Mad

Penelope

Penelope was awoken by her maid opening up her curtains. "Miss Penelope, your mother fetched me to wake you," said the maid while Penelope groaned and put the pillow over head desperately trying to obtain a few more moments of sleep.

"Just a few more minutes Anna," Penelope grumbled.

Anna, her maid smiled. "Your mother said you have been asleep long enough. You have thirty minutes to get ready and if you are not downstairs by that time, your mother will come fetch you herself."

Penelope sighed and begrudgingly sat up, yawned and proceeded to wipe the sleep from her eyes. She was quite sore from horse back riding with Michael the previous afternoon and the muscles in her legs and bottom were screaming at her to lay back down and rest.

"Why does mother need me downstairs? I thought she said that we were not entertaining callers this morning?" asked Penelope and she stood and made her way over to the basin to wash her face with the cool water that Anna had left her.

"Something about going into town to purchase new gloves to go with your dress tonight," replied Anna as she sorted through her wardrobe looking for an appropriate dress.

"Tonight?" said Penelope.

"Yes, Lord Duxbury is taking you to the opera," said Anna.

"Oh, I completely forgot."

Anna smiled. "How could you forget Miss? You have been looking forward to it for some time."

"It just slipped my mind, I suppose," said Penelope, although she knew very well the reason that she had forgotten.

"Does your forgetfulness have something to do with the Bridgerton boy with the green eyes? I know that he came to call on you yesterday," said Anna teasingly as she pulled a beautiful light green morning dress from the wardrobe.

Penelope felt the blush rising to her cheeks. She had been unable to think of anything else since he had left yesterday afternoon. Colin had wanted to stay until Lady Featherington was home so that he could formally ask her to court her daughter, but Penelope had decided against that. Penelope knew that her mother would immediately demand that Colin marry her as they had been left alone and unchaperoned for so long and Penelope did not want to be deprived of a courtship with Colin. They decided together that Colin was to call on Penelope the following morning where he would officially ask her mother to enter into a courtship with her.

Penelope smiled at Anna. "Hey may have something to do with my sudden lapse in memory. I swear Anna that after last season I was officially done with Colin Bridgerton but then he smiles at me, and I fall for him all over again."

"Well perhaps this is the season that he has realized what has been in front of him all along," said Anna as she tightened Penelope's stays.

Penelope sighed. "Perhaps."

Penelope made it downstairs to meet her mother with only seconds to spare. Anna had quickly dressed her hair in a simple but pretty chignon and had made sure to leave some tendrils out to frame Penelope's face. Lady Featherington appraised her form quickly and decided that she looked acceptable, gave her a curt nod and followed by Prudence walked out the front door to the awaiting carriage.

It was a busy morning in the streets of London, and it took much longer than usual to reach Madame Delacroix's. When they finally arrived, Lady Featherington was displeased to find the shoppe teeming with customers who were no doubt having last minute alterations done for the opera. The opera was to be a grand event for the ton as one of the most popular opera singers Miss Sienna Rosso would be returning to the London stage for the first time in over two years.