Colin lay basking in the Grecian sun after taking a swim in a nearby cove. He had left England six months prior and would be returning home in a month's time just in time for the new season. The journey to Albania had taken longer than the expected four weeks and taken them closer to six to arrive. The wind had been against them and the ship carrying him had come upon rough seas. Colin had stayed in Albania for only a month when he decided that he wished to travel to Greece again. He had written to Anthony explaining where he would be going but he had not received a response from him nor any of his family for that matter. Most likely they had not received his letter informing them of his plans and they were still sending his letters to Albania. He had given the innkeeper in Albania a forwarding address to the island he was currently staying at but doubted that his mail would ever get to him.
Suddenly feeling hungry, Colin stood and made his back into town where he stopped at a small restaurant where they had the most succulent spinach and cheese pies which he learned were called spanakopita and tyropita. He had discovered the restaurant when he had traveled to Greece last year and it had become a favorite spot of his, not only because the food was delicious, but it was conveniently located next to the inn at which he was staying. The restaurant was owned by a man named Dimitrios and his wife Stavroula did all the cooking. Stavroula had taken an immediate liking to Colin and was always giving him extra helpings of food saying that he needed fattening up, that he was too thin.
"Kolin!" called Stavroula when he entered into the restaurant. The older woman walked towards him with a wide smile and kissed Colin on both cheeks before having him sit down at his favorite table by the window so he could watch the people walking down the street.
"Stavroula! Eisai toso omorfi simera to proi" said Colin as the older woman blushed. He had been practicing his Greek and believed he had just told Stavroula that she looked beautiful. She swatted him on the arm before going back to the kitchen to get him some food. He did not care what she served him for the food was always good. As he waited for his food, he opened up the journal that he had brought him with him and started to write about the swim that he had that morning. He had found that writing had become a passion of his. He loved describing the places he went, how they looked, what they smelled like what the food tasted like. Writing fed his soul like nothing else had before and he had felt like he finally had a purpose. Colin was lost in his writing when Stavroula approached with his meal. She had brought a bowl of Avgolemono soup with roasted chicken and vegetables, along with a substantial pile of spanakopita and tyropita. For dessert were his favorite orange, walnut and honey biscuits which were called Melomakarona.
"Stavroula, you are too good to me," said Colin before diving into his food. Stavroula knew some English as her husband was a merchant before opening his restaurant.
"Aah, it is nothing," replied Stavroula as she sat across from him. She had often done this when the restaurant was not busy. She liked to watch Colin eating the food that she made. It gave her immense pleasure that he enjoyed her cooking so much.
"I will miss you when you leave Kolin. Who will I have to cook for?" said Stavroula sadly.
Colin paused and looked up from his plate and smiled. "Stavroula, I am sure that there will be plenty of people that will come to the restaurant. You make the best tyropita on the island. I must go home and see my family."
"Yes, you said before that your Mama will want you to find a nice girl to marry. Then you will never come back to visit me."
Colin smiled. "I will always come back to visit you Stavroula. Perhaps when I do marry, I will bring my wife with me."
"You could always marry one of my daughters Kolin. I know that they are not the fancy ladies that you are used to, but they would make good wives, especially Eleni."
Colin looked beyond Stavroula's shoulder to see Eleni sweeping the floor. She was indeed a beautiful girl with olive skin and long dark hair and light blue eyes. She caught his eyes and gave him a smile small. Shaking his head, Colin turned back to Stavroula. "Eleni and your daughters are indeed lovely Stavroula, but I am not ready to get married."
"Is there a young lady back in England that you care for?"
Colin started to say no but paused and could not help but to think of Penelope. He had missed her dearly and longed to hear from her but knew that she had wanted to distance herself from him. He did not blame her in the slightest. What he had done was horrible. The worst part about the whole situation is that he came to realize that he did not mean what he had said. The truth was that Penelope was beautiful on the inside as well as the outside. He had been an utter fool not to see her for who she truly was. She was always in his thoughts, and everything reminded him of her. He had been watching the sun sent just the other day and the sky was as red as her hair while the ocean as blue as her eyes.
"Aah so there is someone," said Stavroula as her eyes pierced him with a knowing look.
"What makes you think that?" asked Colin before taking a bite from the tyropita.
"You have that look about you. The look of a man who is in love. I have seen it many times," said Stavroula wisely. "What are you waiting for? Marry the girl and bring her to meet me!"
Colin smiled. Penelope would love Stavroula. "I am afraid the situation is complicated."
"What is complicated about it? You love her?"
Colin was silent for a moment as he thought about Penelope. 'Did he love her?' He cared for her a great deal. At every social gathering, she was the one he sought out, preferring her company to anyone else's. He could talk with her for hours and never run out of anything to say. 'But was that love?' He knew that when Anthony fell in love with Kate it was white hot passion from the very start, but it was not like that for him and Penelope. His feelings for the red head had started as friendship but over the years had slowly grown into something else, something that now consumed every fiber of his being. When he had seen her at the modiste all those months ago in her light purple dress, he felt as if his heart had flipped over inside his chest. She was beautiful with her sinful curves and all that smooth creamy skin. He remembered when they had gone to Gunter's for ices, that a curl had fallen down onto her shoulder and how he had to force himself to not reach out to touch it. She had caught him staring at her, her piercing blue eyes meeting his and he had quickly looked away in embarrassment. That night as he lay in bed, the house quiet, he had taken himself in hand and worked himself to completion, the only thought in his mind being Penelope.
Colin looked back to Stavroula. "Yes, I love her."
"Then it is simple. You must go to her. Tell her you love her that you want to marry her and make babies with her. Just be honest. That is all you can do," said Stavroula as he placed her hand gently on Colin's.
An image appeared in his head of a little girl with red hair like Penelope and his green eyes and in that moment his heart felt so full of love. He fought back the emotion that was threatening to overwhelm him and looked to Stavroula who was smiling at him.
"What is her name Kolin?"
"Penelope."
"That is a good name. Penelope the faithful wife to Odysseus the constant traveler."
Colin could not help to smile at the coincidence. It seemed that Penelope was forever waiting for Colin as Penelope was forever waiting for Odysseus to return home.
"Some things are meant to be my dear. You just need to take the leap," said Stavroula before she stood and went back to the kitchens to cook as Colin finished his food.
As he walked back to the inn, a feeling of complete calm and clarity washed over him. He had finally realized what he was feeling for Penelope and that it had been love all along. He made a vow then that he would so whatever had to be done to get Penelope to forgive him. Once she did, he would spend the rest of his life devoted to making her feel loved and appreciated. As he walked into the entrance of the inn, he was stopped by the inn-keeper George, a slight man in his early forties with spectacles perched on his nose.
"Mr. Bridgerton," called the innkeeper.
Colin smiled and made his way towards the man. He could see that he had a large stack of letters in his hand.
"Geia sas George," said Colin. "Are those all for me?"
"Yes sir, they just arrived today on this morning's ship. I believe that they were sent from Albania."
"Yes, I was there for a short while before I decided to come back to Greece. They are probably all letters from my family," said Colin as George handed him the letters. He would have quite a bit of reading to catch up on this evening. "Thank you, George. I hope you have a pleasant evening," said Colin before making his way up to the small room that he was staying in. Once he was up in his room, Colin kicked off his boots and untucked his still wet shirt from his breeches and sat down at the small writing desk in the corner of the room to start opening his letters. The first letter on top of the pile was from Hyacinth judging by the loopy handwriting. She was probably only writing him to remind him to get her a present. Slicing the letter open with a small knife that he had in his pocket, Colin leaned back in the chair as he read his sister's letter.
Dearest Brother,
You only just left a fortnight ago, but I felt the urge to write you a letter. Anthony said that it will take you a month to travel to Albania and it may take even longer than a month for you to receive this letter. You are very much missed by everyone, although I do not think Mam minds not having to treble the portions on a daily basis due to your voracious appetite. Mama and Kate have been quite busy planning Anthony and Kate's upcoming wedding and it is sure to be the grandest affair of the season. I am sad that you will not be here for the event, but I know that you will be thoroughly enjoying yourself during your travels. In other news, I am officially one inch taller than Gregory, even though he refuses to admit it and Eloise has yet again declined another young gentlemen's offer of marriage bringing her total of proposals to three. I wonder how many proposals she will decline before she finally accepts. Perhaps she will get her way and end up an eccentric spinster. You will be pleased to hear that Penelope Featherington is being courted by several gentlemen, the favorite being Michael Stirling who hails from Scotland. He is quite handsome, if I do say so myself and he treats Penelope like a queen. It does me good to see her so happy. Perhaps we will soon see Penelope married off! If she does become betrothed to Mr. Stirling, you must come home as quickly as you can as I know you and Penelope are the dearest of friends and she would love for you to be there. I will keep you abreast of any updates brother. Please make sure to write back as quickly as you can Colin. I do so love to hear about your travels.
Yours Affectionately,
Hyacinth
P.S. Please do not forget to bring me back a present. As always, I prefer something in blue or white.
Colin stared at his sister's letter for what felt like an eternity before reading it over and over again. He could not believe it. Penelope was being courted by the merry rake? Surely his brothers would not let this happen and would have protected Penelope from that absolute lothario. Hyacinth had to be wrong, she had to be. Colin opened up the next letter which seemed to be from Anthony but there was no mention of Penelope or Mr. Stirling, and it was written after Hyacinth's letter. The next letter was from Eloise and though she spoke of the tediousness of being a debutante there was no mention of Penelope in her letter. Hyacinth must have been mistaken for Eloise and Anthony would have told Colin if Penelope was courting anyone. Next was a letter from Benedict. He was taking a break from painting, something about not finding motivation. Mother was on him about settling down and marrying someone. He had danced with several young ladies at Lady Rutland's ball, but no one had captured his interest. Colin was pleased to see that Benedict had followed Colin's orders and had asked Penelope to dance although he had growled when Benedict had described Pen as looking luscious in blue. Colin could feel his heart starting to go back to a normal rhythm until he read the next line of Benedict's letter. Benedict and Anthony had met Michael Stirling at Mondrich's where they had spoken about Penelope. Benedict went onto to say that Michael had intentions to eventually ask Pen to marry him. Apparently, he was waiting for the next season to start before proposing. Colin then opened the next letter which was another from his sister Hyacinth. She did not mention much only asking how his travels were going and reminding him to purchase a present for her. She had however included several Lady Whistledown columns which all featured some news regarding Penelope and Michael Stirling. One day they were seen at Gunter's having tea and cake, they had been promenading several times and had he even had the nerve to dance with her three times at a recent ball. Colin grimaced. Dancing with a lady three times at a ball was almost equivalent to an engagement announcement. He also apparently bought all of the flowers from the florist and had them sent to her home.
"No, he can't," Colin cried. He had never felt such despair in his life. "I cannot lose her, I will not lose her," said Colin to himself as he marched towards his trunk and threw it open. He began throwing his belongings into his trunk, not caring if he was not packing things neatly. "The fool probably doesn't know her favorite flowers are daisies," he heard himself mutter.
"He cannot marry her, he will not marry her," said Colin over and over as he finished packing. Colin stood, takin several deep breaths before he went downstairs to be speak to George once more. George must have noticed that Colin was upset because he immediately asked if he was all right.
"I am fine George, however, I need to book a passage to England as soon as possible. Do you know when the next ship is coming in?"
George looked down at his books. "Tomorrow morning Mr. Bridgerton."
"Good, good. Will you have someone purchase a ticket for me?" asked Colin as he handed the innkeeper a handful of bills. "That should cover the cost."
"Of course, sir," replied George.
"Thank you," replied Colin before going back up to his room before collapsing on his bed and running his hands raggedly through his hair. He was not supposed to be leaving Greece for another month, but he needed to be back in England urgently. He would not let Michael Stirling steal the women he loved. He would return and make it his mission to marry Penelope Featherington.