The Duke's Masked Wife 2: The Prince's Outcast Bride-Chapter 53: Gifts (4)

"What is this?" Penelope inquired, staring at the second carriage placed before her today. "Send it back."

"Why? It is a gift to you. A gift which makes all the other gifts the other ladies will receive look small," said Lily.

"It is a royal carriage. I am not a royal, therefore I am not to have it. It must be sent back. Gerald," Penelope called to the butler. "Take the flowers out, but arrange for the carriage to be sent back to the palace."

"No!" Lily exclaimed. "Whatever happened to it would be rude to deny the gifts from the crown prince? This counts as a gift, so you are being very rude right now. Isn’t she, Isabelle?"

"She is. Can we go inside?" Isabelle asked, excited to see the inside.

"No," Penelope replied, sticking to her decision. "I know why he is doing this, but how did he find out that I received a carriage today?"

"Perhaps there is a spy in our home," Lily answered.

"Or a sister who is enjoying all of this. That book in your hands," Penelope said, her eyes narrowing in on the book Lily now tried to hide. "It is Eleanor’s book. Our mother said that we cannot read it."

Lily tucked the book under her arm since it would be unladylike for her to be seen with it.

"I understand why she doesn’t want us to read it. Aunt Eleanor can be quite descriptive. You must focus on the gift that you cannot send back," Lily said, trying to take attention away from her book.

Lily continued, "This is good for you, Penelope. Just when the other gentlemen were not sending you gifts to get your attention, you were sent two carriages. Who can say that their courting gift was a royal carriage? You must enjoy it."

"Your reluctance to accept being courted by him is starting to bore me. Imagine how the prince must feel," Lily muttered.

It was only so much longer in Lily’s eyes that Penelope could continue to act like she didn’t want to be courted by the prince before Tyrion moved on.

It was evident that the two loved each other, so why couldn’t they face the dangers in the palace together and move on?

Alessandra hurried outside to see the arrival of the carriage the maids spoke of.

"There is another," Alessandra said, surprised to see that what was said was true.

"Mother, what should I do?" Penelope asked, turning to her mother for guidance. "Don’t I need to send it back? It will be misunderstood if I am seen using a royal carriage?"

"If it is a gift from the prince, then you do not need to send it back, but I do understand wanting to avoid talk about it," Alessandra replied.

It could be seen as Penelope on the path to becoming the young woman engaged to the prince.

Since Penelope had yet to change her mind about entering the palace, she shouldn’t be seen in a royal carriage gifted to her by the prince.

"You can keep it here since it will be out of sight from the wandering eyes of the town, or you may send it back, but if word of this gets out, it will bring more talk," said Alessandra.

News of Penelope returning a carriage gifted to her by the crown prince might paint her in a bad light with some saying that she was ungrateful. Such talk should be ignored, but it would only help fuel other talk to make Penelope an outcast.

Penelope stared at the carriage for a moment, then replied, "Take it where it will be out of sight. Bring the flowers inside to be placed in a vase."

Alessandra got a good look at the flowers she assumed came from Hazel’s garden. It was a sweet gesture since no one could easily pick flowers from the garden without Hazel’s permission. The garden had been a gift from the king to his wife.

"Penelope has two carriages now. Wait until Elijah learns of this," Lily laughed.

"I do not have two carriages. I am sending the other one back to Mr Monroe. Something about that man does not feel right," said Penelope.

Penelope didn’t know what it was about Cassius which gave her an awful feeling, but she was going to trust herself to be wary of him. They didn’t have many interactions for Cassius to send her a carriage.

"Where does he reside?" Lily asked, drawing attention to how little they knew about Cassius.

Penelope looked at her mother.

"I do not know whom you speak of. I do not know any gentleman with that name, nor can I recall any family with that last name. Perhaps your father or brother would know. We should find out where he lives first before we send the carriage off," said Alessandra.

"Father would send it off without caring where it goes," Penelope said, preferring the direction her father would take.

"He would," Alessandra agreed. "When he returns, I think it is likely that at least one carriage won’t be here anymore."

Penelope noted to share with her father how she felt about Cassius. She stopped thinking about Cassius for a moment and inspected the flowers sent by Tyrion.

They were lovely.

One of the benefits of playing in the palace when she was younger was getting to play in the queen’s garden.

Penelope had taken one of the flowers in the past and was spotted by Tyrion, who spoke of telling on her, but he never did.

Penelope returned inside her home to place the flowers in her room. While she might never have used the carriage sent, Penelope wanted to treasure the flowers for as long as she could.

"Oh."

Penelope stopped walking, the realisation of what was happening dawning on her. She once again felt love for Tyrion.

She had been drawn to him for too long to act like she didn’t care for him now.

’Remain strong,’ Penelope encouraged herself.

Eventually, Tyrion would grow bored, as Lily said, and he would find someone who wanted to be queen as well as stay in the palace.

Time was quickly counting down for Tyrion to pick a wife, and with a few balls left to happen before then, he would soon find himself courting someone else.

The thought of this dampened Penelope’s mood, but since she was the one ruining all chances for them to be together, she did not think it was right for her to be sad.

"I must carry on," Penelope said, continuing to make her way to her room.