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“Adeline!” her father exclaimed loudly, his voice like a whip.

Her mother immediately interfered. “See, Your Grace? Our youngest is very attached to Penelope, and her bad influence is already starting to show as she contradicts her parents in front of company.”

James didn’t say anything to that. He believed Adeline, but he knew this wasn’t the time or the place for that conversation.

Vanessa approached him, her expression softening as she reached out to gently touch James’ arm. “I know this is probably hard for you, James. You weren’t expecting something like this. But maybe… it is for the best. Maybe this is fate’s way of giving you and me another chance. After all, we were supposed to be married first. We could seize this as a second chance.”

James stared at her, his heart aching. The revelation of Penelope’s supposed departure and Vanessa’s unexpected proposal left him reeling. “I… I can’t talk about such things right now.” He shook his head, glancing at the door. He addressed the earl and his wife. “I must take my leave.”

“Please, James, just think about it,” Vanessa urged.

He couldn’t wait to get out of the house and hide in the carriage.

His heart raced faster than the horses that led the carriage back to his manor, and his fingers shook from the shock of what Penelope’s sister had told him.

Has she truly left?

* * *

“I am going to assume you don’t want any company,” James’ grandfather pointed out as half an hour after the monumental events, he found himself in his study.

James sighed. “Not really, Grandfather. I would like to be alone.”

The rich scent of brandy filled the air as he poured himself a generous measure, his hands trembling slightly. He took a deep breath, trying to steady his nerves, and raised the glass to his lips. The brandy burned as it went down, but the warmth it brought was a welcome distraction from the turmoil within.

But his grandfather did exactly the opposite. He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. “There is nothing worse than being alone.”

“There is,” James sulked. “Being hurt. When you are alone, no one can hurt you.”

“But yourself,” Grandfather reminded him. “And also, alone, you do not get to experience all those wonderful moments of being with someone truly special.”

James frowned. “Are those moments worth the pain?”

“Do you have another glass, my boy?” Grandfather asked, gesturing at the brandy in James’ hand.

James finally nodded. “Only if you have the answer to this mystery, Grandfather.”

His Grandfather waltzed into the center of the study theatrically, raising his arms high above his head. “Why, life itself is one big mystery, my boy!” he said, chuckling. “Endeavoring to solve it is an everyday affair, and it deepens with each passing moment.”

“I know how that feels,” James admitted getting up.

He proceeded to pour his grandfather a glass of brandy, then refilled his own. The old man accepted the drink with a nod of thanks, his sharp eyes never leaving James’ troubled face.

“So, what happened?” he inquired curiously. “I noticed that only you came out of the carriage. Did Penelope decide to spend the night at her parents’ home?”

James sighed heavily. “I… I honestly don’t know what happened, Grandfather. Penelope and I had an argument, and she left.”

Grandfather raised an eyebrow in shock. “Left? Where?”

“I don’t know,” James revealed. “That is the strangest part. She ran out of the house, and when I wanted to follow her, Vanessa urged me to stay behind and that she would know how to handle her sister. I thought that was a good idea at the time. Then, Vanessa returned alone and told me that Penelope left, not wanting to be with me anymore, and that she even suggested I should annul our marriage and consider marrying her sister instead. Vanessa claims it was all Penelope’s idea.”

His grandfather’s gaze hardened as he took in the information that had just been revealed to him. “What do you think of all that?”

James inhaled deeply, feeling the burden of the world sitting on his chest, making it difficult to breathe, to see things clearly.

“It just doesn’t make any sense, Grandfather,” James admitted, getting up and pacing about his study. He just couldn’t sit still, and he rightly assumed that he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep that night either. How could he sleep when he had no idea where his wife was?

“Penelope wouldn’t leave like that, without a word,” James was certain of it. “Something isn’t right.”