Everything Has Changed Now

Chapter 4 - I cannot lose my wife!

It is a Polin endgame but Colin will have to suffer for the consequences of his action and he will grovel for Pen's forgiveness. He will need to suffer before finding his wife.

P.S. I am not aware exactly of the time taken to ride completely out of Mayfair so the time taken was just a supposition in the story. As per my research, apparently it takes 30 miles to ride daily in a horse carriage but on solo horse riding it is up to 35 miles daily and 8 to 12 miles per hour.

Enjoy!

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Chapter Summary:

Colin desperately search for his wife everywhere like crazy

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Colin did not find any clue and thought it best to leave their bedchamber otherwise he would keep on dwelling on Penelope's memories on every corner he would lay his eyes upon.

He closed the door and found himself faced to the settee, the settee he slept on everytime he was in their home, everytime he let his wife sleep alone in their bedchamber. How vile he had been. It was entirely his fault Pen felt compelled to leave.

Guilt engulfed him. He let out a heavy sigh.

Assuredly she had hidden her secret from him about being Lady whistledown but surely he could try to approach her to discuss it, right? She was not someone cruel. All she had written in her gossip column were nothing but the truth.

Why couldn't he be there for her when she needed him? After all, they had vowed to be by each other's side. He forgot about that, did he? He was fuming upon his own stubbornness.

Colin expeditiously rushed downstairs to start his search for Pen. Fully prepared, he returned to the horse he had taken on the way to their house.

He had to start somewhere.

But where? He had no idea.

He couldn't possibly stop people of the ton on the street to ask, they would be suspicious of the event and gossip about it.

He couldn't possibly ruin her reputation. For once he broke free from his self-centeredness and the concern for his family's reputation only, even if that was undoubtedly of utmost importance but this time, he also gave his wife some consideration. The woman he swore a lifelong commitment to care for.

It was not possible to obtain many answers at this hour of the night anyhow, he had been too late and had little chance. If only he had been more responsible and had read her letter sooner. Unfortunately.

Colin rode as fast as he could and as far as he presumed Penelope might be because it was almost a day since she had left and couldn't possibly be anywhere nearby but rather outside of Mayfair.

Fortunately it was night and the road was clear, or unfortunately, as there would not be many people awake to help. Colin was sceptical.

A little far away from their residence, he started his search by stopping at every motel or hotel or restaurant in case his wife might have stopped for the night or to eat something.

Surely there were not many redheads in the vicinity and as short and plump as Penelope most likely not. She was unique. 'She was one in a million', he thought.

To his dismay, no clues relating to Penelope were found at any of them. The accommodations had not welcomed any or not short redheads the day that had gone by. He even discreetly asked some of the carriage drivers in case Penelope was inside as he came across some of them on his way. Alas.