Regardless, he was certain that there was someone far better to guide their way than Lady Penelope. But who?
“I will call on you tomorrow, say eleven, and we will begin.”
“Begin what?” Chloe asked.
“I will come to know you better and we can decide what is needed so that you can enjoy a successful Season.” Lady Penelope then whipped around to address Henry. “I will see that they are celebrated, not set aside.”
The last was said with censure. She blamed him when none of this was his fault. He had not even known that he would have his cousins as guests until they showed up on his doorstep a month ago. How was he to have even prepared?
“Until tomorrow,” she said to his cousins then glided away as the sisters returned to the side of the room excitedly talking amongst themselves in whispers.
“What is your objection to Lady Penelope?” Claybrook asked.
“She is too independent for her own good and will likely see my sisters in trouble instead of…”
“Fading away as wallflowers tend to do?” Claybrook prompted.
“Well, I do not want that either,” he grumbled.
Blast!
With that, Henry turned on his heel and marched back to the library and poured himself another glass of brandy.
This Season had been quite pleasant, even with five misses to watch after.
That was until Lady Penelope decided to meddle.
The Season had so far been remarkably dull, but now Penelope had a purpose. Not that she enjoyed interfering in the lives of others, but sometimes it was necessary and the Simpson sisters needed her.
Though they did have a second cousin, Lady Eve Grell, who was of a similar age of four and twenty and could offer assistance, but she had not done so.
Lady Eve was also a friend but Penelope had not seen Eve this Spring and now became concerned for her. However, like Penelope, Lady Eve was an independent woman who liked to hide from Society and the judgmental eyes of the ton and had likely found other activities to enjoy outside of the ballroom. However, if it became necessary, she would seek the assistance of Lady Eve.
With those thoughts, she approached the Mayfair home of the Duke of Eldridge, took a deep breath and knocked. Once it was answered, she was efficiently ushered into a stark parlor. All the upholstery was dark blue, as were the window coverings, and the floors were gleaming white marble. There was little warmth in the room. Cold and hard, much like one would expect of a no-nonsense duke.
Had the décor been chosen by the previous duke or the current one?
Also within the parlor were the five Simpson sisters. Two were seated on one settee and two more on the one across from it. Between them was a table with a chair at each end. Judith sat in one and Penelope assumed the other was for her.
“Lady Penelope!” Jael called excitedly. “Please, join us for tea.”
She did as requested and a moment later two footmen entered and placed a tea service as well as an array of delicacies in the center of the table, even though it was early in the day for such a tea. Judith sat forward to serve while her sisters sat quietly, smiling.
It was rather uncomfortable, but Penelope was also confident that they would quickly become more relaxed with each other. However, before she could do so, she needed to learn all that she could of what knowledge they possessed and what was lacking so that she could fill that void.
“Tell me about your education,” she said after accepting a cup of tea.
“Education?” Bernice asked. “A miss needs only to know how to keep a house, sew, cook, keep a garden, be a good daughter and then wife, and the only book that she should spend any time reading is the Bible.”
If there had not been bitterness in her tone, Penelope would have believed those were Bernice’s beliefs.
“He kept you ignorant?”
“He tried.” Bernice smiled into her teacup.
There was some nerve to them after all.
“We would take turns reading aloud from books we were able to borrow from the lending library when Father was away from the house and quickly hide it in my sewing basket when he returned home.”
