“I am serious,” Penelope insisted, placing a hand on the side of his arm. “It is neither my fault, nor is it yours. It is only an unfortunate thing that happened and now we must be vigilant moving forward.”
Her optimism would brighten up his day on any normal occasion, but today, he had no room for it. The guilt had already begun to consume him, so much that he could barely stand the sight of her there.
“Go to your room, Penelope,” Alexander shook his head, his mouth tightening.
“We are not done speaking yet,” she stared at him, confused.
“Go. I cannot… I cannot talk now,” he admitted. He was far too angry, and worse, he was afraid.
Penelope hesitated, her brows drawing together, but finally nodded. “If that is what you want, then fine. But please know that I want to continue this conversation with you.”
She turned, walking slowly to the door.
“Penelope,” he stopped her right as she was at the edge of the door. She looked back at him, prompting him to continue.
“I…” he swirled the words around in his mouth for a moment. “I am happy that you are safe, but do not ever make me wonder like that again.”
Even from a distance, he could see Penelope’s eyes widening. She nodded, and then slipped out the door. Leaving him to stare at the empty spot that she had left behind for a long time .
What had happened today could never happen again. His enemies were better equipped than he had previously thought, for they were able to sniff out his weaknesses without so much as a moment's notice.
Someoneknew that Odette would be at the park. No place was safe anymore.
The path forward was clear. He would have to double down even more on his protection around the house.
He had too many enemies, and he was not willing to take any risk that would put his family in danger.
CHAPTER 23
“Does it still hurt, Your Grace?”
Penelope startled slightly at Nancy’s voice, her gaze lifting from the bandage wrapped around her hand. She hadn’t even realized the maid had come in.
“A little,” Penelope admitted quietly, flexing her fingers. “But it’s nothing serious.”
Nancy stepped closer, frowning as she peered at the wound.
“It’s left such an awful gash in its wake,” she noted, gently adjusting the sleeve to cover it. “I cannot imagine how hard that man would have shoved you for you to bruise like this.”
Penelope winced at the memory. Whatever had happened in the park was not something she liked revisiting.
“The important thing ,” she repeated for the umpteenth time, “Is that Odette walked away unscathed.”
She said that to anyone who came into her room to ask about her well-being. And it was the truth: She cared more about Odette than she did herself.
“Lord above, Your Grace, when I heard what happened…” Nancy began, shaking her head. “Oh, I did not know what to do.”
“When did you find out?” Penelope sighed. She had thought that she had covered her tracks fully, and that no one in the estate would be able to find her whereabouts.
If it weren’t for the footman, perhaps it would have been true. But that would have meant that Alexander would not have found her in time. She shuddered to even think about what the outcome could have been then.
“There was a small commotion at the house when the duke realized that you had gone missing, Your Grace,” Nancy replied. “That was when most of the staff found out as well. He questioned us, and we told him that you were looking for Odette, last we heard of you.”
Penelope could imagine the anger in Alexander’s eyes at the scene. Even yesterday, his anger was more intense than she had ever seen it.
Biting down on her lip, she realized that it would take some time for those embers to die down.
“You did not sleep well last night , either, Your Grace,” Nancy pressed, “I heard you pacing half the night. I had been stationed outside of your room, just in case you needed something. His Grace gave me clear instructions on that.”
