Chapter 14
Penelope thought for a moment that Rose was going to burst into tears when she informed her of the engagement.
“Oh, Pen, thank God! I’ve been so very anxious for us, foryou!” She gave Penelope a firm hug and squeeze and then jumped up onto Penelope’s bed and sat cross-legged. “Was he angry when you told him? Oh, I wish I could have been a fly on the wall, watching. Did he remember bedding you? Tell me everything!”
Penelope would have been happy to return to her room without having to suffer an inquisition from Rose. If she had any other maid, she could have done so.
“He is going to visit Father tomorrow before making any announcements.” Penelope stepped out of her slippers and then turned her back on Rose. “Help me out of this. I want nothing more than to put on my nightdress and fall into bed.”
Rose crawled off the bed and commenced assisting Penelope out of her dress. “You don’t sound very happy for a newly engaged lady. Did you discuss the necessity for haste? Will he obtain a special license, then?”
“We’ll discuss that tomorrow. We haven’t made any plans yet.”
“Well, you’ve made a baby, my friend, so Danbury had better get a move on.” Rose could be intolerable!
Penelope snatched the night dress from her maid. Pulling the garment over her head, she mumbled into the fabric, “He doesn’t know, Rose, He doesn’t know about the baby yet.”
Silence.
Penelope poked her head through the top of the night dress and watched for Rose’s reaction.
Nothing.
“I tried,” she said. “But it’s very difficult to interrupt a person who is saying what you want to hear with something you don’t really wish to say!” And that was the absolute truth.
“So, he proposed without even knowing about… all of it?”
“He wishes to marry me for my intelligence and because he likes me. He believes that if he doesn’t wed me, or I imagine somebodylikeme, then he will be trapped into marriage to someone he doesn’t even like by a determined mama.” Which was precisely how she’d rationalized her actions a few months ago. She would not tell Rose about the physical aspect of his needs.
Although Hugh was right. That aspect mattered, indeed.
“Well,” Rose huffed. She then disappeared into the dressing room with Penelope’s gown for a few moments without saying another word. When she reappeared, Penelope had already climbed into the large bed that had been hers since childhood.
“Had he been drinking?” Rose finally asked.
Penelope shook her head. “No, I don’t think so.” She hadn’t tasted any spirits on his breath. “He merely said the timing was right for him now. And so, I said yes. And then we—”
Rose’s eyes narrowed. “Have you considered how he is going to feel when he discovers the truth? Will he believe you even? What if he thinks you’re bringing someone else’s child into this marriage?”
Penelope waved her hand, as though to dismiss such a concern. “He will believe me.” Except, well, she hadn’t really considered this new scenario through properly. Would he?
“You’ve got to tell him.”
“What if he changes his mind about wanting to marry me then? What if hedoesn’tbelieve he is the father of my baby?”
“He’ll hate you for the rest of your lives, Penelope. Do you want that?”
“Of course, I don’t want for him to hate me! I’m marrying him, aren’t I?”
But it was a legitimate concern. Hugh had fought against the notion of marriage for so very long, if he discovered that she had plotted to trap him from the very beginning, well… That was not a very happy thought at all.
Because shehadplotted!
He was happy enough now, thinking this was all his idea, but how would he feel when he learned the truth?
Would he cry off if she told him before the wedding?
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