Page 16 of Snowed In with the Jilted Duke

"I should have known Penny was planning something.” Pippa sniffled. “She was acting so peculiar last night. I should have known."

"You couldn't have known." Daringly, Oliver reached across the gap between them and took her anxiously twisting hands in his. "Who would have imagined that Penelope would go off on such a mad start?"

To his surprised, Pippa laughed mordantly. "I should have imagined it. You didn't know her well before her illness. This is exactly the sort of thing Penny would do if she⁠— ”

She closed her mouth on the rest of her words with a snap and bit her bottom lip. Oliver's suspicions only grew.

"What exactly did she say in her note?"

Pippa's full mouth trembled again, and she looked away. At last, she said, “Penny overheard us last night.”

“What?”

A tap at the door made Oliver realize he was still holding her hands, and he dropped them like hot coals as the door opened and the footman came in bearing a breakfast tray. Pippa brightened a little at the sight and nodded her thanks as the footman set the tray on the small table next to her.

"Thank you, James," Oliver said, and the footman left the room, closing the door behind him.

Belatedly, Oliver realized they ought to have a chaperone. After all, they were an unmarried man and an unmarried woman alone in a room together. Even as the thought came to him, the door opened without so much as a knock and Pippa’s mother swept in, looking quite normal except for her red-rimmed eyes.

“There is only one thing for it, Philippa,” Mrs. Montgomery announced. “You must pretend to be Penelope until she returns.”

6

“What?” Pippa set her fork aside and turned to Oliver, who looked almost as horrified as she did. “I can’t do that!”

Mother settled herself in the chair Oliver offered her.

“Of course you can, dear. You and Penelope have been trading places since childhood. And it’s only for a few days.”

To Pippa’s horror, Oliver began to nod in agreement.

“In fact,” her mother continued, “we might not even need to postpone the wedding! You can stand in for Penny at the wedding and marry by… by… what is it called?”

“Proxy,” Oliver said. “I’m afraid not, Mrs. Montgomery. It would not be legal.”

“Oh.” Her mother pouted for a long moment, then shrugged. “Well, in any case, we shall put it about that Pippa has been taken ill and must stay in her room.”

“Why can’t we say Penny is the one who is ill?” Pippa asked. “After all, she does still suffer from joint swelling from time to time, especially in winter. Perhaps it has flared up again. She was already troubled by it when we arrived.”

Mother shook her head. “It can’t be Penny, because she must be seen to be here at the house. If anyone finds out she is missing, the scandal will be dreadful. When she does finally return, we shall say she is Pippa and you can switch back.”

Pippa’s head was already swimming, and she again looked to Oliver, who seemed nearly as confused as she was.

“I assure you, it’s the only way to avoid scandal,” Mother said. “After all, no one will notice if Pippa is gone, but they certainly will notice if Penny disappears. She is the bride, after all.”

Pippa stopped listening. Sometimes it was the only defense against Mother.

“I think… I think your mother is right,” Oliver said, and Pippa stared at him, betrayed.

He held up one hand. “We must think it through. If my bride is known to have gone missing shortly before the wedding, the scandal will make it to London before the new year. If the news is merely that the bride’s sister became ill and the wedding was postponed until she was better, that’s not interesting enough for the gossipmongers to tattle about. And then we shall have some additional time to straighten everything out.”

She could not help glancing at the corner of the library where he had kissed her the night before. If she agreed to this, she would need to be by Oliver’s side for the rest of the house party, or until Penny returned, whichever came first. Acting as his betrothed. Pretending to be excited for their impending marriage. Perhaps… allowing him a few public shows of affection to sell the masquerade.

Her stomach flip-flopped, and she could not have said if it was fear or excitement that made it do so.

“We do not have to decide now. Your father should be here by this evening,” Mother said brightly. “He will know what to do.”

“I’m afraid not, Mrs. Montgomery,” Oliver said in an apologetic tone. “No one else will be arriving today. The snowstorm has begun.”