherever she goes. Some of the guests at this very ceremony have come not to offer well wishes but to see if she runs again. There’s even a wager on it, I’ve heard.”
Penelope felt her stomach drop. She could not imagine anything better from theton. They thrived on gossip, and she seemed to supply an endless source .
“So let them bet,” she spoke up, “I’d rather be gossiped about for running away from a monster than praised for marrying one.”
“Enough,” Isadora exhaled deeply and placed a hand on Penelope’s knee in a silent gesture of comfort. “Please. It is her wedding day.”
Her father turned his face to the side, scowling out the window. “One can only hope she follows through with it this time.”
“You need not worry this time,” Penelope answered.
No one was happier than Penelope when the carriage finally came to a stop, for it meant that she finally had relief from her f athers’ consistent pestering. Not too many people awaited them as they arrived. The guest list had been kept short, deliberately so. Only some relatives and a few members of the ton had been invited. However, Penelope had suspicions about their reasons for attending, as she knew that her marriage would be the subject of gossip for many weeks to come.
They are mistaken,Penelope thought to herself. She would not give them a chance to talk this time.
The moment that she stepped out of the carriage, she could hear the whispers that followed. Ignoring them was in her best interest , so she did.
She did not spare anyone a single glance. Let them judge, as they would have regardless.
“Can you hurry up?” George continued to pester her the first chance that he got. If anything, he seemed even more irritated now that they had finally arrived at the venue.
Well then,Penelope thought.Here goes the rest of my life.
Slowly, George led her down the aisle, where Alexander stood waiting at the end. He was dressed properly in a polished suit that complemented his features. Penelope tried to make out the expression on his face, but he did not seem to give anything away. The choir had changed the tunes to announce the arrival of the bride, and everyone’s eyes were glued to Penelope.
She ignored the whispers, no doubt, people were wishing for her downfall. Instead, she kept her gaze focused on the front of the aisle.
That was when their eyes met. For two people who were about to be husband and wife in just a few short moments, none of them looked particularly happy to be there. He extended his hand for her to take.
