It was ridiculous — not to mention an inappropriate thing to tell a young woman, much less one he considered his friend.
However, the more she thought about it, the more tempting the idea seemed.
“No!” She snapped, slapping at her cheeks with her palms. “This is what he wants. To confuse and muddle my mind until I begin to fall for his nonsense! I will not!”
Penelope’s declaration, as valiant as it had sounded, did little to calm her down, so she decided it was as good a time as any to go for a ride.
She quickly changed her shoes and put on a cloak, and then she left her room. She managed to make it downstairs without being seen by anyone whose attention she did not want at the moment.
But as she crossed the threshold of the front door, a voice called out to her.
“Penelope? Where are you going?”
She inhaled sharply, willing her expression to look carefree and light as she turned around to face Lionel.
“For a ride. I thought it would be a shame do let this lovely day go to waste, and a quick ride around the estate sounded appealing. I won’t be gone too long —”
“I’ll come with you. It has been too long since we’ve ridden together,” Lionel offered, already walking to stand by her side.
“Oh, but — you do not have to,” Penelope declined innocently, hoping he would simply leave her be. “I assure you; I will be all right by myself.”
“I do not doubt that,” he shook his head, holding his arm out to her. “But surely you would not deny your loving older brother the pleasure of your company, would you?”
Penelope forced herself to smile and nod, taking his arm. He led them to the stables, instructing the stable boys to prepare horses for them.
“Are you all right?” Lionel questioned softly, gently lifting the hood of her cloak over her hair.
“Yes, I am.” She nodded as the stable boys brought forth their horses.
The one handed to her was a thoroughbred with a dark brown coat, and it sweetly nudged its nose against the palm of her hand with a grunt, making her smile.
“Here, let me,” Lionel offered.
Without waiting for her response, he lifted her to put her feet into the stirrup, and she grabbed onto the pommel of the saddle to hoist herself into it.
Only when he was comfortably seated did Lionel mount his own horse.
“After you, my lady,” he grinned, nodding towards the path ahead.
Penelope laughed and nudged her horse forward, listening for the footsteps of Lionel’s horse trailing behind them. After a minute or two, he caught up and was soon trotting alongside her own horse.
“Is Cecil all right? Or did your fierce strike manage to do some serious damage?” her brother asked with a teasing tone.
“H-He’s fine. Just a little bruised,” Penelope said quickly.
“Oh, I am sure his ego was certainly bruised, after all those things he said about your aim.” Lionel snorted.
Penelope’s cheeks grew warm, and she shrugged.
“He wasn’t wrong. I was rather terrible at croquet. I’m terrible at a lot of things, but I did not mean to hurt him.”
Lionel frowned and clicked his tongue, leading his horse to move even closer to her.
“It wasn’t your fault and you were doing your best. This was just… not your best moments. You are talented at many other things,” he insisted.
Penelope shook her head, keeping her eyes forward as they got farther away from Nora’s estate.
“I do not think so. I’m… so dependent on you. I’m not sure what I’d do without you, brother. I am too scared to even imagine it,” she admitted quietly.
