“How can I leave Penelope?” she said at last, as they were preparing to return to the picnic. They had made certain to give the other couple enough time together. As Angus and Selina were well aware, they would be doing more than taking lessons on etiquette.
Angus wasn’t sure how to answer her. He had his own worries when it came to Callum. A brief affair had turned into a problem. He was aware that the lad had fallen head over heels in love. Selina had said she was sure that her mistress felt the same, but Angus did not know Miss Armstrong as well as her maid did.
What hope did they have? Penelope’s reputation was in tatters and it was doubtful Maxwell MacKenzie would welcome her into his castle. Angus had noticed he sometimes had strong opinions on the subject of fallen women—a step back into his Calvinist past—and rather hypocritical when you thought about it. Angus thought that Luna would be more likely to agree to a union with Penelope. If Callum was happy, then she would overlook the obstacles. Maxwell... well, he was another matter.
And Angus just knew he would be the one who got the blame. He had looked away for just a moment, seen Selina and been distracted. He had misjudged Callum’s feelings for Miss Armstrong, and now this was the consequence.
Thank the lord that the lessons would only last another two days and then it would be over. The Countess of Strathmore’s ball was fast approaching. Callum would be upset, yes, the lad had a soft heart, but he would just have to learn that not everything had a happy ending. Or at least the ending he wanted. Life was a matter of compromises, Angus told himself, refusing to consider that he was not making one himself when it came to Selina.
Relieved that his problems might soon be over, Angus turned his attention back to his lady love.
Chapter Twenty
Once more, theywere in the sitting room at Jasmyne Street. Penelope told herself that tomorrow night Callum would be dancing and showing himself off at his Aunt Jennie’s ball. She knew he wasn’t looking forward to it. He had already told her that he felt like a roasted bird set upon a dinner table for others to look over and feast upon. She had soothed his anxieties, telling him that he was a handsome, charming gentleman and if anyone thought otherwise, they were not worth his time.
“Someone will want to marry you,” she assured him. “Several someones. After tomorrow night, you will have so many invitations you will have difficulty choosing which ones to accept.”
He gave her a sideways look. “I find that a wee bit unlikely.”
“Do you doubt my ability to turn you from a Highland brute into an eligible gentleman?”
“No, I don’t mean that. I may well receive invitations by the bucketload, but they will be of no use to me.”
She frowned.
He seemed to be gathering himself, and she had the horrid feeling he was going to say something she did not want to hear. Something that would mean she must tell him to leave, and then sit sobbing alone with her broken heart. Penelope had hoped that she had at least another day with him. One more tryst to store away in her treasured memory box for later.
“Callum—”
He shook his head. “No, I will say what I must. It is pointless me trying to woo one of the ladies I will meet at the ball. Because...” He drew himself up. “What if I have already met the lady I want to marry?”
Penelope hoped her face was not as pale as she thought it must be. “Have you?” She tried for a joke. “I hope it isn’t one of the ladies you encountered at the Bohemian Ball. What is her name?”
He wasn’t amused. He was watching her carefully.
“I hope she is pretty,” she babbled on. “Or at least kind and patient.”
“She is beautiful,” he said quietly. “And clever, kind, and very patient.”
Abruptly, she stood up, and her hands were shaking as she clasped them tightly together. “Did you know I have another client after you? He is a sad case, but his mother believes I can get him up to scratch. I had thought my days as a teacher might be done after my brother’s behavior in the park. But it seems not! Of course I am very relieved. This is my vocation, you see. I would never willingly give it up.”
He was staring at her as if he was having difficulty understanding her.
“So you see I will be perfectly all right,” she went on, in case it was his kind heart that was driving him to ask her to marry him. Because that was what this was about. It must be. He was infatuated and he was thoughtful, and now the two had forced him into a proposal that would be disastrous for him.
He seemed to understand her meaning at last. “I see,” he said. Before he could say more, Selina entered the room. Penelope shot her a look of desperate relief.
“I was just telling MacKenzie about my new client,” she said hurriedly.
“Oh, yes,” Selina nodded, but she looked startled.
Penelope began fussing about the state of the cushions on the settee and asking Selina what cake she would bake for this new client, the fictitious client that didn’t exist. Callum had slowly risen to his own feet and stood, watching her in silence. She glanced at him once or twice but could no longer guess what he was thinking. He had turned his head and was staring out of the window.
“I think we will end your lessons here, Callum,” she said at last, her smile bright and hard, and her heart rattling painfully in her chest. “There is nothing more I can teach you. Congratulations on becoming the perfect gentleman.”
He nodded. “Of course,” he said in a voice that was strangely devoid of feeling. “And thank you, Miss Armstrong, for all you have done to help me. I will never... I will not forget you.”
Penelope curtsied to his bow. It was a very nice bow. She should be proud of her part in that bow. It was a pity she could feel nothing but grief.
