“No, Lucy. Stop it,” Cass said.
“Stop what?”
“Stop thinking whatever you’re thinking. You’re coming up with an even more ludicrous scheme than the last one, and I won’t have it. It’s time to tell the truth. I’ll go with you to see Julian. I’ll be honest with him. It’s time.”
Lucy shook her head. “But if you tell him the truth, he’ll know you’re Cass.”
Cass pressed a fingertip to her temple. “Yes. I know. That’s the point.”
“Are you going to tell him that Penelope is really Penelope, too?” Lucy asked.
Cass straightened her shoulders and firmed her resolve. “I’m going to tell him everything. He deserves the truth. This has all gone on long enough.”
In the end, Lucy relented, perhaps only because she couldn’t think of anything more outlandish to do to extricate them from their present predicament. Perhaps because Jane had chimed in and agreed with Cass that it was time to tell the truth. Perhaps it had been a mix of both, but at any rate, Lucy sighed and said, “Very well, let’s get this over with.”
They made their way downstairs to the blue drawing room and sent Jane in search of Julian to tell him that Lady Worthing was waiting there to speak with him.
As they waited, Cass and Lucy both sat staring out the window.
“What if we—” Lucy offered.
“No.” Cass shook her head.
“But I could—” Lucy said.
“Absolutely not,” Cass replied.
Lucy opened her mouth to try again, no doubt, but the door cracked open and Julian strolled inside. Cass took a deep breath.
Lucy stood to greet him, a shaky smile on her lips. “Captain Swift.”
“I want to know one thing,” Julian said, eyeing them both with a look that was a mixture of confusion and suspicion. Cass’s heart dropped. Here it was. Julian might well hate her in just a few short moments.
Lucy swallowed audibly. “Yes, Captain Swift?” She bowed her head.
Julian nodded toward Cass. He crossed his arms over his chest and tapped his booted foot on the rug. “Why is Penelope Monroe claiming to be you?”
***
Cass had to sit. That was all there was to it. Never in her wildest imaginings of how this conversation would go did she think it would happen this way. She blindly searched for the arm of the chair behind her and dropped into place, the breath whooshing from her body as she landed.
Lucy recovered much more quickly. “Whatever do you mean, Captain Swift?”
Julian’s brows were arched. “I mean, I met with Penelope not an hour ago in this very room and she told me her name was Patience Bunbury.”
Lucy blinked at him, her mind obviously whirring with ideas. She placed a hand to her throat. “She did?”
“Yes, she did.” Julian tapped his boot again.
Lucy cleared her throat and inclined her head. “And did you ask her why she did that?”
Julian stopped the tapping. “No. In fact, I was so shocked I pretended I didn’t know who she was. But why would she say such a thing?”
Lucy’s voice was high and thin. “I’m not sure, Captain Swift. Are you quite certain the lady in question was, in fact, Penelope?”
“I’m quite certain she was not Patience as I’ve already met Patience.” He motioned toward Cass again. “And she looked very much like my memory of Penelope Monroe. A bit older, to be sure, but she hasn’t changed much.”
Cass fought her nod. No, Pen hadn’t changed much. But Cass was stricken dumb. She couldn’t talk, could only listen as Lucy rapidly answered Julian’s questions and asked him her own. How had this happened? It was madness.
