The Engagement after that Thing you Said

When Penelope woke the next morning, she was certain her engagement had all been a dream. That was until she brought her left hand up to push her hair out of her face and the light caught her ring. It had actually happened. She was going to be Mrs Colin Bridgerton

Unfortunately, that also meant Prudence's actions and assumption were also real. This left her less than enthusiastic about joining her family for breakfast. Putting it off for as long as she could, she decided to do as Violet Bridgerton had suggested the evening before and started to list what she had in mind for her wedding.

The best place to start was with the things she didn't want. She did not want an abundance of flowers, just a tasteful amount. Since Colin had mainly brought her daisies and sweet peas while courting her, she wanted most of the floral arrangements to contain those.

When she had dropped the latest issue of Lady Whistledown off to the printer once Colin had headed home, she had also paid a visit to Madam De La Croix. The modist had been happy to hear about her engagement and thrilled when Penelope requested one of her French designs for her wedding dress. The payment upfront was also appreciated.

Apart from that, her only other thought in regards to her wedding was that it be small and intimate. Colin's suggestion of a country wedding held a lot of appeal. Then it hit her: She was getting married, and it was to Colin Bridgerton. For a moment she couldn't breathe. This was really happening. She was planning her wedding.

She got dressed and headed downstairs hoping that she could avoid her sister. Alas not only was Prudence at the breakfast table but so was Philippa.

"Good morning." She sat down and poured herself a cup of tea. "What brings you here this morning Philippa?" As if she didn't know.

"It appears that I am the last to know that you are engaged." Philippa sipped her tea. "So, I though I had better check and see if Prudence had also gotten engaged." So, in other words she was there to mock both of her sisters.

"Colin only proposed last evening." Penelope was hoping to enjoy being engaged to the man of her dreams, but clearly her family had other ideas. "I did not see you at the Trowbridge ball."

"Why would he propose to you? Are you dying?" Philippa didn't seem upset by the prospect.

"No. I am not with child either before you ask." Penelope turned to her mother. "I have arranged with Madam De La Croix for my dress to be made. Perhaps you and Lady Violet could work out a date for the wedding." Before either of her sisters could come up with any other reasons as to why Colin had proposed, she left the room and grabbed her cloak. Now was as good a time as any to drop off her list to Violet Bridgerton.

"Penelope." Her mother stopped her as she reached the door. "I am happy for you." Portia cautiously approached her daughter who had been showing her temper more often these days. "This is what you want. To be married to Colin Bridgerton, is it not?"

"Yes mama. It would simply be nice if my sisters could be happy for me instead of assuming that Colin has to marry me." She was exhausted from being the butt of their jokes. "Do not worry about the cost of my wedding dress. It turned out that some of my books were worth something. It has already been paid for." She turned and walked out the door and over to the Bridgertons.

The door was opened before she could even knock. "Miss Featherington. The family are expecting you." The butler showed her into the dinning room. He held the chair next to Colin out for her.

Colin kissed her good morning. "Are you alright?" He could see that something was upsetting her.

"It is nothing to be concerned about." She tried to give him a reassuring smile, but she clearly wasn't fooling anyone.

"Can I be your flower girl?" Hyacinth chimed in before Colin could question Penelope further.

"I had not thought of that." Penelope admitted. "Of course, you may. I would be delighted to have you as my flower girl." So, this was what it was like to have supportive sisters. "Eloise, perhaps you could be my maid of honour if you would not mind."

Eloise looked stunned. She had not expected to be asked to be part of the wedding party. "Of course, I would not mind."

"Have you had time to make a list of what you would like for your wedding Dear?" Violet Bridgerton passed a full plate for Penelope to dine on.

"Actually, there were only a few things and I have spoken to Madam De La Croix so she can begin work on my dress." She passed her list to her future mother-in-law.

Violet glanced over the list and nodded. "I think we can manage that. I will visit with your mama after breakfast."

"Sorry, I do not wish to disturb your breakfast." She had been so eager to escape her family that she hadn't considered how early it was.

"Nonsense. You are joining us not disturbing us." Violet smiled at her soon to be daughter-in-law. "Colin was about to come and fetch you over to join us anyway."

This was wonderful. The playful banter going around the table. The entire family enjoying being together instead of being resentful. Being included instead of targeted. Part of her could understand why Marina had not wanted to give up on her plan to deceive Colin if it meant her child would be loved by this family.

"It is incredible, is it not?" Kate leaned closer to Penelope. "To be part of a family who loves you as though you were born into it."

Penelope nodded. "It is indeed." She couldn't help but compare the two families. Her family had mocked her and been jealous while Colin's family had been overjoyed for him and nothing but welcoming to her. It was quite different from when he had been engaged to Marina. The Bridgertons had still been welcoming, but at times it became apparent that they were not convinced that he had made the right choice.

"You look so thoughtful." Colin whispered to her. "Why do I doubt it is over plans for our wedding?" He squeezed her hand. "Will you not tell me what is wrong?"

"This is just a different reaction to what I received this morning from my own family." She managed a small smile. "Besides there can not be much to plan. Madam De La Croix has agreed to make my dress. I do not need an abundance of flowers. Hyacinth will be my flower girl and Eloise my maid of honour. Although if you would like a large wedding, we can do that too."

Colin completely forgot he was surrounded by his family. He just wanted her to have the wedding of her dreams. "Tell me this, if money was not an issue, would you want a big flashy wedding?"

She shook her head. "No. Did you want a big wedding? Most of the guests will be there for you anyway. It will be the perfect wedding as long as you are there." If it were just the two of them and a preacher, it would still be perfect.

"I just want you as my wife. The size of our wedding makes no difference to me." Colin kissed her hand. "Now what else is on your list?" He was relieved that she appeared to relax a little more.

"Not much really. Although I did like your suggestion of a country wedding. But the weather may be an issue." But then her sisters would be an even bigger issue. Especially when they both kept coming up with reasons that Colin had proposed to her. Each reason worse than the last.

"We can simply put up a marquee, Dear." Violet reminded them that they weren't alone. "If you would like, you could have the wedding at our country home. That way if the weather is bad, we can move into the house." She turned to Antony. "That is if you have no objections."

"Mother, the country house is yours to do with as you please." The Viscount smiled at the newly engaged couple. "Have you decided on a date?"

"No brother. We only got engaged last night." As much as he wanted to marry Pen this moment, he couldn't help but wonder if it would put a stop to the spiteful comments regarding why he had proposed if they waited to be wed.

Breakfast in the Bridgerton household was a joyous, noisy, playful affair. Kate spoke to Penelope about her ideas for the wedding with Eloise and Hyacinth chiming in with their suggestions. Bit by bit Penelope began to relax and enjoy planning her wedding.

Violet Bridgerton finished her breakfast and headed over to make a start on organizing the wedding with Portia Featherington. She had made a few notes of her own from the conversations going on around the breakfast table. As she moved passed Colin, he reached out to her and whispered a hasty explanation of what had happened the previous evening. Nodding, she squeezed his hand and continued her way to the Featherington residence.

Kate had asked to look at Penelope's engagement ring, so Penelope had missed the exchange. Colin mouthed a thank you to his sister-in-law who smiled back at him in response. It appeared he wasn't the only one who had sensed that all was not right with Penelope.

Once they had all finished breakfast Colin took Penelope's hand and led her into the drawing room. Kate and Antony were keeping the rest of the family occupied while he spoke to Penelope in private. "What happened this morning before you arrived here?"

"It is nothing to be concerned about." Penelope could see that Colin was not going to accept that explanation. "I came down to breakfast this morning and found that my sister Philippa was visiting. She asked me if I was dying and that was why you were marrying me."

Her family was unbelievable. Were they all so bitter and narcissistic that they had to mock her instead of being happy for her? "Is it important to you that your family approves of our getting married?" Because the only person whose approval he wanted or needed was Penelope's.

"No." Penelope realised it really didn't. "What is it about me that people including my own family jump to the conclusion that I must be either with child or dying for you to marry me?"

"People are ignorant. They can not stand to see others happy." He kissed her forehead. "My family were and still are overjoyed by our engagement."

"Your family is very sweet and kind." Penelope could remember all of the times that the Bridgertons had made her feel welcome and included her. The times each of the three older Bridgerton brothers had each rescued her at some point when the likes of Cressida Cowper picked on her.

Colin smiled down at her as he pulled her into his arms. "Yes, they are but if they did not approve, they would not be shy about letting me know. They certainly were vocal regarding Marina."

"They did not like Marina?" She had warned her mama and sisters that the Bridgertons were not easily fooled. But she had been unaware that there had been a discussion behind closed doors about it. Other things made sense though now that she knew that. Such as Marina and Colin's attempt to sneak off and get married.

"Antony and mother felt I was rushing into things, and they were right." As annoying as that was, he realised that he would have missed out on real love with Penelope if he had married Marina. Every minute he spent apart from Penelope was agonizing. That had not been the case with Marina.

"Should we go and rescue your mama from my family?" Her mama would be careful about what she said in front of Violet Bridgerton, but her sisters would not.

"Not just yet." His mother could hold her own. Right now, he wanted to kiss his fiancé. She had pleasantly surprised him when he had kissed him last night, but he was determined to show her that she was the only woman for him. He kissed her marvelling at how she responded so quickly and with equal fearlessness at being discovered.

He could lose himself kissing her for hours. Manovering them over to the couch while he kissed his way down her neck, he could only begin to guess at how insatiable he would be once he had made love to her. Tracing her collarbone with his lips he grew harder at every sigh and aroused moan that left her lips. She was far too tempting. If he didn't stop now, they could very well prove Prudence right and that would not do.

Groaning into her neck he pulled away. "As much as I hate to stop my little Temptress, we should probably have some input in our wedding plans." Besides, Kate and Antony could only contain Hyacinth and Gregory for so long.

"It would be too much to expect your mama to have to put up with both of my sisters." She agreed while trying to catch her breath. Nobody had ever found her tempting before. That left her almost as breathless as his kisses had.

"Come along then." He helped her up. "Let us see if they have chosen a date yet." He still hoped it was sooner rather than later. "Did you have a preference if they have not?"

"No. I am still amazed that my family have not convinced you that marrying me is a terrible idea." If their roles were reversed, she seriously doubted that she would not have run in the opposite direction.

"Funny, I wish I had come to the realisation that you are perfect for me sooner." Colin opened the door for her and nodded to his brother that they were heading out.

"Colin!" Antony pointed to the top couple of buttons on his shirt. A huge grin on his face.

Looking down at his own shirt he saw that his top two buttons were undone, and Penelope was blushing while looking anywhere but at him. "Minx." He hastily did the buttons up grinning.

"Penelope!" Kate walked up to her before she could walk out the door. "You appear to have come undone yourself." She did the buttons up at the back of Penelope's dress for her.

"Thank you. The maid was not available when I got ready this morning. I must have missed a few buttons." It was difficult to reached everything by yourself. She would have thought her mama could have at least mentioned it before she walked out the door. Then she caught the smirk on Colin's face. "You were saying?" She arched her eyebrow at him.

Colin chuckled. "I could not help myself. Let's go and rescue my mother." He gently tugged on her hand noting the amused grins on both Kate and Antony's faces.

When they reached the Featheringtons drawing room they found Violet and Portia chatting amicably, while Prudence and Philippa looked like sulky school children. Clearly, they had been reprimanded for their treatment of Penelope, but it was difficult to tell if it had been by Portia or Violet.

"So do we have a date for our wedding." Colin breezed into the room and sat opposite their mothers all but dragging Penelope with him. He purposely ignored Prudence and Philippa. If his future sister-in-laws could not sum up some joy for their sister, he would happily ban them from the wedding.

"Yes Dear." His mother beamed at him. "Since both you and Penelope want a simple wedding, we should be able to organize it in a month." She turned to Penelope. "If that suits you of course."

"'I will check with Madam De La Croix to see if that is sufficient time for Eloise and Hyacinth's dresses as well as my own to be made." She had little doubt that the modist would have the three dresses made with time to spare.

"And they shall be yellow." Portia declared delighted.

"No." Penelope declared strongly. "Blue is the Bridgerton colour. Quite frankly mama I would be happy to never see another yellow dress in my lifetime." She had never been so brave before, but with Colin holding her hand she found the strength to at the very least have details of her wedding to her tastes.

Portia was a little taken aback. Then it appeared to occur to her that it was her daughter's wedding and therefore her choice of colour pallet. "If that is what you wish Penelope."

"It is." Penelope paid no attention to her sisters who were watching the scene before them with their jaws hitting the floor. "Hopefully the weather will hold."

"Since the wedding will be at Abbrey Hall we will see to it that we are prepared for any type of weather." It seemed that Violet Bridgerton had been busy in the short time she had been visiting.

"Thank you, Lady Violet." Now she could begin to be excited about getting married. Now she just needed to pay a visit to Madam De La Croix to organize Eloise and Hyacinth's dresses.

"Is there anything we need to organize?" Colin hoped not since he wanted to spend as much time as possible with Penelope in the month leading up to their wedding.

"Plenty. I suggest you speak to Antony on where you will live once you and Penelope have married. You will need to be fitted for a new suit."

Colin groaned. "Is it too late to elope." He was startled to hear Penelope giggle. "I am quite serious."

"No, you are not." Penelope beamed at him. "You would not have involved your mama if you were serious about eloping." She knew this to be true. When he and Marina had tried to elope, they had told no one. If she hadn't discovered Marina packing and worked out what was going on, they would be married now.

"You may be right." He kissed her cheek. "When are we going to be able spend time with each other with all of this to organize?"

"We will have the rest of our lives." She was certain they would find time together even if it was for midnight strolls.

"You are actually in love with Penelope." Philippa ruined the moment by sounding incredulous. Prudence looked equally shocked.

"Of course I am." Colin was beyond fed up of people doubting his feelings for Penelope. "Why else would I have proposed?"

Penelope rolled her eyes when her sisters struggled to answer him. "You can stop being so shocked. If you find it so unbelievable that somebody would want to marry me there is no need for either of you to attend the wedding." In truth she would prefer that they didn't attend. The last thing she wanted was for the paster to ask, "If anyone objects to this man and woman being joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace?" And her sisters leaping to their feet, yelling out claims they thought were funny, but in truth just ruining her wedding.

"Your sisters will behave themselves at your wedding or I will drag them out myself." Portia glared at her two older daughters. It had obviously occurred to her that she would miss out on being any part of her daughter's wedding if a few things didn't change. Now Prudence and Philippa just needed to come to the same realisation.

Penelope wasn't so sure, but she could see by the expression on Violet Bridgerton's face that her mama would have assistance dragging Prudence and Philippa out if they caused trouble at her wedding. "Well, I should go and see Madam De La Croix to organize the other two dresses."

"I will go with you." Colin leapt to his feet. Besides it was becoming clear that he and Penelope would not be seeing much of each other with the wedding preparations taking up their time despite it being a small and intimate wedding.

"Colin, you could get fitted for you suit while Penelope is speaking to Madam De La Croix." Violet Bridgerton was just happy to see her son so happy.

"Splendid idea mother." Colin kissed her cheek before grabbing Penelope's hand and walking out the door. The less time he spent with his future sister-in-laws the better.

"We need to stop off and speak to your sisters first." Penelope steered him across the road.

"Why." He loved his sisters, but he could see them anytime.

"I just need to ask them what colour they want their dresses to be for the wedding?" Penelope had spent the majority of her life so far wearing a colour she had come to loath. She would not do that to Eloise and Hyacinth, even if it was for just one day.

"But you told your mother their dresses would be blue." Colin was confused. But he led her into the house and through to the drawing room where he could hear his sisters debating something.

Raising her voice just enough to be heard she offered them the choice and prayed they would not pick yellow. They stopped, stunned that they were allowed to choose.

"Blue?" Hyacinth looked to Eloise for confirmation. "It will match all of our eyes."

"Good idea." Eloise nodded in agreement.

Penelope nodded and turned and headed back out hearing the two sisters picking up their debate the moment her back was turned. "That was lucky."

Colin was bewildered. "What just happened? What would you have done if they had chosen yellow?" He helped her into a carriage.

"Eloise would never have chosen yellow. Only Hyacinth was a possibility of doing so." Penelope beamed at his shocked expression. "Besides, I would never want them to have to wear a colour they detested."

"That is very considerate of you." Any other bride would have chosen the colours they wanted regardless of what the maid of honour and flower girl wanted. Some would even pick colours that looked terrible on their attendants so that they looked better.

A month. It was so long for him to wait but if it made Penelope happy and stopped people from asking her if she was pregnant or dying, he could be patient.

"You realise that even if our days are full of wedding preparations, we can still go on midnight walks." Penelope smirked at him.

"Midnight walks?" So, this just got more appealing. He leaned forward and kissed her. "You are just full of bright ideas." Before he could move in for another kiss, they arrived at the modist.

Colin did as his mother suggested and got fitted for his wedding suit while Penelope was with Madam De La Croix. It occurred to him that he needed a best man. Obviously, it would be one of his brothers but which one?

Benedict had been best man at Antony's wedding. (Both of them.) Antony had been more of a father figure than a brother over the years through no fault of his own. Although hardly a man, his brother Gregory might enjoy the responsibility as he wasn't exactly a child either.

How had Penelope made these decisions look so easy to make? The fact that he hadn't had to make these decisions when he was engaged to Marina showed him how unprepared he was to be married. It also brought to light how his family had seen what a mistake he was making at the time.

It was amazing how wrong he had been about everything. He had thought he had been in love, but it was nothing compared to what he felt for Penelope. He had been reluctant to leave London because he had thought he would miss Marina and she had not made any attempt to dissuade him due to her deceiving him. When he had tried to stay in London to court Penelope, she had encouraged him to go not only to make sure he would resent her for a decision that was his, but to be certain f his feelings for her. They had only been engaged for a day and every time their wedding was discussed, she always asked what he wanted.

Growing up with Penelope, he realised that he had taken for granted that she would always be there. It had taken almost losing her to get him to open his eyes and notice that she was perfect for him.

In fact, they had almost completed the first novel from his trip to Greece. He was both nervous and excited to get it published. Although he was still dubious over people being interested in reading it, Penelope's faith in him was so encouraging.

The more he thought about the way he had managed Lady Whistledown and kept her family afloat without the knowledge of the general public, yet her family treated her like a joke. Oblivious to all she had done for them. He was going to marry the most incredible woman.

He met up with her outside the modist once he was done. "Why do I get the impression that was the easiest part of planning our wedding?"

"Because our mamas have only just begun. Although I think your mama has the most difficult job reigning my mama in with the preparations." Penelope tucked her hand around his arm.

"Are you thinking of something intimate and tasteful but imagine your mother has more of a citrus sunburst envisioned?" Colin chucked as he helped Penelope back into the carriage.

"She may yet surprise me." Penelope thought about her mother's behaviour just lately. "She has been almost maternal just lately."

"As opposed to what?" He had yet to see Portia Featherington act remotely maternal towards Penelope. His own mother had been more maternal towards her.

"You have witnessed my sister's behaviour. Where do you think they learned it from?" It was interesting to watch how her mama's attitude towards her changed when Colin made his intentions known. She wondered how long it would last.

"I wish I had come to my senses sooner. You would not have to tolerate such behaviour for so long." Although judging from Penelope's behaviour just lately, she was over be laughed at and pushed around.

"We both needed to grow up a little first." That was easy to admit now, but certainly wasn't when going through the experience.

Sitting across from her was too far away. He moved to sit beside her. Even that was not close enough. He had requested the driver take them the long way home and he was going to take full advantage of the extra time. Every time his lips touched hers it was more difficult to pull away. Those little moans of arousal that left her as he made his way down her neck set him on fire.

She wasn't shy when they were together like this, always pulling him closer leaving a blazing trail everywhere her tiny hands explored. It was no wonder that she had managed to get a couple of his shirt buttons undone without him realising earlier. It was excruciating having to hold back but he would not sully her reputation.

Groaning he pulled back. He could not wait until they were married, and he would not have to stop. "You are far too tempting to be alone with." He went to rub his neck and found his collar loose. Glancing down at his shirt, he found half of his shirt buttons undone. "Vixen. You made fast work of those."

Penelope scoffed at him. "And just how many of the buttons at the back of my dress are undone?" Considering how heavily she was breathing there was no way her dress could be this loose without some buttons being undone.

"How are we possibly going to last a month until the wedding?" He couldn't believe his earlier concern was that they would barely see each other. Helping her do up the back of her dress and he then did his own buttons up as they pulled up to the Bridgerton residence.

"You managed before." Penelope didn't think that she had changed that much, and everybody had been perfectly able to resist her and most still did.

He wasn't so sure he had. There were times when he was held in her gaze but was too naïve to realise the hold she had over him. "Did I? You were always the first person I looked for when I arrived at any ball. I simply did not know why until recently."

"Care to share why?" She loved him more than anything. And until recently he had seemed to only consider her as a friend. He had said to her "Our relationship has taken shape so naturally over the years, one could take it for granted." It had made her heart soar at the time. But then nothing had appeared to have come from it.

"I was stupid and naïve and had no idea what being in love really was." He recalled her words to him after the whole Marina drama. She had graciously defended him and told him that he wasn't a fool when it was so obvious now that he really had been a fool. "You said ' You merely believed yourself in love.' That was the problem. I believed it but I did not know for certain that I was in love. With you I feel it so deeply. I know that you are the only one that I want to spend the rest of my life with."

It was so beautiful that it brought tears to her eyes. "I love you so much. I have loved you since the moment my bonnet knocked you from your horse."

"Stay and have dinner with my family." He needed her like he needed air to breathe.

"That sounds wonderful. Will your cook mind an extra person to cook for?" She didn't want to inconvenience anyone in the Bridgerton household. Staff and family alike.

"I may have already told cook you would be staying for dinner." He smirked at her before grabbing another kiss before climbing out of the carriage and leading her inside. Besides, he needed to speak to Antony about where they would live, and he wanted his bride's opinion on their home as well. They worked well together as partners.