“Honesty can also be strange.”
“On occasion,” he agreed, then paused. “What is making you nervous?”
The answer was him. The answer was last night. The answer was the warmth of his hands wrapped around hers and the fact that she could not tell, from the steadiness of his posture, whether he was entirely unaffected or simply far better at concealing it than she was.
“Nothing,” she said.
The corner of his mouth moved. “We discussed lying.”
“We discussed it in an entirely different context.”
“The terms apply broadly.”
Penelope looked at him, and he met her gaze straightforward, a slant of amusement in his expression, and for one endlessmoment, she did not look away. Then the music swelled to something particularly affecting, and they both turned toward the musicians, and Penelope became aware, gradually, that he had released her hands. She was not sure precisely when. She had not felt the moment it happened.
She smoothed her gloves and told herself once more to pay attention to the quartet.
But even after so many efforts, it was still incredibly difficult.
After the performance, the guests dispersed into smaller groups to do as they wished for the rest of the afternoon. Some moved to the terrace, some relocated to the drawing room, and some wandered off to the gardens.
Penelope found Nora and Jane near a window at the far end of the ballroom, both of them engrossed in whatever they were talking about as footmen moved the chairs back to their usual arrangements.
She had barely settled beside them before Nora said, without preamble, “So… Lord Lockwood.”
Penelope blinked. “What about him?”
“He spent the entire first half of the performance with his chair angled toward yours.” Nora's expression was one of utter bliss. “And he spent most of the break watching you wander about.”
“We were talking,” Penelope said, feeling rather defensive all of a sudden. “About music. About art. He has very interesting things to say about art.”
“He has very interesting eyes,” Jane offered, with the gentle mischief so foreign in her that Penelope couldn’t bring herself to scold her friend.
“Is that so? His eyes seemed perfectly ordinary to me,” Penelope said firmly. “He is simply a friend. We have spoken a few times and I found him to be an agreeable conversationalist. That is all.”
Nora made a sound that was not quite agreement.
“On the subject of interesting sightings,” she grinned as though she could not wait to speak on the upcoming subject, “I have noticed you have gotten quite close with Cecil. What is going on with you both?”
Penelope looked at her, using every ounce of her strength to force herself to stay as calm as she could. “What do you mean?”
“You have been spending a great deal of time together. And while I am the first to admit that his social skills have never beenwhat one might call refined, I have noticed that he seeks you out rather consistently.”
“He is your brother and us unfortunately friends with my brother, as you know. It is rather difficult to avoid him, even if I tried with all my strength, unfortunately,” Penelope sighed, the words coming out perhaps slightly more forceful than the situation warranted. “And… I have been helping him find a match, at his request. I have expressed that I might not be the most ideal person for the task but he has stated that he doesn’t mind.”
Nora and Jane exchanged confused looks.
“I never would’ve imagined that he would be in dire need of assistance to request your help.” Nora noted with a slight grin.
“He said he values my blunt honesty.” Penelope pointed out, thankful when her friends shared an exclamation of understanding and agreement. “And it is a mutually beneficial arrangement. He receives a guide through the marriage mart without anyone suspecting he requires one, and I –” she searched briefly “– get to make him someone else's problem for a while, once a suitable match is made.”
Jane looked thoughtful. “That is generous of you, given that you and he always seemed to spend most of your time in active disagreement.”
“We still do,” Penelope shrugged, feeling tired. “We simply also spend time in active conversation, which eventually leads usback to another argument. Honestly, I would not deal with him if I had a choice.”
“And you are quite sure–” Nora began.
“Quite sure,” Penelope said, nodding.
