Penelope – Revelations
She had to tell Colin she was Lady Whistledown. But then he would cancel the wedding and the truly tragic part would be that no one would be surprised. She couldn't deceive him though. If she did, it would make her no better than Marina. She could not do that to the man she loved. Nor should Eloise need to keep that secret for her. She was surprised she had kept it thus far.
Violet Bridgerton had sat down with her after all the guests had left and discussed with Penelope what she wanted for her wedding. Eloise had given her mother a list from Portia but had marked beside a number of items that they were not to consider seriously as they were clearly more to Portia's tastes than Penelope.
When she had ever thought of her wedding Penelope had always pictured Colin as the groom, but it had always been simple and elegant. Not loud and tacky. She loved her mother but did not have the same taste in basically anything as Portia.
She had been assured by Lady Violet that the few requests she had made were without a doubt to be included. After going through Eloise's list, all of the requests that Eloise had marked to not be considered were hastily removed from the list.
Each day Colin called on her which both thrilled her and made her feel guilty about not telling him about Lady Whistledown. So sure was she that he would call off the wedding when he found out, she did not include the engagement in her next edition.
Dearest Gentle Reader
If one can guarantee an event of the season to be enjoyable, it is the Hearts and Flowers Ball. The Dowager Viscountess has outdone herself again.
Miss Wright however could not stop praising her family's groundskeeper's cabbages. This Author does wonder if Miss Wright's fascination is in fact with the vegetable or the gentleman who grew them.
For those in need of an item of personalised jewellery, the Kentingtons are the people to take note of.
That evening Rose Kentington walked into her husband's workshop. "It is late." She hugged her husband from behind. "Our bed is getting lonely without you in it."
Gerald turned his head to the side to kiss his wife. "Almost done." He held the wedding band which his wife had designed to look like a vine which would wrap around the wearer's finger. "What do you think?"
"It's perfect. What about the engagement ring?" Rose always loved the way her husband brought her sketches to life.
"Finished. We can give them both to Colin tomorrow. Then I can get started on the Viscount's order for his wife." He showed Rose the engagement ring enjoying the way her face lit up when she saw it.
"Penelope will love it." Rose handed it back squealing when her husband tugged her into his lap. "It appears we received some free advertising courtesy of Lady Whistledown."
Gerald frowned. "Is it just me or does Penelope seem less than enthusiastic about getting married?" He had no doubt that the tiny woman was in love with Colin Bridgerton it was clearly written all over her face, but every time anyone had spoken about her upcoming wedding she seemed quite depressed.
"She has a secret." Rose snuggled down into her husband's arms. "I do not know what it is, but I would wager that it is something she feels Colin will call off the wedding for. I suspect that Miss Eloise knows what it is."
"How do you mean?" Gerald looked down at his wife. She didn't miss much. In fact she often saw what many others did not.
"Have you noticed how Eloise pulls the focus from Penelope when the subject gets uncomfortable for her. Or how Penelope keeps asking Colin if he is sure he wants to marry her? Eloise is the only one who does not seem surprised. I am certain it is not just the way her own family seem to forget she exists half the time." Rose could not quite put her finger on why Penelope would have such doubts.
"Do you think we should wait to hand over the rings?" Gerald was torn. The couple were obviously made for each other and he wanted to see them happy as they have become good friends. But he also hoped to be paid for his work."
"No." Rose shook her head. "It may prompt Penelope to unburden herself. I seriously doubt there is anything that she could tell Colin that would make him call off the wedding."
"Seeing that according to our son, he can not stop kissing Penelope I believe you are right." He swept his wife into his arms. "No what was it you said about our bed being lonely?"
As frazzled as Penelope was about her upcoming wedding she could not help but be amused that Eloise seemed to have taken on the role of chaperone. Even Colin had begun to assume that if he were to call on Penelope, that Eloise would be with them. Secretly Penelope felt that Eloise simply wanted to be there when Colin proposed with a ring so that she could make sure the proposal met her approval.
She had no idea how long it would take to make a ring and so spent many an hour trying to think on how she would break the news to Colin that she was Lady Whistledown. When Colin suddenly dropped to one knee in a secluded part of the park and produced the most beautiful ring she had ever seen, she almost stopped breathing.
"Penelope Featherington. You have been my friend and other than my family, the only constant and loyal person in my life. I can not envision my life without you. Will you do me the immense honour of becoming my wife." And with that Colin slipped the beautiful ring on her finger.
"That's more like it." Eloise announced as Penelope blurted out. "I am Lady Whistledown."
"That is not quite the response I was hoping for." Colin looked so confused. "Eloise's yes, but not yours Pen. What do you mean you are Lady Whistledown?"
Penelope glanced over at Eloise who to her credit looked mortified for Penelope. "I am not sure how else to tell you. It would have been cruel to marry you without you knowing. I expect you will want this back." She tired to remove the ring but it was stuck.
"So you do not wish to marry me?" Colin tried to grasp what was going on while realising that his sister already knew Penelope's secret. "Is this why the two of you were not speaking?"
The ring was not budging from Penelope's finger and now she was having trouble breathing. The only bright side of this was that nobody else was around to witness this.
"Pen." Colin placed his hand over her now red hand to stop her from trying to remove the stubborn ring. "Stop. Breathe." Once she stared to calm down a little he turned to his sister. "Perhaps you could explain." He led Penelope over to a nearby bench.
"Well yes that is why we were not speaking and then I realised that Pen had only published the Lady Whistledown article when I would not listen to her and stop trying to find out who Lady Whistledown was, which was what got me in trouble with the Queen in the first place." Eloise took a breath. "I am still upset about Theo though."
"Who is Theo? You were in trouble with the Queen?" Colin was more confused than ever. "Never mind." He could see that Penelope was starting to hyperventilate again. It was hard to believe shy Penelope Featherington was Lady Whistledown. Could she only be that bold when she pretended to be someone else. "Pen. Do you want to marry me?"
"Of course. And it is such a beautiful ring, but why would you want to marry me knowing I am Lady Whistledown?" Tears were pouring down her face.
"Because I am in love with you." Colin said it as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. He gently wiped the tears from her face. "Now first things first. Do you really like the ring?"
"It is the most beautiful ring I have ever seen." Penelope was managing to calm down now that Colin didn't seem mad and still seemed to want to marry her.
"Good. The Kentingtons will be pleased that you like their work." He felt relieved that Penelope was still going to marry him. "Who else knows?"
"Only Madam De La Croix. Even the printers do not know my real name." Penelope felt so much lighter now that Colin knew.
"Let us keep it that way. Can Madam De La Croix be trusted to keep quiet?" He had to admit his future wife had been quite the business woman without anyone suspecting her.
"I throw a lot of business her way. It is in her best interests to keep quiet." Penelope would be extra careful so that this did not hurt Colin in any way.
"Then let us not speak about it again in public." Colin helped her up. "Now how soon do you think our mothers can pull this wedding together?"
"Almost all of the planning has been done." Eloise chimed in. "Pen wanted to keep everything simple." She grabbed Penelope's hand so she could take a closer look at the ring. "That is beautiful brother. My birthday is coming up. Perhaps you could ask the Kentingtons to make something for me."
"We will see." Colin shook his head at his sister's audacity. "I think we should head back. Our mothers will want to see the ring and I want to know how quickly we can be married." He pulled out the wedding band from his pocket. "If this meets your approval, this will be your wedding ring."
"Of course it meets my approval." Penelope couldn't believe how lucky she was. She showed Eloise before the ring could be grabbed out of her hand.
They headed back to their families, Colin never letting go of Penelope's hand. "Why did Lady Whistledown not write of our engagement?" A lot of things were now making sense.
"Perhaps because she felt the engagement would be called off once you discovered certain details." Penelope couldn't believe Colin was not furious with her.
"It occurred to me that you had been telling me in small ways for quite some time. That had I been listening properly I would have seen all of the signs." Colin glanced back at his sister who was walking slightly behind them. "Eloise even pointed out that you had cautioned me regarding Marina long before the Ton found out." Colin recalled his visit to Lady Crane. "Even Marina told me to open my eyes and see you were right in front of me.'
"I am sorry you were caught up in all of that." Penelope had tried so many times to protect Colin from being deceived. And it broke her heart when he got hurt. "I will not let anyone ever hurt you again."
"Nor I you." Colin kissed her hand. "Now let us show off your ring." It had really turned out to be a piece of art. The Kentingtons had created a couple of masterpieces.
"This is what Rose was sketching that day in the gardens?" Penelope now knew why Rose had asked so many questions. "Why did she ask about my birthday?" The stones in her engagement ring were shaped like a tulip not a sweet pea and were amethyst not diamonds as were her birth flower and stone.
"That may be for an upcoming birthday present." Colin chuckled. "I have Rose and Gerald's address outside of the Ton so I have foreseen them getting a lot of our business."
Penelope could think of a few items she wanted to ask them to make for Colin. The Kentingtons were set to receive a lot of business from the entire Bridgerton family. She looked at her ring again. She was going to be Mrs Colin Bridgerton.