The Accidental Countess (Accidental #2)(47)

“I cannot allow my brother and friend to remain missing. The only reason I didn’t go with Hunt to begin with was because my orders would not allow it and I felt I owed it to Penelope to speak with her first. But I must go look for my brother as soon as possible.”

Miss Bunbury glanced away. “So, you’ll be leaving as soon as you speak with Penelope?”

“Yes.”

She turned back and met his eyes. Her bottom lip trembled. “I wish you well, Captain. Penelope will be here soon.”





CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR


Cass, Lucy, and Jane spent the next two hours in the upstairs drawing room nervously waiting for Penelope to arrive. Cass stared out the window that faced the front drive, her insides a roiling mess of nerves. She still wasn’t certain at all that this Penelope business was a good idea or a valid plan. However, Jane’s endorsement of it had given her a bit of hope. Still, it worried her.

Adding to her worry was the news that Julian intended to leave for France as soon as he spoke with Penelope. Her heart ached. She’d just got him out of harm’s way, and he intended to put himself back into it? It was a nightmare. Julian was too honorable and steadfast to do anything but search for his brother and Captain Cavendish, but it felt as if someone large was sitting on her chest every time she thought of him returning to the Continent. The war might be over, but France was hardly safe at the moment. She’d read in the papers, there were bands of rebels and spies still roving about. Paris itself was extremely dangerous as the treaty was being negotiated. What was Donald even doing there? He was an English earl. He had no business in France. Unless …

“She’s here!” Lucy shouted, pulling Cass from her thoughts.

Cass glanced out the window. Lucy was right. Penelope’s coach was making its way down the long drive.

“Now,” Lucy declared, nodding at Jane.

Jane returned the nod and made her way to the door. “Leave everything to me,” she said, just before slipping away.

Cass wrung her hands. “Oh, Lucy, what if—”

“No. No. I won’t hear any what ifs,” Lucy said. “Where is the selfsame young lady who was bent on seduction last night? I want to see her back, if you please?”

“But what if—”

Lucy gave her a stern stare, and Cass shut her mouth with a pop.

The wait was interminable. Cass was back to her old habits, pacing in front of the windows, and tugging at her gloves. Lucy, seemingly impervious to the tension of the situation, sat down and began going over yet another list, this one from the gardener, something about the flowers that were to be planted in the gardens in the spring. More than half of an hour passed before Jane returned, Penelope herself close on her heels.

Cass eyed her cousin. She didn’t look sad. She wasn’t crying. Didn’t even have a discontented look on her face. In fact, she was … smiling.

Jane, however, looked as if she’d just had an encounter with an extremely unpleasant ghost. Her face was white as milk.

“Cass!” Penelope rushed forward and pulled her cousin into her embrace.

“P-Pen. Good to see you,” Cass managed, all the while eyeing Jane suspiciously. Jane shook her head and glanced down at the rug.

Pen greeted Lucy just as enthusiastically and then plopped onto the settee. The three other ladies flocked around her.

“What? Er … when d-did you get here?” Cass managed.

“Oh, I’d say it’s been close to an hour since, wouldn’t you, Jane?” Pen asked.

“Yes, a good long while now,” Jane agreed, nervously fidgeting with her spectacles.

Pen looked about the room. “Do you have any tea, Lucy? I’m quite famished.”

Lucy nodded. With a look that could only be called confused on her face, she rang for tea.

“And what have you been doing?” Cass asked. That was it. She had to be blunt. She couldn’t endure the suspense.

“Why, Jane showed me into one of the drawing rooms and I spoke with Captain Swift.”

Jane plucked at her neckline. “Yes, indeed.”

“I did think it only right to see him first, don’t you agree, Cass?” Pen continued.

“Oh, yes. Yes, of course.” Cass watched her cousin in horror, waiting for the next words past her lips. “And … ah, how did it … go?” She winced. So did Lucy. So did Jane.

“That’s what I came up straightaway to tell you. Didn’t I, Jane? I said, ‘I must see Cass immediately and tell her.’ Didn’t I, Jane?”

Jane nodded. “Yes. Yes, you did.”

Cass and Lucy exchanged alarmed looks.

“What happened?” Lucy burst out, just as the butler entered the room with the tea tray.

Several excruciatingly silent minutes passed while the butler set up the tea service before Lucy dismissed the man and took over herself. She cleared her throat. “You were saying, Penelope?”

“Oh, yes. I had the most clever idea.”

Jane’s face remained milky. She refused the tea Lucy offered her.

“And what was that?” Cass managed to ask in a calm voice. At least she hoped it was calm. Frankly, she felt as if she were on the verge of a hysterical fit. She took a sip of tea.

Pen dropped three large lumps of sugar into her teacup and stirred it rapidly. “Why, I told Captain Swift that my name was Patience Bunbury.”