Chapter Text
“Can you please just make sure you get there before 5? Madame Delacroix said she has to close up the shop then.” Isabel said with slight annoyance.
Penelope rolled her eyes in response knowing she could not see it since they were speaking over the phone. “Yes, yes I am leaving in 15. Please do not worry about this. I said I would handle it and I will. What kind of maid of honor would I be otherwise?”
“The kind who is easily distracted by her next big scoop…” Isabel muttered loud enough for Penelope to catch it.
“Oh come on, that was just that one time. Besides, it worked out in the end. I still caught the important bit.”
“You mean the bit where I got engaged, yes I would have disowned you had you missed it.” Isabel bit back.
Penelope glanced up from the computer screen she had been staring at to catch her assistant Tilly waving her down from her office doorway. She scrunched her brows in confusion.
“Well I got there right in time. Which only serves my point, I will not fail you dear friend.”
Isabel laughed. “Alright I trust you Penelope. I will see you tonight.”
“See you tonight!” she said quickly, hanging up and turning to Tilly who was bouncing on her toes with excitement waiting to talk to her.
“Danbury is coming to speak with you. There is a scoop with the Bridgertons apparently.” Tilly said with a wide smile.
“Truly?” Penelope sat up. She glanced at the time on her phone, 10 minutes to go. She did indeed mean to leave on time but she knew she couldn’t walk out without hearing about this scoop. It could mean the difference between running these gossip articles and finally getting to do more in depth interviews of Lady Whistledown. She had been up against Fife for the position for the past month and the two had consistently been at each other's throats to get the best scoop which would impress their boss Danbury.
Just as Tilly opened her mouth to confirm they both heard the sound of Danbury’s cane on the hardwood floor as she approached Penelope’s office.
“Miss Featherington,” Danbury said, pausing at the door and knocking her cane on the floor for emphasis.
“Lady Danbury,” Penelope smiled brightly as she stepped into her office. It quickly faded the minute Fife’s form followed closely behind. He raised a disapproving brow up at her.
“Please have a seat, Tilly please bring Lady Danbury some tea…”
“Oh I am fine child, this will be quick.” She responded as she sat across from Penelope’s desk. Fife sitting next to her with a smirk on his face. “We have received word Mr. Colin Bridgerton has returned from Greece and is back at Aubrey hall for the holidays.”
“What?” both Penelope and Fife gasped. They exchanged an annoyed look before turning back to Danbury.
“But he has been overseas the past 2 years…no one has even seen him in this time.” Penelope frowned with confusion. The third Bridgerton son had been essentially underground after his failed engagement a few years back. Many of the high brows of society had spoken ill about him being young and naïve about the whole thing. The romantic in Penelope could appreciate he had thought himself in love and unfortunately had been burnt by a careless woman named Marina Thompson.
“Yes it’s been impossible to even get any sightings of him.” Fife added. “Even my buddy Trevor who lives out in Greece never got wind of his possible whereabouts.”
“Well he is back and so for the first time in years all the Bridgerton children will be at Aubrey Hall this year. And more than that, there has been talk that perhaps he is back in time to take over the Bridgerton firm.”
“Wasn’t the oldest in charge of it?” Fife retorted.
“He is in charge of the estate, honestly Fife if you don’t know that, why are you even here?” Penelope replied with a sly smile.
Danbury rolled her eyes at their antics before stomping her cane on the floor again to catch their attention. “May I make my point now?” she glared at both of them who not surprisingly had grown quiet. “I am putting you both on this. If we can get any story to spin this will help us through the holiday slump. The public loves the Bridgertons, and in particular the very attractive sons.”
“But Lady Danbury, they are a very tight knit family. Usually their events are private and invite only, minimal press.” Penelope said. She once again glanced down at her phone, okay now we are 5 minutes late.
“Yes but that is why I am putting my two best reporters on it. I trust one of you will find a way in.” Lady Danbury said with a broad smile as she stood and dramatically exited the office.
Fife fake smiled at Penelope before darting out of her office as well.
“What are you going to do boss?” Tilly asked, taking a seat across from her.
“First I have to go get Isabel’s wedding dress from the shop.” Penelope said as she began collecting her things chaotically tossing them into her bag. “Tilly, can you send me options for where to stay near Aubrey Hall?”
“Sure thing boss. Are you going to go tomorrow?”
“No, I have to get there tonight…I can’t risk Fife beating me there. Isabel is going to kill me, but she doesn’t technically need the dress truly until Friday. By then I will have my scoop and promotion.”
“Good luck!” Tilly said as Penelope left in a rush.
Penelope had managed to catch Madame Delacroix a few minutes before she closed. Now with Isabel’s wedding dress secured, she began the long drive towards Aubrey Hall. Tilly had told her she was working on booking her a stay but it being close to the holidays was proving to be rather difficult. With no destination in mind, she plugged Aubrey Hall into her maps application since she just needed to get near for now.
What she had not accounted for was the blizzard which seemed to come out of nowhere. Worst of all the closer she got to her destination, the spottier her service became. She was so distracted with trying to snag a signal she almost missed the No Trespassing sign blocking the road.
“Fuck!” Penelope screamed as she stomped on her brakes to avoid hitting the barrier. Instead with the snow on the ground her wheels slid, jolting her car up against a snowbank. “Shit,” she muttered once everything stopped moving. She looked back at her phone and it seemed as hopeless as before. Penelope tried to back out of where her car landed but the snow was too much for her compact vehicle and it simply was not budging.
She frantically tried calling Tilly but the calls were not going through. Giving up, she recorded a quick voice message hoping once she had a signal it would go through. She reluctantly stepped out of her and into the cold, ill prepared for this weather being as she was only wearing her pencil skirt and nice blouse and her heels. She cautiously took a few steps forward hoping to see any sign of people but the snow barreled into her face making it impossible to see very far.
“Great Featherington. Is this really the way I will go,” she grumbled with panic starting to creep into her. She resolved herself to return to the car, at least see if she had any blankets to keep her warm until the storm eased up. Unfortunately after rummaging her trunk she did not find much. All she had was the stupid wedding dress.
After five minutes of shivering in her car she sighed and covered herself with the gown at least. It was another 10 minutes of this misery before she thought she saw a flashlight moving around ahead of her. She didn’t even question it, she bolted out of the car, still covering herself with the wedding dress and yelling.
“Hello, is there someone there…” she yelled before slipping on the ice and landing hard against the snow. The last thing she recalled was warmth against her arms.
When Penelope came to, she was no longer in the snow much to her relief. Instead she was on a couch next to an inviting fireplace in what seemed to be a cottage. She sat up confused as the blanket which had been seemingly draped against her slipped off her shoulders.
“Good you are awake,” she heard a man’s voice coming from another room say.
She turned to see a tall handsome man in flannel making his way towards with two cups of steaming tea in hands.
“Oh hello.” she whispered wondering if this was not some dream and she was lying dead in a snowy ditch at the moment. However the moment she felt his hand against her chin she knew he was real just from the butterflies alone which erupted.
He looked at her eyes without truly looking at her, appearing to be examining her. The alluring scent of pine enveloping her with his closeness. She swallowed nervously as his green eyes took her in.
“Are you some sort of doctor?” she muttered, her voice raspy.
A bright smile erupted in his face as he sat back giving her space and shaking his head shyly. “Not a doctor, but I have been trained well to know the signs of concussion and serious brain injury.” His soft voice responded.
“And who might it be who trained you if you don’t mind me asking? Seeing as I am the potentially concussed person here.” She stuttered as he gently swiped a rogue curl of her hair off her face.
“Just survivalists I met while climbing. They have to know their stuff so I suppose it has to mean something.”
“So what’s the verdict?”
“Not concussed.” He smiled, scooting away from her and handing her a mug of tea. “Now that we have clarified that, can you answer some questions for me? Like what are you doing on private property in the middle of a blizzard.”
Penelope took a calculated sip of her tea trying to come up with some probable explanation. She gulped down her tea, “Um.. I seem to have lost my way in the storm unfortunately. I saw the sign a bit late and almost hit it. I am grateful that you found me though. I thought I was in the middle of nowhere.”
“Were you running from something?” he asked, not meeting her eyes.
“What…” she started asking but then followed where his eyes were trained on Isabel’s wedding dress hanging on a door. “Oh.”
“I am either to assume you are a runaway bride or someone with the absolute worst luck getting stuck out here when you should be preparing for your happy day.” He said his eyes finally met hers again with a soft smile.
Penelope shook her head unsure how to proceed. One could not find oneself a handsome stranger and allow them to think she was taken. But also she needs a cover story to avoid getting in trouble with the Bridgertons.
“I suppose both could be true in a way…” she replied. “But if you don’t mind I would rather not talk about it right now.”
He nodded quietly before bringing his own mug to his lips for a sip. Penelope realized she was staring and quickly sat up to do something.
“I am sorry, where exactly are we?” she asked.
“Oh my apologies, Miss…?”
“Penelope Feathering…son”
“Well Penelope we are in the groundskeepers cottage outside of Aubrey Hall.”
“Oh.” She cleared her throat, unsure what to do with this development. “I truly have lost my way then. And you are the groundskeeper?”
He smiled that deadly smile again. Goodness he must have all the women melting at his feet Penelope thought. “No, I am not. Name is Colin,” he said, extending his hand out to her in greeting.
“Col..Colin?” She stuttered. “Bridgerton?” And suddenly it made all the sense. The chestnut hair and good looks, of course he was.
He cringed slightly upon hearing the name. “Yes, I suppose it was a long shot that you would have not heard of my family.”