Then he stuffed the biscuit he had stolen into his mouth, grabbed the plate on the table, and made off with it. Penelope stared off at him in shock, wondering if she had indeed seen what her eyes had just witnessed.
When she blinked down at the table, and her plate did not reappear, she got onto her feet and ran after him.
“Lionel! Come back here with my biscuits! I am going to make you regret it if you eat them all! Lionel!”
The next morning, Penelope woke up early and went down into the garden. For once, she was not getting a head start on her reading for the day, but she was there to pick some flowers.
She kept her choice simple, only choosing the ones that came in soft shades of pink and purple, assembling them neatly in a small basket. Then she returned to her room to get dressed in proper attire.
Lionel was sipping a cup of tea in his study when she arrived to tell him that she was leaving the house for a while.
He was pleasantly surprised, smiling at her gently as he asked,
“Might I ask where you are headed?”
Penelope tightened her hold on the handle of the basket and replied,
“Off to earn the forgiveness of a friend.”
Lionel clearly did not know who she meant, but nodded in approval anyway.
“Godspeed, dear sister. Have a nice day.”
“And you as well!” she shouted, already halfway down the hall.
Jane’s house was not far from theirs, so Penelope hardly ever took the carriage there. She had long since memorized the path there, so every journey entailed allowing her legs to lead the way, as her mind wandered off.
Today, she wondered if her friend was really cross with her and if she would be given the chance to make things right.
“I suppose I would have to find out shortly,” she whispered to herself.
She arrived at Jane’s house quicker than she expected, the building looking intimidating the closer she got. Penelope had been friends with Jane for practically her whole life, and she had never once had anything to worry about or fear when it came to the other girl.
That simply highlighted just how badly she thought she had wronged the other.
When she knocked at the door, the butler opened it, his face lighting up at the sight of her.
“Lady Penelope, good morning.”
She smiled at him, the warm reception giving her some form of hope that things would go well.
“Good morning, Mr Barnaby. I trust you are doing well.”
“Oh, splendid! The Missus and I are expecting a little one soon, so we are rather excited about it.” He told her with a proud and pleased grin.
Penelope smiled kindly. “That is excellent news! I am so pleased to hear that. I hope everything goes according to plan.”
“As do we,” Mr. Barnaby nodded sagely. “Are you here to see Miss Fenwell?”
Penelope nodded, and he pointed towards a hall that Penelope knew from her frequent visits led to the sunroom.
“She decided to practice her violin today and has been at it for about an hour now. She seemed rather cross ever since she arrived from the house party at the Ironwell estate.”
The nervousness she had felt on the way returned, and she swallowed hard.
“I will try and lift her spirts,” she told him swiftly, setting off in the direction of the sunroom before remembering to turn back. “Thank you, Mr Barnaby!”
The butler waved, and she continued down the hall, her ears catching faint sounds of a violin. It got louder and louder the closer she got to the sunroom, and when she arrived, she found the door slightly ajar.
