Page 12 of Snowed In with the Runaway Bride

“I just felt like it,” Penny said. “Thank you, Pippa. Thank you for everything you do to care for me. I do appreciate it.”

“Of course,” Pippa said. “You are my sister.”

Penny resumed her wilting pose—she was becoming a bit tired of it, really —and moved to the bed to lay down, discreetly pushing the traveling bag further under the bed with her foot as she passed it.

“A book, please, Pippa. Something very dull.”

She waited another several moments after the door closed behind her sister before jumping back up give the traveling bag another shove until it fully disappeared under the bed. Almost as soon as she straightened, the door re-opened, and Sally bustled in with the posset.

“Here you are, Miss Penny. Why don’t you let me take your hair down and brush it while you drink your posset?”

“Thank you, that sounds lovely. I have such a headache.”

In reality, Penny could scarcely keep herself still, humming with energy as she allowed Sally to prepare her for bed. The other woman frowned as she returned from the dressing room with a blue nightgown in her hands.

“I was looking for that green-sprigged flannel you favor, miss, but it wasn’t there.”

“Oh, it must have been taken down to the laundress,” Penny said, guiltily aware that the nightgown in question was already packed in her bag. “I’m sure it will be returned tomorrow.”

“The laundress?” Sally looked indignant. “I know it was clean as a whistle, miss. I packed it myself.”

“Yes, I, er… spilled some perfume on it,” Penny improvised. “So clumsy of me. But the housemaid offered to take it down for me.”

Sally frowned at her and removed the barely touched posset from her hand. “I don’t know what the housekeeper put in this posset, Miss Penny, but it’s got you talking nonsense.”

Penny nodded and bit the inside of her lip to prevent herself from speaking as Sally brushed out and braided her hair before helping her into her nightdress and dressing gown. She settled into bed with a mound of pillows behind herself and pulled the covers up. Sally continued fussing about in the room before returning to the dressing room to tidy up there.

As soon as Sally left, Penny slipped from the bed and crossed to the tiny writing desk near the window. She must write two notes to explain where she had gone, one for Pippa and one for Mother. By the time they opened them, she would be well away and too far for them to catch her before the scandal began.

She folded the notes and tucked them into the pocket of her dressing gown. Her fingers brushed against the small wooden swallow, and she took it from her pocket to study it.

The bird stood on a branch, wings spread as though about to take flight. A bit of color had been rubbed into the soft wood, staining it rather than painting it, imbuing it with a glow in the candlelight.

Hugo had given it to her the one time he had seen her during the long recovery from her illness. She did not quite know why it had become a talisman to her as she regained her health, but it had.

She slipped the bird back into her pocket and returned to the bed, clambering back under the covers. Pippa was certainly taking her time with the book. Surely her twin hadn’t… encountered Kendal.

The thought stiffened her resolve even more, and allowed her to smile at her sister when she finally returned. Penny was certain Pippa’s hair was more mussed than it had been when she had left earlier, and her color was high.

“I’m sorry it took so long,” Pippa said. “I, er… I had some difficulty finding a book.”

“What did you bring?”

Her sister grinned at her, clearly knowing what Penny’s reaction would be. “Fordyce’s Sermons to Young Women.”

With a shriek of laughter, Penny flung a pillow at her head. “Not that old thing! Nurse must have read it to me a hundred times, for all the good it did.”

Crossing to sit on the edge of the bed, Pippa said gravely, “We didn’t turn out all that badly. For the most part.”

Penny could see the guilt in her sister’s eyes, so she yawned hugely and settled back against the pillows. “It’s of no matter. I think I may be able to sleep after all.”

“Are you certain? I can still read to you.”

“I’m not in much of a mood for sermons about proper female behavior tonight.”

“All right.” Pippa stood and turned towards the dressing room. Her dejected air tugged at Penny’s heart.

“Pippa?”