“No, I cannot,” Alexander mused. “But perhaps I can learn from you.”
Penelope turned to look at him, genuinely surprised. “You? Learn from me?” she repeated, as if the concept was entirely novel.
“Don’t get used to it.”
“Oh, I plan to,” she said sweetly.
“Then I suppose I’ll have to make fewer admissions going forward.”
“Shame,” she mused, “You were becoming almost tolerable.”
Just then, Odette bobbed back into view. Apollo followed her, his ears flopping in joy.
“Goodbye both of you,” Odette sang out. “Apollo and I are off to find a picnic basket.”
With a grin, she gave her mare a little kick, Apollo scurrying alongside. Penelope watched them go, amused.
“I will never understand how she can vanish like that,” Alexander murmured with a shake of his head, his gaze following his daughter’s retreating form. “She’s like a kitten that always finds a new corner of the house to explore.”
“She’ll be back before long,” she said gently. “It’s Odette’s way to roam and return. Are you troubled that she’s gone off on her own like this?”
“Not when we are within the bounds of the estate,” he replied, “Ever since she was a toddler, Odette’s mind and feet have been set on adventure.” He turned his horse in a little circle to face Penelope fully. “Besides, you are here to keep me company.”
“Oh, I can imagine that you would grow terribly bored without me,” Penelope teased him.
They set off again, riding through a soft silence. Odette’s and Apollo’s laughter still echoed faintly in the air, as they were still in the distance.
Penelope’s thoughts drifted.I am enjoying this,she thought to herself.
“Your Grace,” Penelope broke the silence. “May I ask you something?”
“Go on,” he mused, though there was a flicker of curiosity in his voice.
“You have never spoken about Odette’s mother before,” Penelope chose her words carefully. For reasons she could not justify, she did not wish to use the word wife. “Now that I am getting to understand her better, I think I would like to know more about her. Only if you wish to tell me.”
Alexander drew a breath and settled more firmly in his saddle. “Is that really something you wish to speak of this early in the morning?”
“Yes,” Penelope’s response was immediate. “It would help me understand things better.”
“Very well,” he began. “Her name was Helena.”
“Helena,” Penelope repeated. It was hard for her to fathom that the position she occupied today once belonged to another. Itwould be wrong to be jealous of a woman who was no longer here, but Penelope could not fight the creeping feeling.
“She was… my first wife.” He swallowed, and Penelope noticed his hands tighten slightly on the reins. “I was twenty when I married her. My father insisted, though, and made it clear to me that I did not have much of a choice.”
Penelope listened without interrupting.
“Later I realized that it was because he needed funds, and Helena’s dowry promised to set us on firmer ground. I agreed to the arrangement,” he admitted and then with a wince, “She had reasons of her own for marrying me.”
“May I ask you what those reasons were?” Penelope asked, though she could barely find her voice from how tight her throat felt.
“She…” Alexander continued quietly, “she came from a family that I won’t trouble you with—they were cruel and spiteful, and Helena needed to escape from them.”
“Oh.” She had not expected to hear that answer. Somehow, it humanized her in Penelope’s eyes.
“We came to an arrangement. She would give me an heir,” Alexander said. “And that after the child’s birth we would live mostly separate lives. I would take care of the estate , she wouldgo her own way. She had her home in London, her friends; I had mine here. It suited us at the time.”
Penelope was too afraid to ask how she ended up losing her life. She decided that it must be a difficult thing for Alexander to speak of, as well. It was better if he was the one to bring it up.
