Page 50 of Snowed In with the Jilted Duke

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After hours on the road, Pippa was almost too tired to care when they finally reached Gretna. The carriage pulled up to the hostelry and Oliver turned to her.

“I shall secure us a room and a private parlor.”

“Very well,” she said. It no longer mattered whether they stayed the night or not. She was thoroughly ruined anyway.

She allowed him to hand her down from the carriage when she heard a familiar shriek from the street.

“Pippa!”

It couldn’t be Penny.

Pippa turned and was nearly knocked off her feet by Penny, who appeared as if out of nowhere.

“Penny!” She fought her way free of the cloak and embraced her sister, tears of relief rushing into her eyes until she was sobbing against her sister’s shoulder. With a laugh, Penny burst into tears as well. They continued sobbing even as Oliver grasped Pippa’s elbow to steer them into the hostelry and a private parlor.

As the door closed behind him, Penny pulled away and wiped her eyes, grinning broadly at Pippa. She grabbed Pippa’s hands and did a little dance right there in the hostelry’s parlor. "I knew it! I knew you were in love with Kendal.”

Pippa flushed and pulled her hands away. "Don't be stupid, Penny."

Penny laughed aloud. "I knew it. And now here you are at Gretna Green to get married, just like Hugo and I."

"Just like... do you mean... ?" Pippa’s head was spinning at this turn of events.

"Yes! I love him, and he loves me, and we're here to marry."

Pippa had never seen her twin so happy, and it made her heart ache a little. "But Penny..."

Still smiling, Penny calmed and put a hand out to her. “I know. It seems very abrupt. But we've known each other half our lives, haven't we? Just like you and Kendal have."

“It's not the same." Pippa's face was hot even in the cold air of the parlor.

Penny's face fell. "But I thought... "

She trailed off, and Pippa couldn't hold back any longer.

"Did you even think about me when you decided to run off like that?"

"You know I did. I did it for you."

"Don't do me any favors." Sullenly, Pippa flounced onto the shabby settee and stared down at her feet.

With a sigh, Penny moved to sit beside her. “Pippa... you know what I overheard. You don’t have to deny it."

"What is it you think you know?" Perhaps she could brazen it out after all.

"I know Kendal kissed you thinking you were me."

Pippa wanted the ground to open up and take her below so she could leave this conversation. "How? All you heard was one sentence."

Penny's own face was red, but she pressed on. "You see... he tried to kiss me. After you had done that. When I was recovering. And I refused, and he didn't understand and... but I didn't put the pieces together until we arrived for the wedding and I overheard the two of you talking at the piano.”

"It was supposed to be a joke," Pippa said weakly. "Just a joke."

Penny reached out and took Pippa's hands in hers again. "I know. But I'm not angry. If you hadn't done that, I might have married Kendal, and now I know that would have been a disaster. You see, Hugo loves me. He always has. But he couldn't say anything because I was promised to his brother."

Pippa's jaw dropped. "That's impossible. He hated you."