“I don’t disagree with you, about the eavesdropping bit,” Jane said. “But Lucy’s right again. We have to know if they discuss Patience and if Captain Swift tells Penelope he’s already met her.”
“We are abominable!” Cass replied. “We are all going straight to hell for everything we’ve done this week.”
This time Jane shrugged. “I am already destined for that warm place. I’ll see you both there. We’ll drink brandy and curse and have a marvelous time.”
Lucy laughed. Cass shook her head.
Five minutes later, Cass stood in the gold drawing room, her ear pressed against the damask wallpaper right alongside her friends’.
Julian’s voice drifted to them. “Penelope?”
“Captain Swift.”
“I don’t know why you impersonated Miss Bunbury and it probably doesn’t matter. The fact is that I came here to find you, to tell you that we cannot possibly marry.”
Cass held her breath.What will Pen say? What will she say?
“You’re telling me we cannot marry?” Pen’s voice was surprisingly unanimated.
“Yes. I’m sorry.” Julian’s voice was a bit less harsh. “Truly.”
A tiny bit of laughter floated through the wall. “Oh, Captain Swift. You are funny. I actually had come here to tellyouwe cannot marry.”
Cass, Lucy, and Jane all turned wide eyes to one another. Cass clapped her hand over her mouth, then quickly pressed her ear tighter to the wall to hear the rest.
“You… did?” was Julian’s reply.
Pen sighed. “Yes.”
“Why?” Julian asked.
“I was hiding from you, to be honest,” Pen replied. “I finally decided I had to find you and tell you the truth.”
Julian’s voice moved farther away. He must be walking or pacing. “That’s why you weren’t in London when I arrived?”
“I was there, just hiding,” Pen admitted.
This time they both laughed.
“May I assume then that you are not angry with me and won’t be asking your father to call me out?” There was a smile in Julian’s voice.
Another sigh from Pen. “I cannot say my parents won’t be disappointed, but I’ve every confidence I can convince Father not to kill you. You’ve survived the war, Captain Swift, one bullet to the chest is quite enough. Don’t you agree?” Pen’s voice sounded equally light.
“Of course I intend to speak to your parents and explain,” Julian said. “I felt it imperative to speak with you first, however.”
“Completely understandable and commendable of you,” Pen replied.
“Then we may part as friends?” Julian asked.
“As far as I’m concerned we were never anything but,” Pen assured him.
Lucy, Jane, and Cass all expelled their pent-up breath at the same time. Cass braced a hand against the wall. She wanted to melt into a puddle on the floor. How? Oh, how had this worked out so well? It was a miracle to be sure.
“They’re leaving,” Lucy reported, her ear still pressed tightly against the wall.
“Yes, the door is definitely opening,” Jane agreed, her ear back in place, too.
Cass leaped away from the wall. “I must go. How does my hair look?” She tried to pat her coiffure in place.
