That night, Sylvester was pacing around his bedroom, his thoughts in a swirl. It was clear to him that she liked him. The way a girl would like a boy. He was sure that he liked the idea. The Hooded Claw side of him, however, was seeking to take advantage of this somehow. All the times he'd had her in those traps, not once did he try to get fresh with her. His thinking hadn't been along those lines; he had merely viewed her as an obstacle, nothing more. People were obstacles or the means to an end. The Bully Brothers, for example-he merely tolerated them because they were willing to help him. They were in jail right now, however, due to a burglary they'd managed to bungle. Fortunately the burglary hadn't been his idea, or they would've ratted him out.

Yet another reason to retire the Hooded Claw. One of these days someone was going to slip up really badly. If he did manage to kill Penelope and it got out that he was the guilty party, he would forfeit the inheritance. He'd be sitting in prison, very likely on Death Row.

It just wasn't worth it. It was becoming more and more clear to him.

Marrying her was a viable option. Of course she would want children, but she could handle that part. Just have a nanny or governess around, and that would take care of things. On the plus side, he'd have heirs.

He reached into his closet and extracted his Hooded Claw duds. His thought was to put them on and sneak into her room.

He shook his head as he tossed them back into the closet. Bad idea. She'd scream and wake the servants. On top of that, he'd be unmasked-and all bets would be off.

Sylvester sat down at his desk and rested his forehead on his hands. Blast it, he was attracted to her, and the feeling was mutual. The wall he'd put up was being pulled down by that slip of a girl. That was why he was considering marrying her in the first place, and telling himself it was just so he'd be able to enjoy the perks that went along with marrying a super-rich girl.

Let her be smitten, he thought after a few minutes. It would make it all the easier for him to convince her to marry him. She was just so naive. It was hard to believe she hadn't figured out his game yet. Again, she seemed to only see what she wanted to see.

It would just be easier on him if it were one-sided. Even though he'd never had the experience, he figured that he didn't need to be in love with her to have the physical pleasure.

That's all it would be for him-just physical. And let the chips fall where they might.

A few days later, Penelope was out and about, either in meetings with her charities or cutting some ribbon or another. Sylvester took this opportunity to head to a pricey jeweler's shop. As her guardian, he did have an allowance, and since he wasn't spending it on the Bully Brothers (whenever he did remember to pay them; more often than not he conveniently "forgot"), he had the money for a good-sized diamond ring.

After about an hour or so of looking and thinking about what Penelope would want (why did it even matter, he asked himself continually), he finally settled on a decent-sized diamond. Not too big, definitely not too small, and not too gaudy. Sylvester, of course, was polite to the clerk; after all, he had to keep up appearances.

The ring was placed in a nice box. Sylvester paid for it, carefully slipped it into the pocket of his jacket, and got into his automobile.

Penelope was home for dinner that evening. Sylvester sat down next to her at the table, as he had been doing for the past few days, instead of sitting at the opposite end. "I do declare, I am just tired from today," she sighed as she leaned back a bit in her chair.

Sylvester bit back a frown. She had no idea what it was to be tired. She had never been deprived of sleep or anything as a child as punishment for some infraction. She had been disciplined by her parents, that was true enough, but she had never experienced the brutality that he had. Penelope had no idea what it was like, staying up to study to get good grades and get out of poverty. "It must be tiring, dealing with those people all day," he said in a neutral tone.

"A lot of it is so boring, but it's something that needs to be done," she said.

He raised an eyebrow slightly. He'd never heard the slightest bit of complaint from her before. Perhaps she wasn't quite so shallow as he'd initially thought. He'd certainly had his share of unpleasant tasks over the years, things that needed to be done. "You have to keep up appearances," he suggested.

"It's not just appearances. I genuinely do care," she said. "I guess it's hearing them talk about the numbers, and all the planning. You can't just show up somewhere, it needs to be all planned out."

Sylvester thought that intriguing. Penelope was doing this for altruistic reasons, it would seem. Sylvester couldn't afford to be altruistic.

"Speaking of planning," he cut in, "I think we may have to plan a wedding." He was no romantic, so he was just winging it.

She perked up at the mention of a wedding. "Whose wedding?"

"Ours-if you say yes." He took out the ring box and slid it towards her.

Her blue eyes widened. "Sylvester-do you mean-?" She opened the box, and those eyes lit up as she saw the ring sparkling within.

"Yes, I mean it. Will you marry me?"

"Yes, yes I will!" she exclaimed.

Sylvester removed the ring from the box and slid it onto her left ring finger. "We'll get a wedding planner," he said with a grin. Inwardly, he felt a huge sense of relief. She had not turned him down; she was enthusiastic about the whole idea.

"I'd like to get married as soon as possible. How about September?" she asked.

Sylvester smiled. "That sounds good," he said. That was only a couple of months away. He'd been hoping that she wouldn't go for a long engagement.