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Penelope's specially made, black, leather boots tapped on the sidewalk as she made her way down to the post office. She had taken advantage of the warm weather to walk, instead of taking the coach. Her cream coloured muslin dress accentuated her dark brown hair and contrasted with her blue eyes.
She was expecting a letter from her dear friend and ex – mother-in-law, Isabelle Schoonmaker. Isabelle Schoonmaker. Isabelle had only been a few years older than Henry when she'd married his father, William Schoonmaker and she and Penny had become best friends instantly.
When Mr. Schoonmaker died, Isabelle had gone abroad to live with her sister and her family. She wrote quite often and Penny looked forward to every letter. Along with her darling boy, Charles, it was the one thing in her life that kept her sane.
Penny opened the door, and walking up to the counter, asked the young clerk if there were any letters for her. There was one, and it was from Isabelle. Penny clutched the letter and set off to a beautiful little café to read it. After ordering a coffee, she opened the letter.
Isabelle wrote that she was well and that she had wonderful news. Her recently married brother's wife had given birth to a little baby girl. Her name was Athena Rae Castone. She was only five weeks old and was the most beautiful baby in the world.
There was another piece of new too, she wrote, news that might shock Penny.
I have been seeing a man, my dear Penny. A man, who in my eyes is absolutely perfect. He is much younger than William, only a few years older than me. He is charming, funny, kind and terribly handsome, and Penny; he has asked me to marry him! He has no idea about the late Mr Schoonmaker and I can't seem to pluck up the courage to tell him… What am I going to do, Penny? I have to tell him I am a widow, and that people may think our marriage inappropriate. I need your advice. Please write back soon.
Your loving friend,
Isabelle Schoonmaker.
"Oh Izzy," laughed Penny. "It's not nearly quite as shocking as you suppose it to be."
Penny rushed home and sat down with rose-scented paper to write a reply.
Dearest Isabelle,
Good new indeed! Your brother and his wife must be very happy.
As for your other news, you needn't be so worried. Tell your young man of your marriage. It had been more than five years since the passing of Mr Schoonmaker, that is more than enough time to mourn and move on. If you are in love, then be married and be happy. You deserve it. I'm always happy to offer advice. I will write a longer letter in due course.
Your dearest friend,
Penelope Schoonmaker.
Satisfied with her answer, Penny left the letter with a servant to be delivered to the post office.
Penny enjoyed giving advice. She supposed the fact that being able to influence people under the guise of advice had a little to do with it. She still always did her best to be truthful in these circumstances though. All the traditional books teaching the ways a lady should behave, such as: The laws Of Being In Well Mannered Circles, by Mrs L A M Breckenridge and Van Kamp's Guide To Housekeeping For Ladies of High Society, were all so old fashioned and terribly out of date. If a young woman was to take advice from those old pages, she could miss out on a good deal of fun in life.
What was really needed, was a new collection, drawing from the experience of modern society girls, or girl… She could be that girl, thought Penny. She already gave advice to friends on subjects such as love and fashion. Why not make it into a job. If she set up an advertisement in the New Yorker, people could write to her with problems and she could give them answers.
Within weeks of Penny's piece in the paper, questions were flooding in from the troubled young women of New York. There were all sorts of queries. Ranging from fashion disasters, un-faithful fiancées, widows in mourning, and all wanting advice from one Penny. It was hard to keep up.
One letter from a particular young woman in New York was quite close to Penny's heart.
Dear Penny,
I am in love with my best friend. When we were younger he payed every attention to me. He always did play around a bit, but it was always assumed that we would be married. Now he has fallen in love with someone else. She is young and completely wrong for him. I'm sure she knows how I feel and still attaches herself to his heart and soul to spite me. I have to win him back and get her out of the picture. I need advice, what should I do?
Yours truly,
Kaelis. V
Penny saw herself in this woman. She had once felt the same way about Henry and Diana Holland. Now she only looked back on the experience with bitterness. Who was Diana to ruin her life before it had even started? Everything would have been perfect. But it wouldn't have been, she admitted to herself. Henry had been her best friend, a fleeting romance, not the love of her life. She had only married him to spite Diana and prove to the world that she could.
Dear Kaelis,
There is nothing worse in life than decisions made in hate or bitterness. If this man really loves someone else, let him go. If you force him choose you, will he love you for it? Ask yourself if it is worth a life of unhappiness, a life of hate and fighting, just to prove to the world, and to him, that you are in charge, that you make your own decisions and everyone else follows them. Would you rather marry him and lose him forever, or stay his faithful friend. Remember, he chose her. Now it's your choice.
Good Luck,
Penny. S
It was out of her hands now. Penny wished she had been given advice before she married Henry. It all came down to one choice. The choice to be on top of the world.
