Claude had already suspected that Penelope would question his whereabouts and therefore was not surprised by her question. Instead he was more surprised by the blush that had painted her cheeks moments ago and he couldn't help but feel slightly smug knowing he was most likely the cause of it. When he had danced with her, he expected her to be shocked or even annoyed at his behaviour. He had not accounted on her showing any hints of desire and the moment she did, Claude had never been so tempted in all his life to kiss someone. Realising that Penelope was waiting for an answer, he removed himself from his lust filled thoughts and replied.

"I was just being cautious". Penelope sat up and rubbed her eyes tiredly. Yet however tired she was, she was determined to find out what he was up to. His answer had not satisfied her and she just glared in response.

"Cautious about?" she asked

"Your safety. I did not want to alarm you but I thought I felt Lucy's presence so I went to investigate". He answered truthfully; surprising Penelope who thought it would take longer to get the truth out of him. Penelope pushed back some of the loose red curls that were now starting to come out of place and gave Claude a soft smile.

"Although I'm grateful for your protection and determination to keep me safe, you must allow yourself to relax. Lucy is unlikely to attack me in public anyway". Claude did not reply and just leaned back into the dark stuffed seats of the carriage. Silence filled the space for a while until Penelope broke it.

"That Lord Davis was nice. He had good sense of humour! And Irene was lovely to talk to, along with Julius. I think this outing has made me a little more social". She laughed and closed her eyes. Claude on the other hand looked anything other than relaxed and swallowed a growl at the mention of Lord Davis. As he was leaving, he heard what the Lord had said to his butler and now his suspicions around the boy were raised. He decided that he would have to do some investigating, but would leave it until the morning to do so.

"His costume of Midas was really quite good. It was an interesting theme to go for". Penelope chattered on, still with her eyes closed. It was only when the temperature of the carriage fell suddenly that Penelope opened her eyes. Looking at Claude, she could only see his glowing golden eyes as his face was covered by shadows. She wondered if he was getting annoyed at her talking so she decided to test the theory out.

"Irene and Julius also had great costume ideas, though it wasn't the most obvious thing to go as". She added with a smile. When he did not respond she spoke again.

"Apparently Lord Davis was the only other person apart from me to guess correctly". Yet her smile had completely disappeared as Claude eyes flashed red for a moment causing her to shrink back. Penelope realised he was not watching her but was instead glaring at the seat next to her. As she watched him, small webs formed at the corners of the carriage and Penelope couldn't stop the cry of alarm leave her mouth when a large spider crawled out of one of the webs. Using her hand she quickly thumped the carriage roof causing the driver to slow the pace and stop. Claude suddenly came to his senses as Penelope was opening the door of the carriage. Looking up he watched as the webs slowly turned to dust all except the one closest to him which held a spider. He turned his attention to Penelope and in a flash appeared out the carriage by her side. In less than a minute she had already gotten out and was beginning to walk away.

"Penelope get back inside the carriage". Claude ordered sternly. She glared at him and carried on walking straight forward. Claude, not wanting to create a scene grabbed her by the waist and directed his attention to the driver. With a wave of his hand the driver had fallen into a quiet slumber, allowing Claude to speak freely. Penelope on the other hand was struggling against his strong hold and realised that it felt nothing like the way had held her before. She couldn't tell if it was because he was far gentler or that she had gone temporarily mad.

"Claude get off me". She snapped and used her elbow to hit him in the ribs. However Claude did not feel any pain and continued to drag her back to the carriage.

"I'm not going back in there with you and the spider!" she cried as he was about to put her back in. He stopped at the mention of the spider.

"Then I will remove it". He said simply and carefully moved the spider out of the web and brought it outside. Penelope watched as Claude went over to the nearest bush to put the spider down. Yet as he was busy, Penelope decided that it was her perfect chance to run. His anger in the carriage had frightened her and in all honesty she would have rather he had thrown himself in the bush and kept the spider in the carriage.

She had just begun to run when her legs were lifted on the ground and she was in Claude's arms. Giving a frustrated cry, Penelope put her face in her hands and allowed Claude to carry her back into the carriage. Claude had moved his hand out the window and seconds later the carriage began to move. Meanwhile, Penelope had not removed her face from her hands and squeezed her eyes tightly.

'Oh my god. Just let me get out of here alive' she thought as she gave a shuddering sigh. The silence, which seemed to fill the small space, was suddenly broken.

"I thought you were more intelligent than to attempt to run away in the middle of nowhere, especially considering you have Lucy as a threat. Perhaps you are more foolish that I first thought".

Penelope pursed her lips behind her hands and turned her body so that she was facing the window, removing her hands from her face. Ignoring his comment, she looked determinedly out of the window. However, she could not ignore the next comment.

"It doesn't surprise me that humans do not last long". Penelope snapped her head around and gave out a humourless laugh.

"Oh I'm sorry but oddly enough I am human and I can't really do a lot about that. And the only reason I was running away was because you decided to get angry and scare me! If you think I'm so foolish, why didn't you let me run? Maybe then I wouldn't lasted very long because I'm a human and you could finally be free of me!" she shouted the last bit and looked back out of the window. 'He has to ruin a perfectly good night' she thought bitterly. Claude's temper had completely gone at this point and he stared in disbelief at the girl he cared for. He watched as he rubbed her hand angrily over her eyes and guilt washed over him knowing he had made her cry. But what was worse, was that he had frightened her. Slowly he moved himself so that he was sitting next to her and he grimaced when she flinched at his movement.

"Penelope.." He sighed, wondering what to do. She in return just stared out the window before replying.

"Can we just pretend this never happened?" she asked quietly. Claude moved her gently towards him and pulled her into his arms. Her body in response stiffened and he felt annoyed that he had caused this reaction.

"We cannot simply forget it. I apologise for my actions. I should never have directed my anger towards you or given you any reason to be scared. But you must understand that running away in the middle of nowhere is very dangerous". He explained and stroked her hair, occasionally detangling the odd curl. Sitting up, Penelope locked eyes with him.

"Why were you angry with me in the first place? Did you dislike me talking?" she asked, obvious confusion laced within her voice.

"I… I was not annoyed at you. Rather the situation with Lucy". He partly lied as for the most part he was annoyed at Lucy but he would not confess that he disliked her new friend. She seemed to watch him as though analysing his words and then nodded her head.

"I would prefer in future that you just tell me what's wrong instead of getting angry. Even if I'm the source of your annoyance. Also, I accept that my attempt at running was foolish and I am sorry for my actions". She spoke calmly and Claude was happy that she didn't seem afraid anymore, instead she just seemed guarded which he guessed was better.

"Try to sleep. We will be returning soon".

"I can't wait to get out of this dress its lovely but not that comfortable after spending god knows how many hours in it". He chuckled at her words and she yawned before moving herself so that she was resting on the window rather than Claude. He felt a stab of pain at being rejected but pushed it away. He would have to give her time, since he had frightened her.

Twenty minutes later Claude was carrying Penelope's body out of the carriage and up the stairs to her room. He passed Victoria and she offered to help put away the carriage. He in return told her to return upstairs when she was done.

Penelope awoke as he was carrying her and started to move in his arms. Opening her eyes, she looked at him and put her arms around his neck, effectively burying her head into the crook of his neck. She was now aware of her surroundings and gave a sigh at the warmth of the house. 'I can't stay mad at him forever' she thought, feeling slightly bad for her treatment of him in the carriage. She realised that he had only wanted to protect her and although he had overreacted, she shouldn't be upset with her friend, since she knew deep down that he would never hurt her. Intentionally anyway.

When he got to her room, he slowly placed her on the bed and she gave a small smile as thanks. He was just about to go so that Victoria could help her undress when he felt a hand grab his own. Turning back, Penelope threw herself into his arms and hugged him tightly. He was in shock for a few seconds and then returned the hug.

"I'm sorry". She mumbled into his tailcoat and he shushed her. A few minutes later the sound of the door opening distracted the two, causing them to pull away. Victoria came in holding a pot of warm water and towels over her arm.

"Did you have a nice time Lady Penelope?" she asked, slightly distracted as she began to place the bowl of water on the dressing table. Claude gave a small bow to Penelope and silently left the room allowing her to get dressed.

"It was…good overall. I met Irene Diaz and her partner Julius Pitt! They were lovely to talk to and seemed genuinely interested in me. Oh and I met Lord Davis who was charming to be around, he had a great sense of humour". Penelope chattered away as she removed her mask and began to remove the dress, all the while batting Victoria's hands out of the way, demonstrating that she did not need any assistance.

"Was this Lord Davis handsome?" Victoria asked with playful grin. Yet as Victoria turned away, she didn't notice the small frown that graced Penelope's lips.

"I suppose one could describe him as handsome…" she paused as she put her nightie on, grateful to finally be in something she deemed more comfortable.

"But do you find him handsome?" Victoria asked as she held a towel out ready for Penelope who was now making her way to the bowl of water.

"Do you know when you are attracted to someone Victoria? I mean what are you supposed to feel?" Penelope asked avoiding Victoria's previous questions. Penelope liked Lord Davis but she would only consider him a friend, since she had only just met him. Also, being around him didn't arouse any odd feelings, so she believed that she was not attracted to him. But she still wanted to know what it was like to be attracted to someone. Her mother, before she died, or rather murdered, had begun to explain love to Penelope but she didn't fully understand the concept. Victoria looked thoughtfully and waited for Penelope to dry her face and finish washing before she answered.

"Well, some people feel breathless, happy, and overjoyed and a whole range of different emotions. I think it's quite hard to put into words what it feels like to be attracted to someone for I believe it is different for everyone. If I may be so bold, what emotions did you feel to make you feel as though you are attracted to another?" Victoria asked as she folded the towels. Penelope had by this time made her way to the bed and was thinking how to answer. She supposed Victoria believed she was attracted to Lord Davis, but in reality she was thinking of her reaction towards Claude. Even the thought of their dance made her cheeks redden, causing her to get under the sheets and shield her face, hoping to calm down. Moving the sheets back, she realised Victoria was staring at her with a knowing smile.

"Well…I felt warm…and odd". Penelope mumbled and glared at a now gigging Victoria.

"Ah my Lady, it's completely natural to feel like that! In fact I'm happy that you have found someone!" Vitoria exclaimed happily and began to make her way towards the door.

"But what does it mean?" Penelope exclaimed worriedly. Victoria opened the door and turned around.

"Perhaps you are beginning to fall in love". Penelope gawked and her eyes widened. Yet she couldn't decide what was worse, being told that she might be in love or the fact that Claude was standing right behind Victoria just as she spoke.