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Chapter 3

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A fortnight passed and she was being whisked around the dance floor by a skilled partner. His blond hair shone brightly in the lighting of the room, their speed causing a kaleidoscope of colors along those very strands, as the music was uptempo and lively. She was uncertain if she'd ever attempted to participate in a song this quick in the past. Yet that was the very nature of the last few weeks.

She was breathless and her heart was beating fast when they finished but there was a healthy glow to her cheeks and a warm pleasure in her blood. She wondered if this is what she should be feeling in a romantic partner. The only other time she'd felt anything beside passivity toward a male of the opposite sex that was remotely like this, was not at all like this.

That had been the pining of a young naïve girl. This... this was a very different sort of excitement.

This was something new. This was something reciprocated. This was something greeted by mutual respect, honesty and equality. He treated her like an equal. He was fair, honest and maybe a little blunt but she kind of liked it, being spoken to so directly. He took an interest in her and her interests, he shared his own freely and shared his personal plans and endeavors. He told her what to expect from a marriage to him. She felt free to do the same, to share where she was in her expectations of marriage and her opinions on the prospect. She felt more brazen and embolden to say what she really wanted to say, and in public with others able to hear her with her own voice for the first time. She didn't have to hide behind a pen. Their motivations and goals aligned.

And, he was a lord, so it made her mother happy. Her mother was pushing for Penelope to spend even more time with him, to get to know him better. She was in high hopes for the rest of the season as long as he was around. No more talk of citrus curtains for the time being.

He typically lived far away from society, which was both a pro and a con for her, but it was all pro for his lifestyle and future aspirations. He had come down to London with the sole purpose to find a wife. She had put herself into finding a husband this season but it was only when she'd given up on the notion for the year that their paths had collided, nearly quite literally.

With the desire to find a husband abated for the season, Penelope decided to do a little reinventing. Her mother had pushed her forward into society when she was too young and then insisted she continue wearing childish costumes even though all three sisters had dropped their hems, hers was always the most outlandish and off putting of color combinations. Penelope took it into her own hands and funds to commission new gowns for the season. She was tired of appearing younger than she was, tired of feeling like a child under her mother's thumb, tired of feeling that her feelings were wrong and she would get into trouble at any turn.

She didn't want to mimic anyone else, she wanted to be herself. Gone were the bright greens, yellows and oranges. Pastels were fine but she didn't want to be washed out and fade into the walls with her hair the only thing standing out and it would, the red was never going to go away. She instead elected to drape herself in dark jewel tones of greens, blues and purples, things that complimented her hair in the same tone as her scarlet locks.

Cressida Cowper called her a peacock during her third outing in clothing of her choice, having worn both a blue and a purple dress already and was now wearing a green one. She had a few that mixed the colors as well. Then Miss Cowper had had a few other choice comments and Penelope had been fired up. She could have chosen saturated hues like Cressida, bold pops of color, flaming red, bright orange, hot pink, but while it would have fit her inner fire and her hair nicely, it didn't look quite as good on her as it did on the tall lithe blond. Penelope went with elegance and nod toward royalty instead of flashiness.

She had turned many heads with her first entrance, Cressida's included. Each new dress she could see the sparks of anger growing in those cold blue eyes. She had never understood Cressida's motivations and had eventually just decided that it was because Penelope had been an easy target, one that didn't fight back like others would. Penelope didn't have the social standing the others did either. The only thing on her side was her friendship with all of the Bridgertons and not just Eloise. They would have been the target of a lot more attempts to derail their friendship if they'd been standing against the tide on their own.

Penelope still wasn't sure how Cressida managed it, but she had somehow maneuvered them all into position so it appeared as if the drink splashed Penelope entirely on it's own. It fell from the table and got all over the hem of her dress. Thankfully it was a dark color so it wasn't as noticeable as Cressida may have intended, but Penelope had still elected to leave the night's festivities early to tend to the delicate fabric.

Colin had already been on her dance card multiple times during the evening but he had to perform his lordly duties and dance with other young ladies even if he wasn't currently looking. All the Bridgerton men had to participate, even those already married or otherwise engaged. They weren't perfect at following all of society's guidelines, but they did adhere to some of the points. This was one of them, and it was more to keep everyone friendly and included than for any other reason.

Penelope had a gap of 3 songs before Colin would be back at her side when all of this transpired. He was too far away, facing the wrong direction to see and then intervene and rebuke Cressida for actions no one could prove. Eloise was already at her side, defending Penelope and trying to make Cressida feel poorly about her actions. It wouldn't work, it never did.

She had made it halfway across the room, intending to see to her dress in the cloak room before heading home when someone stepped into her path. She barely managed to stop in time and when she looked up to see who had foolishly wandered in front of her without thought, she had to keep tipping her head back. He was really, really tall. It was her first indicator that she did not know this person. While most people seemed tall to her, no one in her immediate recall caused her neck to strain quite so much at this distance.

She had been right, she did not know the man in front of her. He however seemed to know who she was without introduction. "Miss Featherington, would you care to join me on the dance floor?" His voice was warm and without artifice and his eyes were kind.

She found herself saying yes when she really have ought to say no or at least not at that moment but at the next ball she would be more than happy to take him up on his offer. She ended up on the floor with him for two dances before she reminded herself that she really had to leave or her dress would be ruined permanently. It wasn't a long introduction but it had been a pleasant one. When they spoke on the dance floor, the conversation had flowed. There had been no need to count steps, it had become an activity they had done in the background, such as they would view breathing. Then her departure was met with such grace and ease that she found herself thinking of him the entire way home.

Lady Whistledown had quite a lot to say at it's next distribution about the night's events. Eloise was kind enough to fill her in on what she'd missed the remainder of the night, including Cressida attempting to flirt with her mysterious caller, whom she learned was Lord Debling. Cressida once she failed to garner any real attention from Lord Debling, had turned her sights onto Colin, who also rebuked her efforts.

Penelope had longed to hear what Colin had done the rest of the night but knew better than to ask if she hoped to keep her secret.

Penelope's thoughts had ping-ponged between Colin and Lord Debling until their next social outing, this time on the promenade.

She was following behind her mother and sisters and their husbands when she felt someone fall into step next to her. She felt the shift in the air and the warmth coming from him before she caught a glimpse of him in the corner of her eye. "Lord Debling!" She greeted somewhere between breathless and shrill. Her exclamation caught the attention of her mother who slowed her steps to properly chaperone Penelope. Her mother wisely did not comment. Penelope cleared her throat and searched for the right tone. She ended up between her childish pleading voice she used to get as much as she could from her mother when in a good mood and a slow modulated, adult woman's voice, one that now seemed so much more natural to her. "Good afternoon." Too bad her words had not been as inspired as her tone.

"Good afternoon Miss Featherington." He greeted and glanced at their entourage, her sisters were still oblivious to a guest being present but her brother-in-laws were checking with her even as they talked and walked with their wives. She gave them a small nod to reassure them that all was well and they put their attention back into what her sisters were talking about.

There was a bit of silence for a little while before Lord Debling spoke again. "Lovely weather we are having today." It was a perfect end of summer day, warm but not blustering hot and a small breeze tickling the leaves around them. It played with the small hairs around Penelope's face and Lord Debling seemed entranced by them. His eyes were warm on her face and she felt her heart beat faster.

Penelope gave him a real soft smile in return, she hadn't remembered the last time she had given one to someone who wasn't family-adjacent. Her smiles had become quite fake in regular society. "It is wonderful to be outdoors. I am glad to have not missed this walk."

Lord Debling smiled widely in return and their conversation became easy after that, both confident in the other being happy at their presence rather than pretense.

They spent nearly and hour together before they were spotted by Eloise who made her way over to them quickly and with her hand wrapped around Colin's pulling his slightly resisting body with her. Penelope didn't notice their progress until they were nearly upon them and hearing Eloise calling her name. Lord Debling looked disappointed but he knew not to overstay and made a smooth exit. "Will you be coming out to see the hot air balloon display next weekend?"

"I should be in attendance as long as the weather holds. Will we not be seeing you at the two balls this week?"

"I shall be present for those as well, but I feel like when we are out in nature we are our truest selves and able to speak more freely."

"There is certainly more space and we can see each other more clearly than the artificial light at the balls." She matched him perfectly and his answering smile was pleasing and warmed her greatly. He approved of her, approved of what she said and was encouraging of her to continue.

"Penelope!" Eloise called again, now far closer and she stumbled to a stop, Colin more graceful behind her, came to a more reserved stop and distance. His mouth twitched as if he wanted to say something even as Eloise wrapped an arm around Penelope's then caught herself. Eloise realized Lord Debling was there and she shouldn't be so free in public so close to someone other than their families. "Lord Debling." She greeted politely, maybe a touch colder than her normal reserved nature with men who weren't her brothers.

"Miss Bridgerton." He didn't skip a beat, he may not be the most charming of men but he wasn't boring and he wasn't awkward. He fit into society easily in most ways even if he had what was considered to be unusual interests and eating habits. She kind of respected it, respected that he had morals and he stuck by them despite pressures placed on him by the others. It was easy when you were away from society but he held true even among the ton.

Colin turned on his typical charm, the legendary charm that made it hard for anyone to ever be mad at him, for his mother to never discipline him, for women to fawn over him and men to be chummy with him, he made friends everywhere he went and no one could claim to dislike him. Penelope felt stupid for being right there in the middle of all of them, but she also had a very unique position in his life.

"Good afternoon, Lord Debling."

"Mr. Bridgerton." Lord Debling greeted in return. "I was just going to take my leave and let the two of you catch up with Miss Featherington. I wouldn't want to monopolize her time."

Polite society would insist he stay and the four of them would walk together until they reached the end of the path. Then perhaps a switch up of positions while they walked back to whatever tent they were intending to occupy for the remainder of the afternoon. The afternoon would include a late lunch with another round of walking down to the end and then back to where they started. It gave them all a chance to see each other as they had an opportunity to cross paths four different times. Unspoken though, someone could leave earlier if no one insisted the others stay or if they insisted on leaving.

Penelope almost protested his departure but they'd already said their goodbyes and made tentative plans to see each other not only again but thrice more in the upcoming week. It would be on the Bridgertons to ask him to say and having just joined, it wouldn't be impolite to ask him to stay. Neither Bridgerton took that opportunity.

Penelope wasn't entirely disappointed with the arrangement, she was looking forward to speaking with her dear friends but was still a little disappointed that Lord Debling was leaving. She enjoyed talking with him, he brought an entirely new perception to her world.

Colin watched Lord Debling walk off, a small frown tugging on the corner of his lips even as Elosie reclaimed Penelope's arm and started gushing. Words spilled out of her mouth in quick succession. Penelope didn't miss a word, used to the speed and pitch, though her eyes were taking in all of Colin's changing facial expressions. It was only after Lord Debling was out of sight that Colin's face became much more animated and normal, his eyes returning to Penelope with excitement and familiar warmth.

Penelope's own face flickered through a frown before the Bridgertons' energy pulled her out of it and she engaged fully with them and what they were saying. They finished their round and Eloise and Colin chose to stay with the Featheringtons at their tent and surrounding area. Penelope chose to sit on a large blanket behind the tent and soak in more of the sun. She was going to get freckles but she was ok with it, what were freckles compared to everything else?

Eloise went to get lemonade for herself and Penelope and Colin sat down next to Penelope, his long legs stretched out in front of him. She expected him to ask about Lord Debling, but he just talked to her as normal, perhaps a bit more of that charm coming through toward her than normal. She squinted at him, pretending it was the sun as she tried to figure out his game. She chatted with him but she kept looking for what was behind his latest change in character. He never treated her like one of the other girls and he wasn't quite treating her just like them, she was still his friend, but there was an undercurrent. He wouldn't be sitting like this with any of them unless there was a big group, and preferably of both sexes.

Eloise came back with three lemonades and Colin took two from Eloise, handing one over to Penelope and then took the third while Eloise sat. "I should have gone for them myself if I had known you were to bring one for me."

"Nonsense, it was perfectly reasonable for me to bring them. I am capable, am I not?"

"Quite." Colin was properly chastised and took a sip of his lemonade.

Eloise spoke then for awhile to the both of them, with teasing going in all directions from all of them. It was a quite pleasant afternoon. That was until Eloise brought up Lord Debling. Once she did, she could feel the ease seeping out of Colin and tension taking over his frame.

"Lord Debling has been spending a lot of time with you lately." Eloise commented nearly almost lightly, not fully concerned with the matter but knew she must bring it up.

"A ball and a walk down the promenade, sister, hardly a common sight." Colin countered, something in his voice.

"Perhaps not yet." Penelope confirmed. "We have agreed to meet 3 more times in the very near future."

"Has he already asked you for room on your dance card?" Eloise sounded shocked and Colin frowned slightly.

"No, nothing like that, he has just inquired of my upcoming presence at different events." Penelope waved it off, it may be the most interest she'd had from a man, but she didn't think it would last nor that it even meant anything now.

"Oh, and do you plan to attend many of them?" Colin asked.

"You are already aware of that answer." Penelope wasn't sure if there was a flirting edge to her voice, if there was, she wasn't upset by it, more surprised in herself.

"Touche." Colin answered good-natured, back to seeming unbothered by things once more. Penelope wasn't quite so sure anymore. He had returned decidedly un-Colin like in ways that she was still learning about. She wondered what else had changed since he'd been away. She was kind of excited to find out if she could.

Eloise pulled the conversation back to whatever she was interested in at the moment. Penelope was able to match her, they'd shared the same books and talked about them too on several occasions. They sometimes took up different mantels and sometimes they were fired up about the exact same thing. One thing they were on the same page about was that women needed more opportunities to make their own way and to be taught to chase that.

The three stayed together until they had to part ways and Colin helped Penelope up by offering his hand. He bent and kissed the back of it before he and his sister departed. Penelope still felt tingles from where his lips pressed through her glove even that night while she lay in bed, hoping for sleep.

In the morning a copy of Lady Whistledown came out but of course there was no mention of Penelope's prospects, as there wasn't anything to gossip about yet; while others were named and matched with their most prominent suitors.