Only a Memory

Penelope loved Eloise like a sister. Almost since the moment they met. And not like her own sisters who she did not have the best of relationships with. Although like her relationship with her mother, that had improved since she and Colin had married. Still Eloise had been the sister she had always wished for.

There were times when Eloise blurted things out without thinking. Quite a few times actually. Rarely did she do it deliberately to be cruel. Unlike Prudence. So when Eloise blurted out how it was lucky Marina had moved out of town when she had married Phillip so that Colin would not have to have any awkward conversations at any balls, Penelope tried not to be hurt or offended. She understood how Eloise had meant it but it still made her wince but tried to hide it and excused herself to head home.

Colin noticed that Penelope was quiet when she returned from visiting his sister. Although his wife was a shy quiet person, he could feel a tension to her quiet this time. "Have you had a falling out with Eloise?" He hoped not. They had all barely survived that last time the two were no longer on speaking terms.

"No. I was just thinking about Marina." Penelope took off her gloves and put them on her dressing table. It had been three months since her funeral, but she had never felt relief that Marina was not living close enough to run into amongst society. But she hadn't gone out of her way to visit Marina either.

"What about Marina?" He hadn't thought about Marina since her funeral. She couldn't hold a candle to Penelope. The love he felt for Penelope was all consuming. He had realised some time ago that what he had felt for Marina was merely boyish infatuation. So Marina had become only a memory.

"We avoided a lot of awkwardness because Marina and Phillip live outside the Ton. I should have at least visited her." Pen sat down heavily on the bed. "I wasn't avoiding her. I just … I was relieved that you would not be trapped in a lie. I was not trying to get her shunned by the Ton."

It dawned on him just how deeply Penelope loved him. "What brought this on?" He sat beside her on the bed. He thought they had gotten past this.

"Just an innocent comment your sister made." She didn't want to cause a rift between Colin and Eloise so she downplayed it as much as she could.

Colin groaned. "Eloise." His sister really needed to think before she spoke. "Marina knew what she was doing." Truth be told, if Marina had been honest with him, he probably would have married her and have been in Phillip's position to save her honour. But he could also have save both he and Pen a lot of hurt and heartbreak if he had listened to her when she had warned him that Marina had another love. "Phillip may not have been her love match but she could have found some semblance of happiness. After all she had two beautiful children."

"Lord Crane does seem like a kind man." She recalled the two times she had met Phillip prior to their wedding. He was an honourable man. Marrying his brother's love wasn't his idea of a happy ending either, but he tried. "Do you still think of her?" She asked the question, but wasn't certain she wanted to hear the answer.

"The only woman I think of these days is you." He kissed her cheek. "Once I realised my best friend was the perfect one for me, I had no need to think of any other women. Now I get love and friendship"

"Thank you. I needed to hear that." She felt a little better. "We should visit Lord Crane and see how he is holding up." She wanted to be certain that Phillip and the children were coping.

"We can do that." Anything to make Penelope happy. He had enjoyed speaking to Phillip when they had spoken to him prior to the funeral.

Penelope beamed up at him. "I love you so much." She rested her head on his shoulder.

"I will be speaking to Eloise as well." His sister had to accept that not everyone thought the way she did. So blurting out the first thing that popped into her head wasn't always helpful.

"Do not do that. I was just … I never thought about how we never crossed paths once Marina became Lady Crane." She had the man of her dreams and she was focused on a lot of different people in her life.

"Neither did I." Colin admitted. "But I do know that you are a good person." He would still have a word to his sister. "Why don't we spend the weekend in the country? We can visit Phillip and the children while we are there?"

Penelope squealed in delight and threw herself into his arms knocking him back onto the bed. Peppering his face with kisses she felt a lot better about Marina. "Thank you. You are so thoughtful."

Now this was the way he loved to see his wife. Happy and in his arms. "I take it you feel better now."

"Yes. How are you doing with writing your new book?" She snuggled into his side.

"I have almost finished." He felt some relief that he had more than one book in him. "Will you edit it for me?"

"Of course. I so enjoy the way you write." She had been looking forward to reading the new book from the moment he started writing it.

All thoughts of anyone else faded when Colin worked on getting inspiration from his wife for the final chapter.