10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

Colin

The summer heat had truly set in by the time Colin returned to Ava's apartment, wearing more loaned clothes: a pair of loose linen trousers and a chequered shirt. The fabric was light and forgiving in the sun, and Colin was grateful. In his hand, he clutched a bouquet of yellow roses.

Eloise opened the door first. Her eyes narrowed upon noting him, and her lips pressed into a rather severe line.

"You have some nerve, brother."

Colin straightened further. "I trust Penelope has been in your confidence, then," he said. "Do not trouble yourself; I plan to do right by her. Is she here?"

Eloise did not let him in. Instead, she stepped into the corridor, pulling the door to and reprimanding him in a loud whisper. "You are the largest idiot I have ever had the displeasure of knowing, do you realise that? What on earth could compel you to take off in the way you did this morning?"

"I required some… advice," Colin said. "I do not need to answer to you. Is Penelope here?"

Eloise scowled at him. "She went for a walk."

"She did not." Penelope appeared in the doorway behind Eloise, and Colin's breath evacuated his chest. She wore another floaty dress, this time in black, patterned with white flowers and tied with a white ribbon around the waist. A pair of simple black slippers adorned her feet, leaving her lower legs completely bare. Her hair had been pulled back into a style similar to that which Ava wore yesterday, gathered into a high ponytail which left the length of her neck quite bare.

"Penelope," Colin managed to croak.

Eloise stiffened, then turned on her heel and brushed past Penelope, returning to the apartment with a quick whisper. "Don't let him off easy."

"Colin," Penelope said, dipping into the slightest curtsey. "I imagine you have come to talk. I know you are a gentleman, but I should like to assure you that no scandal has occurred. There was nobody to witness, and I certainly shall put no requirements upon you. Nor will I forsake our friendship. You have nothing to worry about."

Colin twitched. The flowers fluttered in his fist. "I did not come here out of obligation," he said. God, but he was nervous. He held out the roses. "I came to declare my intentions. I should like your permission to court you."

Penelope flushed prettily, even as her expression remained constant. She dropped her gaze to the roses, and Colin wished not for the first time that he could read her thoughts.

"Pen?"

"The flowers are wonderful," Penelope said, finally taking them from him. "Though of course, unnecessary. Colin… you do not need to do this. I am content with simply a continuation of our friendship."

"But I am not." Colin's pulse thumped in his pulse. "Please, Pen. Miss Featherington. Will you join me in the park? A picnic? I have prepared all of your favourites. Those I could find, anyway."

"I—I do not think—"

"Please?" Colin's breath was scarcely more than a gasp. "Give me… give me one week. One chance to prove I can be worthy of you. If, by the end of the week, you do not change your mind, I will gladly concede and accept you as nothing more than a friend."

Penelope's throat bobbed as she swallowed. Something unreadable swum in her electrical blue eyes. Colin scarcely dared to breathe.

"One week," Penelope said, eventually. "I will accept your terms. And know you may withdraw your… your suit at any point. I will not hold it against you."

Colin's breath exploded from him. "I have no intention of withdrawing my suit until you tell me to," he said. He held out his hand. "Miss Featherington, will you do me the absolute pleasure of joining me in the park?"

Pen took his arm, and her gentle touch enflamed him. He longed to tug her closer, to learn if she kissed as passionately in the daylight as she had in that club. But he would not take further liberties. He would not kiss her again until she accepted his hand and agreed to marry him.

The wait would be the most exquisite torture.

Hyde Park was so much the same, and so vastly different from home. Jack waited on the grass, a cloth draped over his arm and a picnic laid out artistically at his feet, just as Colin had crafted it. Nearby, a group of teens tossed a disk between them, hollering and laughing at each failed catch.

"Sir," Jack said, bowing entirely wrong when Colin reached him. Mirth danced in his eyes, even as he strained to keep his tone formal. He bowed again towards Pen. "Ma'am. Today's date is sponsored by Jack-and-Lacey. Jack-and-Lacey: truly the most inspiring, amazing people you'll ever meet. And to prove it, I will now leave you alone and go the fuck back to sleep. Good day."

He literally skipped for the gate, and Colin turned to Penelope with far less composure than he had imagined having. As soon as his eyes met hers, she dissolved into giggles and he fell right after her, pressing a hand to his stomach and laughing until his face hurt.

"He is ridiculous," Colin announced, when he finally managed to catch his breath, "and a better man than he gives himself credit for. Miss Featherington, would you perchance be interested in… a strawberry?"

He drew it from the bag nestled beside the blanket, and was rewarded with a smile which belonged only to him.

"If you insist," Pen said, gathering her skirt and lowering herself to the blanket. Then she tugged the bag open to inspect the rest of his purchases and cried out in joy. "You found lemon drops!"

Colin lunged for the bag. "That was supposed to be a surprise!"

"Stay back, Mister Bridgerton," Penelope demanded, clinging to the lemon drops and pressing a hand to his chest to hold him away. "I will not be held accountable for what I shall do for these lemon drops."

"Why?" Colin heard himself ask, looking between her and the lemon drops. His voice deepened and all of a sudden his skin felt too tight. "What would you do for the lemon drops?"

Her tongue darted out to wet her lips and a shot of desire had Colin flinging himself backwards, as heat raced up the back of his neck. What was he doing? He was supposed to be gentlemanly—showing Pen how she deserved to be courted. Not throwing himself at her like some awful rake. He had always prided himself on his reputation; unlike Anthony and Benedict, he had no interest in bedding every woman in town who'd have him. The only woman he'd be with would be his wife.

And that would be Penelope, if he had his say. His thoughts shifted once more towards that dream; of waking up to her every morning, of having her all to himself. Her kisses, her touches… Colin shook himself, pushing those lewd imaginings as far down as he could. This was courtship. He had to win her, first. To do that, he had to treat her right.

"Are you alright?" Pen asked, blinking at him in surprise as he brushed himself down.

"Oh, yes." Colin coughed. "There was a fly. It buzzed right past my ear and startled me. I think I'll have a sandwich."

Penelope continued to watch him closely, and Colin stuffed half the sandwich into his mouth at once, just for an excuse to avoid thinking of what to say. With the slightest smirk, Pen shrugged one shoulder as if accepting his excuse, and popped a lemon drop into her mouth.

Her cheeks puckered as she sucked upon the sweet, and as she lay back on her elbows, tucking one ankle over the other, she cast her eyes over the park.

"Mama always tells me I should avoid the sun," she said. "She says I shall end up a befreckled beggar. It's true I do seem to break out in freckles with even the slightest hint of summer, but I find I can never keep myself from the sunlight. I suppose that may be why Mama is always dressing me as a sunflower."

"I like freckles," Colin said dumbly.

Pen glanced at him from the corner of her eye, shaking her head just slightly as if she doubted the truth of his words. "I confess," she said, "I quite like them myself."

Eloise

"I cannot believe him." Eloise flapped her hands as she spoke, pacing past the carpet and back towards the kitchen. "He thinks it is okay to just leave, after what he did to her last night, without a word, and then come back and take her out as if everything is well with the world? I hope she tells him off. I hope she makes him beg her forgiveness on his hands and knees."

"Eloise."

"He is so clueless, and such an idiot," Eloise continued, striding back towards the front door. "I cannot believe he is good enough for her, but I am certain I know nobody who is. Pen is… she's a businesswomen in a world where ladies are not permitted to own businesses. She is far too intelligent for the likes of him, or any man for that matter. If anything, she belongs in this world, not the farce of a place we grew up."

"Eloise Bridgerton." Ava stepped into her path and grabbed both her hands. "What Penelope and Colin get up to is so not up to you."

"She is my best friend," Eloise said, drawing herself up. "And he is a fool who—who ran away to Greece while I was the one who held her when her father passed. He does not think of anyone but himself, I am certain of it."

"Are you really?" Ava raised her eyebrows. "Because he seems like he's been pretty worried looking after you and Pen since you got here."

"That is just—"

"Come on." Ava raised her voice over Eloise's tirade. "We're going out."

"Out?" Eloise blinked as Ava swung a rucksack onto her back and stuffed her shoes into a pair of boots. "Out where?"

"That depends," Ava said. "Would you rather visit the science museum or the British museum?"

Eloise's breath hissed softly through her teeth, sufficiently distracted. "There's a science museum? One we can visit?"

"They have animatronic dinosaurs," Ava said with a nod. "Or we could go to the London dungeons if you want to learn more about Jack the Ripper."

"Jack the who?"

"Come on." Ava grabbed Eloise's hand and tugged her through the door. "I think we've exhausted the sites of my tiny apartment. You like to learn? London is full of history."

Eloise forgot entirely about her brother. She looked down at her fingers threaded through Ava's as the two of them strolled down the streets of London, towards the underground trains and the strange moving stairs (maybe the science museum would have an explanation for that).

They looked something like a couple, Eloise thought, walking together with their hands clasped. Even as the summer heat smacked Eloise in the face and made the palm of her hand somewhat sweaty, she did not make any move to release Ava. Ava made no attempt to let her go either, and as they manoeuvred through the strange turnstiles surrounded by what seemed like a million Londoners dressed in all sorts of strange attire, Eloise could not keep the grin from building on her face.

"You said before—last night, I mean—that you typically work on weekends," Eloise said, as they squashed themselves onto an intensely crowded train. "You do not have to entertain me if you do not have the time. I am very capable of looking after myself."

Ava shuffled at her side, swaying with the rocking of the train and almost losing her balance. A hint of unease filled her expression and she chewed at her lip. "There is part of me which wants to go straight there," she admitted. "I know there'll be others in the lab today, and they'll notice I'm not there." Her mouth twisted. "But, you know, I'd much rather spend the day with you."

Eloise knew the smile which spread across her face was far from ladylike. "Really?"

Ava ducked her head, a faint flush coming over her cheeks. "Why, would you rather explore on your own?"

Eloise reached out and tucked Ava into her side, clinging to a metal bar above her head to stabilise them both. "I most certainly would not."

A bodiless voice spoke their arrival—nobody even batted an eye—and Eloise added the question of airbound voices to the endless list forming in her mind. She grinned to herself as Ava laced her fingers through hers once more and led her through this unfamiliar station, emerging after an almost labyrinthine experience through the underground tunnels, into blinding sunshine.

The queue for entry was not especially long, and Eloise could hold her questions back no longer. She rocked back on her heels, squeezed Ava's hand, and asked, "Have you been here before?"

"Not for a long time," Ava said, squinting at the building. "It's funny, really. You live somewhere for years, and you only ever see all it has to offer when people come and visit. I've hardly been anywhere except my apartment and the lab since…" she frowned, a crease forming between her eyebrows. "I don't know how long," she admitted.

"You shall have to show me everything you can think of," Eloise said, looking her in the eye. "We shall enjoy it all together, while I am here visiting. And then you will not have to feel any guilt reapplying yourself to your work, because you will have seen it all only recently."

When Ava smiled, Eloise noticed for the first time, the slightest dimple tugged at her left cheek. Only the left—the right was left unaffected, and Eloise felt the strangest urge to kiss it. Perhaps she would, in fact. She had not asked Ava if she was open to more kisses, but she certainly did not seem to mind the last one.

Eloise hardly noticed their entering the science museum; her thoughts had once again become a storm buoying her away on their tides. Would Ava want to kiss her again? Perhaps the kiss was not pleasant for her—Eloise had no practise at kissing, after all. And Ava had made no move to repeat the action, that was certain. Perhaps hand-holding was an ordinary pastime for friends who did not kiss. Perhaps yesterday had been nothing but sympathy, and Ava was simply laughing at her.

"Eloise?" Ava said, and Eloise blinking right out of her reverie, the knot in her stomach suddenly tripled in size. Her hands were sweaty—Ava must indeed be horrified by the unrelenting hold of Eloise's wet palm. As soon as the thought struck her, Eloise withdrew her hand.

"I am well," she said. "We should—"

Eloise blinked. This was farcical. She was in one of the most fascinating places she had ever seen. She was surrounded by knowledge she had only ever dreamed of. And even as a young girl tugged her father past them, insisting on some video game exhibition, Eloise could not find the desire to look around.

"Last night," she made herself say, her tongue altogether too large for her mouth. "Why did you—I mean—"

That dimple returned. Eloise swallowed hard. Was the dimple a good sign? Perhaps her fear was right, and Ava truly was laughing at her.

The next moment, Ava stepped up to her and pressed a quick, simple kiss to her lips. A whiff of something flowery followed the movement, and Eloise found herself breathing in rather sharply.

"I kissed you last night," Ava said quietly, "because I wanted to. I am here with you now because I want to be. I like you, Eloise Bridgerton, and I would like nothing more than to see that little spark that shines in your face when you have discovered a new question to ask, or you learn something new."

She stepped back, and Eloise took in the room for the first time. Her gaze fixed almost instantly on a sign pointing off to the side, entitled 'Women in Science'.

She looked back at Ava, quickly kissed that dimple, and then tugged her towards the exhibit.