Chapter Five
A successful party given on by the Cutting family
and once again to all of New York, I
wish you all a Happy New Year.
- From the New-York News of the World Gazette, January, 1st 1902
Penelope Hayes woke up to the sound of muffled whispers outside her bedroom door on the first morning of 1902. The winter morning sunrise graced across her bedroom floor and over the drained woman's bed. Penelope blinked a couple times, letting herself adjust to dawn's early light. Her head throbbed with pain from the previous night. It all happens when someone has one too many glasses of champagne at a New Year's Party. The sound of whispers did not help the matter at all. From her soft feathered pillows she lifted her head towards the door trying to hear who it was. The whispers only seemed to glide away from ear shot. Penelope's head began to hurt worse so she sunk back into her warm sheets. She gave up on eavesdropping to shut her delegate eyes and attempt to go back to sleep. She let her mind drift back to the night before, thinking of everything important and that she could remember that happened at the party she attended. "There was the dancing with all the hansom bachelors and even some married men. There was the laughing with old friends, beautiful music, excellent champagne, and Scarlett was there..." she thought hard to herself.
"Scarlett." The name burned in the back of her mind for she knew something had happened last night with her younger cousin. Thinking back, she remembered introducing Scarlett to many new people. Scarlett danced with the right men and talked with the right crowd but nothing stood out. If Penelope wasn't with her, then Buck was. If anything interesting happened while she was gone, Buck would surely mention it on the carriage ride home.
Penelope heard the whispers get even louder outside her room. She snatched a pillow and placed it over her head to block out the noise. It was not the time that she would like to get up on a Tuesday. She wondered who would be up at this hour talking outside her door. She peaked out from under her pillow and glanced over at the door. A loud laugh came from behind it making Penelope lose her temper. She threw off her sheets and swung her feet onto the floor. She swiftly stood up and walked over to her window. She forcefully shut her curtains to protect her room from the blinding light. In her dark room, she turned back to her bed and picked up a pillow that had fallen to the floor the night before. She threw the pillow across the room, succeeding in her task. The door rattled loudly, making the whispers on the opposite side of the door stop. Penelope smiled. "I think they got the picture" she thought and skipped back to her bed. She crawled back under her sheets and immediately fell back asleep.
Penelope sat alone on her bedroom balcony. Tears had begun to stream down her powered face. Her heart ached from pain as she clenched in her naked hand a letter signed from an old friend. Nothing seemed to be going her way anymore. Everyone she loved and everything she had was now gone and there was no way she could get any of it back. But still the moon covered her pale skin as it made it's usually path across the clear night sky. Time wasn't going to stop for her even if she was hurting. She dropped the letter to bury her face in her hands. She wondered how everything could turn against her in a split second. She wiped away her fallen tears and picked up the bottom of her evening gown to stand up. With the fabric in her hands, she silently walked over to the side and leaned against the snow covered railing. The night was cold but her skin was numb from pain rather than the temperature.
A shiver ran threw her body as the breeze passed by her, making the see-through curtains dance behind her. Her glass doors stood open, letting the light and the winter air pass into her room. She ran her hand to her heart, feeling as it beat in its rhythmic pattern. She closed her eyes, listening to the music the silence made. She understood why this had to happen to her although she never thought this would ever happen. She ran her fingers through her light colored hair, feeling all the pins that had been imbedded in her waved hair. She then started to tare away at each pin, letting her hair fall upon her shoulders. She dropped all the pins on the cold ground and took a deep breath.
She sighed knowing nothing that she did would ever change the past event. Defeated, she looked back up to the moon as it bathed her with its pale light. She hung her head and turned back to her room but then she noticed a figure. It stood tall and dark between the swirling curtains making Penelope stop in her tracks. She blinked quickly to see if what she saw was actually true. His hands were pushed inside his pants pockets and his head hung in a familiar way. He had stolen her heart once, and now he had taken her breath away. He took a step forward, revealing his messy dark hair and his perfect colored eyes.
"What are you doing here?" she managed to choke out. She watched him shrug.
"I came to see if you were okay." He started walking closer to her.
"Well thank you for your concern but I am perfectly fine." She turned around making sure she wouldn't have to look back into his eyes.
"By the looks of it you are far from fine," his voice came from behind her. Another tear quietly fell down the left side of her face.
"Did you really think you coming here would make anything better?" she asked and turned to face him. By now, she didn't care if he saw her cry.
"You are just making matters worse, nothing you can say can fix any of this either."
"I was just trying to-"
"Well don't." The tears were now flowing from her eyes. Like many times before, he walked forward and wrapped his strong arms around her small body. He buried his face in her messy hair as she cried into his shoulder. For awhile, everything seemed to be okay. This was her favorite place to be, in his arms she felt safe. She soon looked up at him with her watery eyes. He looked back with his own and with that look, she fell for him again.
"Penelope you are like ice," he whispered as he pulled away. She nodded and let out a short quite laugh. She watched him as he unbuttoned his jacket and pulled it off. He pulled her close and wrapped his warm jacket around her shoulders.
"Thanks," she said pulling the sides closer to her. Her nose filled with his familiar scent, the one she always loved. He then lifted her chin making her look deep into his eyes.
"I-"
"Shh," he said lifted his finger to her lips, "you talk too much." She smiled as she watched him do what she had wished for him to do for a long time. His face was inches away from her own and the gap was slowly closing. He moved his hands to the small of her back, pressing her body against his own. She nodded in approval then he slowly moved his hand to the top of her dress and-
"Is this not one of the most beautiful days ever!" Penelope's eyes flashed open as she took a deep breath. "It was just a dream," she thought. "One messed up and one beautiful dream." She thought about the man that stole her heart once before, wondering why now he is just entering her dreams. She sat up in her dark room to see her door was wide open and her cousin was pacing in her back and forth.
"Scarlet what on earth are you doing," Penelope groaned as she rubbed her throbbing head. "Too much for my heart to handle." Scarlet placed her hands on her hips and pressed her dark lips to a smile.
"I am getting you up so you can enjoy this beautiful day with your younger cousin!" Scarlet walked over to the shut curtains and opened them widely. The light from the sun and the snow bounced into Penelope's room, making her shield her face with her hands. Scarlet laughed but Penelope was just annoyed. She got a better look of her cousin, who was already ready for the day. Her hair was up perfectly and her dark blue dress whisked around her every where she walked. Penelope rubbed her eyes, trying to erase the dream from her memory as Scarlet danced around her room.
"You know Penelope, it would also be nice you would kindly ask people to be quite rather than shaking your door," Scarlet informed her. Penelope smiled.
"Well some people should not be up at the crack of dawn chatting outside of my room."
"I will take that as your apology." Penelope sighed as Scarlet sat down on a large ottoman across from her bed. She now sat up fully in her bed, brushing her messy hair away from her face.
"Oh and thanks for taking me to that party last night, I had a great time."
"No problem," she replied as she swung her feet to the side of her bed.
"Who was the man that walked over to me but didn't say anything?" Scarlet asked twirling a stray strand of hair. Penelope thought hard for a minute then smiled, remembering the important thing that had happened with her cousin last night.
"That was Henry Schoonmaker," she informed Scarlet as she stood up and walked over to her mirror. She looked at her reflection and frowned. She brushed away her hair and graced her face with her hand.
"Is that the one you bribed into marrying you?" her curious cousin asked from behind her. Penelope kept no secret from her close cousin. Scarlet lived in England with her father in a large estate that he had built from the ground up. She was an only child which made the two girls very close for Scarlet had no one to talk to about boys or just girl stuff. Scarlet was much like Penelope, which she liked about her cousin. After Scarlet's mother died, her father buried himself in work. This drove her insane, so Penelope suggested that she come stay with her for awhile. Since Penelope was now living back with her parents, it was the perfect setting for the two of them to catch up on the latest gossip.
"Yes Scar, that's the one." Scarlet smiled and went back to thinking. Penelope also thought about poor Henry. She took back her maiden name at his request after their divorce. He thought it would be better for the both of them if they forgot about the whole thing. She had no complaint for she would rather be known as Penelope Hayes then the old Ms. Schoonmaker.
"And who was with him? You know the shorter blonde one?" Penelope turned to face her cousin.
"That was Teddy Cutting, he was the one that hosted the party," she told her.
"Teddy," she repeated, "it kind of rolls off the tongue." She gave her a strange look then realized what her cousin had done.
"Scarlet you know that he is off limits right?"
"Why so?" Penelope rolled her eyes and sat down by her cousin.
"He is married to Elizabeth remember?" Scarlet shrugged.
"That has never stopped me before," she shot at her cousin. Penelope smiled.
"I am serious, please don't do anything stupid." Scarlet looked over at the window with sad eyes. Penelope reached over and grabbed her cousin's hand.
"It will be okay," she reassured her cousin in a caring voice. See I can be nice when I want to be, she thought to herself.
"Why are all the men I think would be right for me already taken," Scarlet whined resting her head on Penelope's shoulder. She put her arm around her and ran her hand down her arm.
"Scar I know there is a man out there just waiting around for you."
"You really think so," she looked up and Penelope nodded.
"I know so, so let's go find him." Scarlet took her hand and the girls stood up. They smiled and embraced each other in a loving hug.
"Thanks Penny, you're the best,"
"I know," she replied and pulled away, "now get out of here so I can get just dressed. Scarlet let go of Penelope and walked out of the room shutting the door behind her. Penelope dropped her smile knowing Scarlet wouldn't listen to a word she said. She would go after him anyway. But she couldn't blame her. When Henry was off limits she went after him anyway while he was engaged to be married to Elizabeth. But she really didn't care what Scarlet did.
Penelope walked over to the glass doors and opened them widely. A rush of cold winter air entered her bedroom. She slowly placed one foot onto the snow covered balcony making her shiver. The next foot soon followed and then a trail formed behind her. She walked over to the railing and placed her hands on it. She looked up to the sky wondering if where ever he was, if he at all thought about her. She ran her fingers through her hair, wishing someday that the dream that she just, would come true.