About Time

Midnight Walks

As Colin arrived at his family's gazebo in the middle of the garden, it shocked him to find Penelope was already there. She was dressed in a thin nightgown, and her hair fell gracefully across her shoulders, causing his mind to wander.

"What are you doing here?!" He snapped, more concerned than angry.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'll go. I just needed a minute to think." She said defensively, hiding the blush on her face.

"No, no. What are you doing out here in the night without a chaperone? You could get hurt."

"Colin, I live right across the street. You can see my home just there."

"I don't care. If anything were to happen to you, Pen, I-" The words caught in his throat before he even knew what they were.

"You what?" She asked innocently, her large blue eyes sparkling up at him.

"Nothing, I just...don't do it again."

"You're right. I'm sorry." Penelope hung her head in shame while knowing she had been in much more dangerous situations as Lady Whistledown and remained unharmed. But she would never tell Colin that. "Why were you out here, Colin?"

"Like you, I needed some air to think."

"May I ask, for what? Perhaps I could offer some wisdom."

"Thank you, but I doubt you could assist me in this predicament."

"You don't know that for sure. Enlighten me."

"I want to, but I can't."

"I see. That's quite alright. Colin," She said more earnestly, "You can discuss anything with me. You know that?"

"Of course. And you with me." They paused for a moment of comfortable silence, gazing into each other's eyes. "What were you doing out here, Pen?"

"Well, it's quite embarrassing. I'm unsure if it would be proper of me to say."

"And being out here with me, alone, in the middle of the night is proper?" Colin laughed.

"You make an excellent point." Penelope contemplated how much she should tell him or if she should turn back home. But Colin had a way about him that always put her at ease. She truly felt like she could tell him anything. Well, almost anything.

"As I'm sure Eloise told you, when neither you nor Benedict would tell us how a woman becomes with child, we took it upon ourselves. And well..." Penelope's cheeks blushed. Colin loved the way she looked when that happened. "Let's say that the person gave us all of the details. They left nothing to the imagination."

"Oh." That was, ironically, all Colin managed to say.

"It's all fascinating to me. I don't understand why mothers don't tell their daughters about this sooner. I mean, men have all this experience, and they expect women to go blindly into a marriage with no information. For God's sake, my mother told me just to lay there and allow a man his pleasures. That doesn't seem fair." He loved when Penelope rambled, but this was serious.

"Penelope, that can be dangerous information for a young woman of your standing to possess."

"How so?"

"Men will..." Colin couldn't believe he was having this conversation with Penelope. He felt like a shameful hypocrite when just moments ago, he was thinking of her in the same way. "They will take advantage of you."

"I hardly think that is a problem for a lady like me."

"Why not?"

"Colin, look at me. It's not as if men are lining up for a spot on my dance card, let alone my hand in marriage. You said so yourself just last season." Before the rehashing of their fight could hurt him, she interjected. "I'm sorry, that was unfair. Still, I find it hard to believe that man could view me that way. Not in the way they see Cressida or Madame Delacroix or your sisters or even my sisters."

"Penelope, are you going to make me say it?"

"Say what, Colin?" She was becoming irritated and uncomfortable, and she did not want to talk to him about this anymore.

"Penelope, you are beautiful. I've always thought so. I don't know how no one else sees it. You are desirable and seductive and the most enchanting woman I've ever met. You are irresistible. Any man would be fortunate to have you as a bride." Colin lost his breath for a moment.

"Colin, I-" Before she could say another word, his lips were on hers.