Penelope's Guardian (Promises Book 3)

by Laura Clarke

  There were cries of surprise and a sprinkling of laughter.

  Emmett grabbed Penelope’s hand and pulled her up from her chair.

  “Miss Martin, we should go before anymore fighting breaks out.” He took notes from his pocket and handed them to the server. “Tell your employer this should cover the damages. If it does not send a bill to Chester Sway’s house. Ladies and gentlemen, I apologize. I’m just trying to find information about my missing aunt. She disappeared after her husband’s funeral, and it is quite distressing for us all. I thought Mr. Bixley might have information. He took offense to my questioning.”

  Andrew was on his feet again, brushing bits of cakes and sandwiches from his clothing.

  Emmett led Penelope to the door. Once they were in the carriage she said, “Why did you do that?”

  “Do what? Your precious Andrew threw the punch, not me.” Emmett knocked on the roof and ordered the driver to take them home. “He’s quite quick to anger when certain subjects are brought up. I wonder what he has to hide.”

  Penelope couldn’t help but wonder the same thing.

  Chapter 4

  Penelope alighted from the carriage and stared at the Avondale home. The party was in full swing and she wondered if she should turn around and go back home. It had been three days since the scene in the teashop. Andrew had sent her several messages, but she’d ignored them all.

  Until tonight. This one had been most emphatic.

  I miss you. Please forgive me for allowing myself to be goaded into suggesting a duel. I need you in my life. I know he is probably watching your every move, but I beg you, come to the Avondale party tonight. He is a customer of mine and has invited me to take part in the festivities. He wants me to appraise a statue of his in the garden. I must see you. –A

  He didn’t mention a time, but Penelope knew events well enough to know things didn’t get started until later. She would go around nine. Emmett was usually in the library by then, and she could dress and sneak out the back, with Clara’s help.

  She worried that people would gossip about her attending a party while she was in mourning, but she decided after the scene at the teashop it really didn’t matter.

  Picking out her dress had been difficult. She loved her green dress. The sleeves were trimmed in lace, and the ribbons on it made her feel beautiful. Clara had taken great pains to fix her hair in the latest style. As she’d glanced in the looking glass, Penelope had been very happy. She’s tugged the bodice down just a little to show more of her bosom.

  Mary had taught her that showing off her bosom was the best way to entice a man. “Men like breasts,” she’d said. “And yours are lovely. You need to show them off to perfection to entice just the right man.”

  But was that what Penelope wanted? She wasn’t so sure anymore. Damn Emmett for being in the house with her. She had started up the steps and she had to smile at how his life had been going lately. The promised chaperone had never shown up, which made Penelope laugh. There had been no letter explaining her absence. When Emmett told her, she could see he wasn’t happy about it.

  He hadn’t mentioned finding another one, which was just fine with her. She didn’t need a chaperone.

  She did wonder what he was doing in the library all the time, but he hadn’t made it easy for her to eavesdrop on him anymore. He left the door open, and when someone arrived they took a walk in the garden, so they could not be overheard. Penelope was fairly certain most of the men who arrived were detectives, and they were reporting on their search for Mary and Clark.

  At dinner one evening, Penelope had asked him if he had any news. His response was to ask if she liked the soup that evening.

  “I have the right to know,” she said.

  “You have no right,” he responded. “Mary is my concern, not yours.”

  Well, she’d show him. She stepped into the party and waited while a footman helped her with her cloak. She wondered where Andrew would be waiting for her. She decided to forgo the more crowded areas, the dance floor and the card tables. The best place to look would be the garden, or near the smoking area. Andrew did love his pipe.

  She started in that direction and stopped when she heard a footman say, “Yes, sir, I just saw a dark-haired girl in a green dress and blue cloak. She entered just seconds ago.”

  Penelope hurried to a large potted plant and looked around. Emmett stood in the doorway, decked out in eveningwear. Anger rushed through her as she watched him move into the crowd. Obviously, one of the staff had told him she’d left. The only person who knew her destination was Clara. She didn’t think her maid would let her secret out, but if she was offered money, or threatened with her job—and then Penelope remembered the note she’d received. She’d left it on her bedside table.

  “Good luck trying to find me, Sway,” she said as she moved in the opposite direction. She cursed Andrew under her breath for not giving her a destination at which to find him, and then she stopped short and laughed. He’d mentioned appraising a statue in the garden.

  Keeping care to watch the people around her, Penelope made her way toward the back part of the house. She went through the doors into the garden area where several couples were walking about, even though it was very cold that evening.

  “Penelope!” Andrew’s voice called to her and she made her way toward the sound.

  “Where are you?” she asked.

  “By the statue where I said I’d be,” he said with a laugh as he stepped out from behind a life-sized statue of Julius Cesar.

  “Be careful, Sway has followed me here,” she said.

  Andrew took her hand and led her down the garden path. When they were some ways from the house he took her face in his hands and kissed her,

  She’d expected the tingle that she’d felt the first time their lips had joined but it didn’t come.

  This wasn’t the time for kisses. She had questions. “Why did you lie about your relationship with Clark?”

  “Because I don’t trust men like Sway,” he said. “He’s a spoiled rich man who will become a duke. He expects people to do exactly what he says. Penelope, you can’t trust him, either. He will try to keep hold of you.”

  “Why?” she walked away a few steps. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “I know he has taken control of your life, and I have to ask why?” Andrew tried to kiss her again, but she turned her face away from his.

  “This is a confusing time for me,” she said.

  “I want to marry you, Penelope,” he said. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

  “Do you really?” She stepped toward him, forgetting all the negative thoughts that Emmett had planted.

  “Yes, I do.” He put his fingers under her chin and tipped up her head. “Say yes, and we’ll hop on the next train to Gretna Green.”

  Oh, she wanted to, but she couldn’t get the thought of her head landing in Emmett’s lap and the way it had made her feel. Would touching Andrew make her feel the same way? Maybe she should try something.

  “There is a bench down there,” she said. “Let’s go and sit for a few moments.”

  “As you wish,” Andrew said. He led her there and they sat so their bodies were touching. She put her hand on his thigh. Nothing.

  “Kiss me, Andrew,” she said. “Kiss me passionately.”

  He pulled her into his arms and did as she bid. It felt nice, even a little erotic, but she wasn’t tingling as she had the first time he’d kissed her. But then he put his arms around her and pressed her breasts against his chest. Yes, that felt good. Until…

  “I’m sure they’re back here, Sway.” She was pretty sure the voice was that of Lt. Jake Avondale, whose military family had owned this house for centuries. “One of the staff said he’d seen Miss Martin heading toward the back of the house. Oh, please do make a scene. My wife will love you forever if you do. It will make her crush the talk of the town.”

  “Oh, I shall. By the time I drag her out of here,
your wife should be very thrilled indeed.”

  Anger rushed through Penelope. She wouldn’t let him embarrass her again. She broke the kiss and looked around. There was no way out of the alcove where the bench was.

  “We need to get out of here,” she said.

  “I’ll protect you from him,” Andrew responded.

  “No.” She sat back down. “If it’s a scene he wants, then that is what he will get.”

  She giggled and pulled Andrew into a kiss just as Emmett rounded the corner. Then she stood and curtsied. “Your Grace. Or should I say Your Future Grace. Is there such a title? What brings you here?”

  “A wayward ward, who should be in mourning and not flaunting herself at a party.” A crowd was gathering, and Penelope had every intention of trying her hardest to embarrass Sway.

  “Mr. Bixley has just asked me to marry him, and I’ve accepted.”

  The crowd tittered, and she heard someone say, “Move so I can see. I want to know what is happening.”

  “You will take your hands off her, Bixley, or I will do it for you.”

  “You listen to me, Sway, what she says is correct. She has accepted my marriage proposal.”

  “Unhand her this moment,” Emmett said.

  “Or what? You’ll challenge me to a duel? As you reminded me, that is illegal. Now that she has accepted me you have no say in the matter.”

  “You, sir, are nothing more than a fortune hunter. You will drop her hand, or I will ruin you.”

  Penelope was somewhat shocked when Bixley dropped her hand.

  “Don’t you speak to him that way.” Penelope narrowed her eyes at him. “He is a kind and gentle man.”

  “Need I remind you, madam, that you are in mourning and don’t have an invitation to this party,” Emmett said.

  Her shoulders stiffened at his words.

  “With all due respect to Chester, I will go where I choose, and with whom I choose. I don’t need you, or your protection.”

  Emmett took a step closer to her. “You will come, or I will have you carried out. It is your choice.”

  “Go to the devil.”

  There was a large gasp from the crowd, and excitement spread when Penelope didn’t move, Emmett took a step back and glanced around. He pointed at two servants, who rushed forward. “Take Miss Martin to my carriage. See that she stays there until I arrive.”

  She hadn’t expected that. The two footmen picked her up, one wrapping his arms around her upper body, and the other her legs, and carried her, as she continued to struggle, from the gardens into the house.

  The crowd laughed nervously, and talk was loud as people strained to get a better look. She would never be able to show her face in public again. What had she been thinking? She’d played right into his hands.

  The footmen deposited her, quite unceremoniously, in the carriage. She sat down on the bench and smoothed down her skirt. She looked out to see the two guarding the only exit.

  “Stay away from her.”

  “I think that should be the lady’s choice.”

  “Do you? Well, listen to me well, young man. I don’t know what you think, but I can assure you she has no money, nor will she ever. Come near her again, and you shall see what sort of guardian I can be.”

  He turned and pushed through the crowd. He found Penelope in his carriage, her face flaming red with embarrassment. The footmen guarded the doors, and when he was safely inside, he knocked on the ceiling and the carriage started off.

  “You have no right to treat me like this.” Her words were like steel.

  He had balled his hands into fists, and she wondered if he might hit her. Finally, he said, “I have every right. Whether you like it or not, I am your guardian. You were kissing him.”

  “He is my betrothed,” she said.

  “Never,” he responded. “I have spent the last few days making inquiries about the man you claim to love. The man who would take you to a party when you are supposed to be in mourning.”

  “I won’t believe a word you say,” Penelope said.

  Emmett pounded on the roof. “Go.”

  The carriage lurched forward.

  “He is in debt up to his eyeballs, and he knows that Chester left you money.”

  “Five hundred pounds?” Penelope said with a laugh. “That amount of money is not worth anything. Keep it if you must. I don’t care about the money.”

  “But Bixley does,” Emmett said. “We’ll drive around for a short period of time and I will prove it to you.”

  “I will marry him,” she said. “There is nothing you can do to stop me.”

  “As your legal guardian, the law will not allow you to marry without my consent,” he said.

  She didn’t know if that was true. Something told her she was old enough to do as she pleased, but laws could be finicky. But that didn’t matter, because Andrew had said they would go to Gretna Green. But she wouldn’t tell Emmett that. She needed to figure out a way to get a message to Andrew about how they could put a plan into motion. But it was obvious that he was watching her, and that the staff was on his side.

  They stared at each other in silence. Finally, Sway banged on the roof. “To Buxton’s,” he said.

  “What is that?” she asked.

  “It’s a gaming hall,” he said. “You may not have been there, but your lover knows it well. I’m sure he’s had enough time to make it there since Avondale kicked him out the minute we were gone.

  Penelope laughed. “My, my, what a wonderful guardian you are to take me to a gaming hall. Such an education for me.”

  “I’ve already talked to the man who owns it, a Mr. Parker. He is quite well acquainted with your Mr. Bixley.”

  “If you have talked to him than I won’t believe a word he says.” Penelope crossed her arms over her chest.

  “Yes, you will,” he said. “And let me just say that I am sorry for it.”

  He threw her cloak in her direction. “Put it on, and make it so your face is covered.”

  “My reputation is already ruined thanks to the scene you caused tonight,” she said. Even so she did as he asked. Being dragged from a party was one thing. Going into a gaming hall was quite another.

  Silence once again reigned in the carriage until it pulled to a stop. “We’re here, Milord.”

  Emmett opened the door and exited, and Penelope was a little ashamed to say she didn’t want to go inside. She stuck her head out the door. The place was teaming with activity with men, and sometimes women, exiting and entering.

  “Will people think me a fallen woman?” she asked.

  “Do you care?” he responded. “Come along.”

  He offered his hand and she took it. As they moved up the stairs she wondered why she was doing as he asked.

  When they were inside a man in a livery outfit stepped forward. “Mr. Parker said to hurry. Mr. Bixley is already here, and once he starts at the tables it will be difficult to get him to stop.”

  The servant led them to a room. It was large, but it was broken up by curtains. In the center was a table and chairs, and several stacks of cards.

  Emmett guided her to the other side of the curtain and said, “Be silent and learn the truth.”

  “Your truth,” she said.

  It didn’t take long before she heard rustling on the other side of the curtain, and then there was a man’s voice.

  “You’re late, Bixley.” She supposed this was the man Parker that Emmett had said owned this establishment.

  “I had things to do.” Andrew’s voice was weary. “I need more time.”

  “You don’t have more time,” Parker said. “You already owe me ten thousand pounds, Bixley. What makes you think I’m going to extend you more credit?”

  Penelope tensed. Surely what she was hearing wasn’t true.

  “You’ll get your money, Parker. But at least allow me the opportunity to reverse my bad fortune and sit in on a hand or two of Pontoon. I will make enough money to make a payment to you, I swear it.�
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  “I have informed all my dealers that you are cut off,” Parker said.

  “How am I supposed to make the funds?” Andrew asked. There was real terror in his voice, and it made her wonder exactly what this Parker would do to him if Andrew didn’t pay.

  “I thought you told me you had another way to pay, by marrying the Martin chit.”

  Penelope stiffened, but before a sound could come out of her mouth, Emmett put his hand over it.

  “I am working on it,” he said. “She has agreed to marry me, but her new guardian is making things difficult.”

  “How will you get around this difficulty?” Parker asked.

  “There is a way to do it, but it will be hard,” Andrew said. “I must find my way into the girl’s bedroom and take her maidenhead. When her guardian sees her virgin blood he will have no choice but to allow the marriage, and I will be in charge of her funds. According to Mary, Chester left her thirty thousand pounds a year.”

  Penelope’s eyes widened. There was no way Chester had settled that amount of money on her. True he loved her like a daughter, but what about his own daughters. Did they get that amount, too? She wanted to ask Emmett if he had seen the will, but now was not the time.

  “Sway already thinks her a whore, I saw to that.”

  “By kissing her at a party?” Parker asked with a laugh.

  “How did you know?” Andrew sounded suspicious.

  “It’s the talk of the gaming hall,” Parker said. “There is quite a crowd here, if you haven’t noticed. Several of them are talking about the scene you and the Martin girl made at the Avondale party.”

  “Yes, I needed an audience and that went well,” Andrew said. “But there is something other than that.”

  “What else?” Parker asked. “Have you actually lain with the girl?”

  “No, I just told you that I would spill her virgin blood,” Andrew said. “But the other day she did allow me to touch her breasts. She is a pretty enough girl, with all that dark hair and those big, brown eyes. I enjoyed myself immensely playing with her generous bosom.”

  Tears stung her eyes. Now she was happy that Emmett had his hand over her mouth because if he did not she would probably scream at the man she’d thought to marry, the man she had thought to spend the rest of her life with.