Penny's Yuletide Wish: A Regency Romance Novella (Branches of Love Book 7) by Britton Sally

Author:Britton, Sally [Britton, Sally]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Blue Water Books
Published: 2019-12-18T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

After dinner, everyone adjourned to the parlor. The gentlemen had already spent the entire day working together, it seemed, and thus had no reason to remain behind for the purpose of business. Penny would have been disappointed if this were the case. Every additional moment in Robert’s company was another thing to be grateful for, especially knowing she would leave him behind again soon enough.

The group settled into the same comfortable parlor where Mrs. Devon and Penny had chatted away the afternoon, reliving their shared childhood with fondness. The women had delighted in exchanging those memories for nearly an hour. The only ones left unspoken were the ones of the boy Robert, the ones that had involuntarily flooded into Penny’s mind. He had always been there.

A part of Penny had hoped—had held onto the girlhood dream—of becoming more than a friend to him. But it was not to be. Not if he had his eyes and heart set upon another. What was she to do? With her brothers leaving to make their way in the world, and her aunt and uncle’s own children grown and doing the same, Penny could not allow herself to depend upon their kindness for much longer.

“How is it,” Mr. Devon asked politely, “that the three of you knew each other so well, yet I never came to know any of you better than a nodding acquaintance?”

Daisy Devon positioned herself on the couch next to her husband, giving his arm a conciliatory pat. “Your father had no wish for you to mix with the locals, darling. We could not possibly aid you in attaining the greatness he hoped for you.”

“True enough,” Robert agreed with a crooked smirk. “You also attended the wrong school, you know.”

“One would say you attended the wrong school,” Harry said with a similar smug grin. Obviously, the gentlemen had made a habit of jesting with each other on whose educational institution was the better of the two—Harrow or Eton.

“You men and your schools. You do not hear Miss Clark and I arguing over which of us is the better scholar or seamstress.” Daisy nudged her husband in the shoulder, fondly rebuking him.

The window behind her told of the rain still pattering at a quick pace, and storms often left her distracted; but from her place in a chair near the fire, Penny observed the married couple with greater interest. Everything about Daisy, the way she turned toward her husband, her hand remaining upon his arm, and the fondness in her gaze, spoke of contentment and comfort. Penny had once hoped to obtain something like that for herself.

“You ladies are certainly above such behavior. We are not at all worthy of your company,” Mr. Devon said, looking with equal tenderness upon his wife.

From the corner of her eye, Penny watched Robert as he sat in the chair nearest her own. Only a small, circular table separated them. She had much preferred when nothing had stood between them, as when they had shared the larger piece of furniture on the other side of the Persian rug.

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