Romancing Miss Featherington

Cap. 16 - I proposed to Penelope

Colin did not say a word, he went directly and kissed her softly on her lips. He pulled her dress up and ran his fingers through her curls. She smiled at that touch.

Colin: '' We won't be ruined, because we will be married soon.''

Penelope: '' What?''

Colin: '' Penelope Featherington, will you marry me?''

Penelope: "Colin, are you certain?"

Colin: ''I am a gentleman, Penelope, and I would never act in such a way toward a woman of your posture unless I intended to marry her.''

Penelope: '' Colin, you do not have to. I won't tell, and no one saw us. You do not need to feel guilty because I consented to this.''

Colin: '' I am not proposing out of guilt or fear of been caught. I want to marry you and look into your beautiful blue eyes every morning when I wake up. Before dragging you into this room and before attending the ball tonight, I wanted to marry you. Is it not evident to you how you make me feel?''

Penelope: ''But Colin, we're friends. When did you start feeling this way?

Colin: '' I do not know, but I've been tormented by these feelings for weeks, ever since our first kiss. That day, I didn't want to let go, and I still won't. Yes, we are friends, and I believe that is the best fondation for a great love. Marry me, Penelope!''

With a joyful disbelief, Penelope turned to face the man she had always loved, who was asking her to become his wife on his knees. She never realized how much her life would alter, even though she knew it would that night.

Penelope: '' Yes, Colin, I will marry you!''

Colin approached her, grinning, and planted a kiss on her lips. He got to his feet and held out his hand to her. Grabbing his hand, she got to her feet. She did not let go of her hand and started walking dragging her with him.

Penelope: '' Where are we going?'' -asked as she stopped walking-

Colin: ''To inform our families of our engagement.''- said after turning around-

Penelope: ''Colin, hold on, we cannot do that at the ball.''

Colin: '' Why not?''

Penelope: '' My mother will go mad, Colin. She expected an engagement tonight, but certainly not ours. And your family...''

Colin: '' My family loves you, they will be happy.''

Penelope: '' What about Eloise?''

Colin: '' She cares about you, Pen, she will be happy.''

Penelope: '' Still, we should do this announcement in a private manner.''

Colin: '' You can't go out there, Pen. That man will want to propose to you and your mother will pressure you.'' -said while grabbing her other hand and pulling her closer to him-

Penelope: '' I will invoke a headache and go home.'' -smiled-

Colin: '' Alright. But, first thing tomorrow morning, I will come to your house and speak to your mother. '' -confirmed and gave her a passionate kiss, then moved away to look at her- '' You are mine now!''

She was left with nothing to do but smile and blush. They made the decision to leave apart. Penelope made her way back to the ballroom avoiding Lord Debling. She informed her mother that she didn't feel good and that she wanted to go back home. Even though Portia was unhappy, she obliged as she could see Penelope was in distress.

Colin, on the other hand, joined his family on the ball room. He had a smile from ear to ear, and Benedict saw it right away.

Benedict: '' What has you so happy?''

Colin: "I proposed to Penelope." -whispering to keep it quiet

Benedict: "What?" -expressed surprise

Lady Violet, Daphne, and Eloise turned to stare at them with confusion.

Lady Violet: '' Something wrong? ''

Benedict: '' Your son just...''

Colin: '' Benedict! '' -stopped him- '' I did not whisper something to you so you could tell everyone.''

Daphne: '' Now we do want to know. What are you two whispering about?''

Colin: '' I told Benedict that I am engaged.'' -said that and smiled thinking about Penelope-

Lady Violet: '' Excuse me? Colin, if this is a joke, it's not a very amusing one.''

Colin: ''With these things, I do not play around. I asked Penelope to marry me and she accepted.'' -smiled, he just could not stop smiling- 'We planned to tell you all tomorrow, but Benedict can't shut up.''

Eloise: ''Did he say Penelope?"

Daphne: '' He said Penelope, indeed. '' -smiled at him- '' I am happy for you, brother. I never knew you and Penelope had feelings for eachother. This is a love marriage, I hope.''

Colin: '' It is, of course. We are friends that felt in love.'' -looked as his mother-

Lady Violet smiled and went to hug him. She was proud of him. She knew he loved her, it just took him a little longer to realize it.

Eloise: '' Wait a second, what about Lord Debling's proposal? Did she turn him down?

Colin: '' Eloise, she will marry me, you should get used to the idea and I hope whatever happened between you two will be fixed.''

Eloise: '' I do not think so. '' -she turned around and left-

Colin let Eloise go. Sooner or later she will come around and in this moment, nobody could ruin his happines.

Penelope was lying in her bed the next day. She couldn't stop thinking about Colin and everything that transpired between them over the night. She was also concerned that, throughout the night, he might have changed his mind and regretted asking her to marry him. Even though his acts made her feel so loved, she wasn't sure how he felt about her.

Her maid entered her room and told her to get ready since her mother was waiting for her in the drawing room, interrupting her train of thinking. That made her anxious because her mother would question her about why she chose to leave last night, before giving the chance to Lord Debling to propose.

Uncertain of what she was about to tell her mother, she braced herself to meet her. Colin said he would arrive first thing in the morning, but she would have to find a way out of this if he had changed his mind.
She won't be able to handle a loveless marriage after everything that occurred with Colin, and if Colin doesn't show up, she will have to accept Lord Debling. She did not want for any other man to touch her as Colin did. She was not going to tolerate to kiss other lips.

She headed toward the drawing room, where she was taken by surprised upon entering. Her mother was there and she was not alone.