"Have you been well?" Alessandra asked, inspecting Penelope’s appearance.
"I have been well. I have brought you gifts," Penelope said, turning to see the canvases being taken off the carriage. "I want to visit more often for us to paint together. I hope you do not mind."
"I do not," Alessandra replied. "I welcome anything that makes us be together. We should go see the others."
Alessandra let go of Penelope to greet Tyrion with a hug. "I hope you have been well," she said.
"I have. I am sorry it has taken so long for us to visit," Tyrion apologised.
"You didn’t need to come. We all know not to see much of newlyweds in the early days. I’m happy to get to see you today. Everyone has been looking forward to your visit. Look at me keeping you both from everyone. You must come," Alessandra said, reaching for Penelope and Tyrion’s hands.
Alessandra walked with Tyrion on her right side and Penelope on her left.
Penelope snickered since her mother was treating them like children, but she did not mind it.
Penelope walked with her mother to where everyone gathered. Inside the drawing room were Eleanor, Ally, Brendon, Sally, Ally, Caleb, and Penelope’s family.
"Penelope!" Isabelle called to her sister. "What took you so long? Why couldn’t your home be closer?"
"I am grateful for the distance," Penelope said, since she didn’t have too many visits from Isabelle. "We took our time to be careful, but I am here now. I’m sure you have plenty to tell me."
"I do," Isabelle replied. "I have come to notice that without you, Lily is not fun. She is always moody, like someone has spoiled the day."
"I am not moody," Lily disagreed with Isabelle. "I am busy and, unlike you, I don’t have time to fool around. I want to make the most of my season, but I still do my best to make time for you. It is time you learn that things shall not remain the same."
"See," Isabelle pouted. "She has become this. You must stay with us or have a home that is near."
"Lily has always been , Isabelle. The season simply makes it worse, but she is right. Her time will be for other things, but I will also do my best to come here to see you, or I shall invite you to my home," Penelope offered.
"You must," Isabelle pleaded.
"You once looked forward to the days we would all be married, and it would only be you with our parents. Now you plead for us to be around. Oh, how times have changed," Penelope teased Isabelle.
"Time is not the only thing which has changed. I look at you and see a different woman," Eleanor said, delighted to see Penelope. "You are still standing strong."
"Eleanor," Penelope curtsied. "Thank you for your kind words and also for the gifts you sent me. I wanted to visit, and in time I will if you would allow it."
"My doors are always open for you. All that you had to put up with these days makes for a good story in my books. I can turn it all into a love story just for you," Eleanor offered.
"That would be wonderful. I remember the bedtime stories you made just for us. Julie," Penelope greeted her friend. "You are sulking already. Where is Ally?" Penelope asked, but before Julie could answer, she found Ally near her brother.
"Oh," Penelope said, for the time, noticing something odd. "Lily, how long has Ally had feelings for our brother?"
"I only noticed it today," Lily answered. She was just as surprised as Penelope.
Lily thought there was going to be trouble if Ally loved her brother. If Elijah didn’t feel the same way as Ally, then it would make gatherings one awkward.
"Perhaps I noticed it wrong, and we are assuming too much," Penelope said.
"We are assuming right. She has that same look you had when Tyrion was around us before you married him, and Julie is smiling like she is guilty of knowing," Lily said, staring directly into Julie’s eyes.
Eleanor excused herself so the younger ladies could talk amongst themselves. She knew Ally wouldn’t like her knowing who she loved.
"It was not my place to share it. You mustn’t say anything because she didn’t want you all to know. I do not know if she is embarrassed to like your brother, or if she thinks you would not support it. I am surprised she is so bold to stand with him," Julie said, watching Ally from the sidelines.
"We shouldn’t stare," Penelope told the group.
Whatever Ally felt for Elijah had to be figured out by Ally herself. Penelope didn’t want to get involved because she didn’t want to push anyone onto her brother.
Tyrion stood near Penelope, but someone else caught his interest when they walked into the room.
Edgar was the true grumpy one, but after the duchess whispered something to him, he smiled.
"Penelope," Edgar greeted, and right away, his hands went to her neck to give her a new necklace. "It is a gift from me. Don’t let your mother try to take credit for it."
"I won’t," Penelope laughed. She lifted the necklace to see the gem placed for decoration. "A ruby. I will take care of it and wear it at all times."
"It matches the ones Isabelle and I were gifted, but you should see Mother’s one. The jewels are so big that they can be seen from another room. It is something worth passing down," Lily suggested, winking at her mother.
"You have made your interest in it quite clear, Lily. I shall consider it," Alessandra promised. "But as for now, I will hold onto my gift."
"It is a good gift," Tyrion said, admiring the necklace Penelope wore. "It is so beautiful that I should give her a few more. I’d be happy to buy the jewels from your mines, duchess."
"How wonderful, but you would have to wait for if there is news of anything found, and then what is owed to me coming to Lockwood. Do you mind the wait?" Alessandra asked.
"No. It gives me the chance to visit you at a later day," Tyrion said, enjoying the expression Edgar wore. "You can help me choose what is most suited for Penelope. I want my wife to have the best."
"She already has the best. I made sure of it from the second she was born," said Edagr.
’Oh dear,’ Penelope sighed.
Penelope could not forget all the times her father gifted her something new after she received a gift from a boy.
Penelope had so many gifts from her father that if she sold a few, she would have a fortune.
"Can you afford to be spending money on necklaces?" Edgar asked, curious how the money he sent was spent. "We do not share the same wealth, little prince."
"End this right now," Alessandra ordered the two men. "Or take it elsewhere."
Alessandra knew her husband would love to be competitive and show what he could do for Penelope. Unfortunately, Tyrion seemed interested in competing, though he would lose.
Alessandra didn’t want any part in this game, and she was certain Penelope didn’t as well.
Tyrion decided not to push any further, but he was quite serious about buying from the duchess.