"None of you will be going to the palace until what happened tonight is figured out by the palace," Edgar inford his family.
Lily’s shoulders dropped due to disappointnt. "I was just starting to enjoy myself. I had plenty of nas written on my card for dances."
Elijah inspected the list of nas. "You’ve got a lot of bastards on there."
Lily shielded the card from Elijah’s prying eyes. "It is not like I was going to marry them. I was only going to dance and enjoy the ball."
’The man you wanted to see tonight did not show up," Isabelle said, revealing Lily’s secret.
Lily grabbed Isabelle’s hand, squeezing it to silence her sister. "Isn’t it about ti you stop repeating everything you hear?"
"No," Isabelle shook her head. "I’ve also heard that Penelope might marry the prince. Will you? Penelope?"
"Yes?" Penelope replied, looking away from the carriage window. "What did I miss? What?" She questioned, puzzled by her family’s stare.
"Penelope." Alessandra touched Penelope’s hand. "What have you so lost in thought?"
"I was thinking about the woman who fell. I thought I saw a shadow move where she fell, but no one leaned over to check that she was well. If it was an accident, they could have been understood," said Penelope.
"Many people run when they are afraid, and we are in Lockwood. There are many secrets here, so it could have been intentional. I am more curious about why she was dressed up like our mother," Elijah said, still feeling uneasy.
"I don’t know. It is strange," Alessandra said, shaken up by this news.
When she was younger, Alessandra experienced her fair share of danger and others playing dangerous gas, but now that she was much older, she thought the town would give her a break.
"Whatever the reason was, I am going to kill whoever thought it was fun to dress soone up as you," said Elijah
Elijah had turned a blind eye to the other gas played around the town, but he drew the line at his mother. His mother never troubled anyone, yet there was always soone trying to poke at her.
"I know you are all worried, but you mustn’t get involved in this. It is your season to find love, and I don’t want it to be spoiled by this. Your father and I will deal with this. Right, Edgar," Alessandra said, seeking support from her husband.
"I will visit the palace tomorrow to find out what the palace guards learned. It wasn’t your mother that fell, so don’t dwell on it. If soone pushed that young woman, I will find them," Edgar promised.
Edgar wasn’t going to stop until he got to the bottom of this. Ti after ti, he had shown the lengths he would go to protect his wife, yet soone hadn’t been paying attention.
Edgar ant it when he said he would burn the town down for the sake of his wife and then move because he could afford it.
"Now that is over with, is no one interested in if Penelope will marry the prince?" Isabelle asked. She wanted the queen to be her sister.
"I will not," Penelope replied. "Do a favour and bother soone else."
"You’re all boring. Elijah entertains the won around the town but never brings them ho. Lily is waiting for a man who didn’t show, and Penelope continues to ignore the prince. I cannot wait for my season so I am not bored,’ said Isabelle.
Edgar closed his eyes, partially regretting his choice to plead for so many daughters. As soon as one would be done choosing a husband, there was another ready to marry.
Alessandra chuckled and reached for Edgar’s hand. He had been dreading this day long before the twins ca of age. "You are torturing your father. Isabelle, enjoy the ti that you have now to be carefree, and Edgar, you knew this ti was coming."
Alessandra felt at ease when she saw the gates of the estate. It was her safe place since no one could ever make it inside unless welcod.
"Are we going to return ho because of what happened, or will we still get to stay on the Collins estate for the entire season?" Lily asked, hoping it was the latter.
"We will stay," Alessandra replied.
It would be unfair to ruin the children’s ti in Lockwood over one incident.
When the carriage stopped, Elijah offered his hand to his mother, beating his father, who hated it.
Alessandra laughed at the pair and got out of the carriage, waiting for her daughters to join her.
"You can help , father," Lily said, waiting for Edgar’s hand.
"Thank goodness all my children aren’t rotten," Edgar said, looking directly at Elijah. "I don’t know what went wrong with you."
Elijah smiled. "You are still upset that I asked for one of your other hos. Why can’t I get it?"
"Because it’s mine. First it’s the carriages and then it’s my ho. What’s next?" Edgar asked, taking Alessandra’s hand from Elijah.
"I’m just trying to get my hands on my wealth-"
"Your wealth? I’m wealthy," Edgar said, touching his chest. "You’re my leech of a son who needs to start finding his way, and then I will pass on what belongs to you. It is cold," he said, taking Alessandra inside.
Penelope wasn’t listening to her family’s chatter as her gaze was on the gates. The night was still young, so there was so trouble waiting for her to get in.
"I know that look," Lily spoke softly as she walked by Penelope. "If you’re going to sneak out when everyone is asleep, buy so treats."
"You can co with like you used to," Penelope replied.
Lily shook her head. "I have grown out of that, and you have always been the adventurous twin. Please don’t get yourself in trouble."
Penelope couldn’t promise anything since it was highly likely she would get up to sothing mischievous.
Hours later, when the estate was quiet and her family were asleep, Penelope snuck out of the estate to head to the market. Thanks to Elijah sneaking out of the estate a lot, Penelope had found a path to not be seen by the guards.
Penelope disguised herself by dressing as a boy in clothes she bought in secret from a servant. Penelope Collins would gather too much attention, but when she went out like this and kept her head down, Penelope got to enjoy nights of blending in with the crowd.
It was easy to find a passing cart which would take her to the market as long as she paid.
In the market, Penelope got off at a familiar location where she liked to use her skills to win money.
Penelope pulled down the hat to cover her face as she approached the tavern where mostly n entered as custors, but there were won pouring drinks and others sitting on the laps of n.
She had earned a generous amount of money from the gas played here and stored it at ho for her other adventures.
Penelope sat down at a table with a group of n and placed her money to get the bets started.
Reviews
All reviews (0)