Page 3 of Snowed In with the Runaway Bride

It was none of his affair. She was his brother’s betrothed—his future sister-in-law. It was Oliver’s responsibility to worry about her comfort and happiness, not Hugo’s.

The thought only depressed him further.

As she and Pippa promenaded into the Green Room behind their mother and Kendal after greeting the servants, Penny did her best not to limp in front of the crowd that turned to watch their entrance. She knew she was leaning far too heavily on her sister’s arm in her effort to conceal her infirmity, but there was no other remedy. The last thing she wanted to show in front of the assembled Dalstons was any weakness, lest they pounce with silky queries about her health that held an edge of always having known the daughter of an industrialist was not suitable to be a duchess, no matter what her education and upbringing had been.

Just as Penny began to wonder where Hugo was, he materialized at her side and bowed to them. “Good afternoon, Miss Penelope. Miss Philippa. I trust you had a pleasant journey?”

Before Penny could respond, he moved forward and took her arm, curling it around his and pulling her towards him until she was all but forced to lean on him for support.

“Don’t be a fool, Penny,” he murmured under his breath. “Let me help you.”

Penny scowled, but she knew he was right. “Thank you, H—Captain Dalston. We are much obliged.”

If he wanted to help, he could help, but she would not make it easy. With an edge of glee, she leaned harder on him, putting more of her weight on his arm, but he did not falter. He was stronger than she had realized.

He offered his other arm to Pippa and escorted them to make their curtsies to his grandmother, the dowager duchess. She was a dour old woman, confined to a Bath chair and constantly meddling in her family’s affairs. Penny knew the dowager had never liked the Montgomerys, though she liked the money that had saved her family from ruin and kept the estates running until the wedding could be accomplished.

The dowager turned her critical eye to Pippa first. “Hmph. Still disguising yourself as a sparrow, Miss Philippa? One would think you could make an exception for your own sister’s wedding.”

Pippa flushed, and Penny’s temper flared in defense of her sister.

“Good afternoon, your grace,” Penny said with mock courtesy. “I trust you are well.”

The old woman turned her critical gaze on Penny. “I trust you are well, Miss Penelope. Well enough for marriage.”

“We must all hope so, your grace, to keep the bailiffs from your door.”

“Penelope!” Mother gasped, but Penny did not drop her undaunted gaze from the dowager’s. At last, the older woman snorted.

“Touché, my dear,” she drawled as Kendal came up to take Penny’s arm and lead her to a small sofa nearby. Just in time, for the indignation that had kept her upright abruptly faded and she was grateful to finally sit down. Somehow, standing in one place made her joints ache more than if she moved. Under the cover of her skirts, she carefully stretched her legs back and forth at the knee, one after the other, trying to keep the joints loose.

Kendal chose to stand just behind her with Pippa rather than sit next to her, which suited Penny quite well. It allowed her to eavesdrop as Hugo approached his grandmother, who extended her hand to him ceremoniously.

“There you are, Hugo,” the dowager duchess said.

“Here I am indeed, Grandmama,” he replied, and bowed to kiss her hand.

Penny watched him from beneath her lashes as Kendal and Pippa chatted behind her. Hugo had been at sea for over a decade, but he had not changed much. His finely-cut features and slender stature were at odds with the coiled intensity that all but radiated from him. She could well believe he was able to command an entire frigate and gain his crew’s loyalty.

Unlike his brother, he had inherited their Spanish mother’s coloring, dark hair and dark eyes standing out in the room full of relatives less dramatically marked by nature. He wore civilian clothing, not his naval uniform, in honor of the holiday and the upcoming wedding.

The wedding.

Even as Penny flinched away from the thought, Hugo seemed to notice her watching him and walked over to their little group. She glanced at her betrothed and saw he was still speaking with Pippa, so she greeted Hugo with a smile.

“Kendal wrote us you have been promoted to post-captain. Congratulations.”

“Thank you.” He bowed stiffly to her. “I cannot take any credit for it. I have only done my duty.”

“He says you are among the youngest men to be promoted to captain in the last decade.”

To Penny’s surprise, a grin flashed across his face and settled in his eyes. “Well, some men do their duty more diligently than others.”

Penny felt her face warm. It sounded as though Hugo was making a joke, or even an innuendo, but that wasn’t possible. Hugo never joked. He was the most serious man she’d ever met.

She had only ever had one sign he might not be completely unmoved by her, and it rested in her pocket even as they conversed. Something about his reserve had always made her want to prick at him. To make him pay attention to her instead of his studied indifference.

She had no intention of examining why that might be. Not when she was to marry his brother in three days.