Bridgerton Collection, Volume 2 - Julia Quinn Page 0,24

brows, “you are incorrect.”

Hyacinth turned to Penelope. “I am positive she did not use specifically correctly in that last sentence.”

Penelope reached for another butter biscuit. “I refuse to enter the conversation.”

“Coward,” Colin murmured.

“No, just hungry.” Penelope turned to Kate. “These are good.”

Kate nodded her agreement. “I have heard rumors,” she said to Penelope, “that your sister may become betrothed.”

Penelope blinked in surprise. She hadn’t thought that Felicity’s connection to Mr. Albansdale was public knowledge. “Er, where have you heard rumors?”

“Eloise, of course,” Kate said matter-of-factly. “She always knows everything.”

“And what I don’t know,” Eloise said with an easy grin, “Hyacinth usually does. It’s very convenient.”

“Are you certain that neither one of you is Lady Whistledown?” Colin joked.

“Colin!” Lady Bridgerton exclaimed. “How could you even think such a thing?”

He shrugged. “They’re certainly both smart enough to carry off such a feat.”

Eloise and Hyacinth beamed.

Even Lady Bridgerton couldn’t quite dismiss the compliment. “Yes, well,” she hemmed, “Hyacinth is much too young, and Eloise . . .” She looked over at Eloise, who was watching her with a most amused expression. “Well, Eloise is not Lady Whistledown. I’m sure of it.”

Eloise looked at Colin. “I’m not Lady Whistledown.”

“That’s too bad,” he replied. “You’d be filthy rich by now, I imagine.”

“You know,” Penelope said thoughtfully, “that might be a good way to discern her identity.”

Five pairs of eyes turned in her direction.

“She has to be someone who has more money than she ought to have,” Penelope explained.

“A good point,” Hyacinth said, “except that I haven’t a clue how much money people ought to have.”

“Neither do I, of course,” Penelope replied. “But most of the time one has a general idea.” At Hyacinth’s blank stare, she added, “For example, if I suddenly went out and bought myself a diamond parure, that would be very suspect.”

Kate nudged Penelope with her elbow. “Bought any diamond parures lately, eh? I could use a thousand pounds.”

Penelope let her eyes roll up for a second before replying, because as the current Viscountess Bridgerton, Kate most certainly did not need a thousand pounds. “I can assure you,” she said, “I don’t own a single diamond. Not even a ring.”

Kate let out an “euf” of mock disgruntlement. “Well, you’re no help, then.”

“It’s not so much the money,” Hyacinth announced. “It’s the glory.”

Lady Bridgerton coughed on her tea. “I’m sorry, Hyacinth,” she said, “but what did you just say?”

“Think of the accolades one would receive for having finally caught Lady Whistledown,” Hyacinth said. “It would be glorious.”

“Are you saying,” Colin asked, a deceptively bland expression on his face, “that you don’t care about the money?”

“I would never say that,” Hyacinth said with a cheeky grin. It occurred to Penelope that of all the Bridgertons, Hyacinth and Colin were the most alike. It was probably a good thing Colin was so often out of the country. If he and Hyacinth ever joined forces in earnest, they could probably take over the world.

“Hyacinth,” Lady Bridgerton said firmly, “you are not to make the search for Lady Whistledown your life’s work.”

“But—”

“I’m not saying you cannot ponder the problem and ask a few questions,” Lady Bridgerton hastened to add, holding up one hand to ward off further interruptions. “Good gracious, I would hope that after nearly forty years of motherhood I would know better than to try to stop you when you have your mind quite so set on something, nonsense as it may be.”

Penelope brought her teacup to her mouth to cover her smile.

“It’s just that you have been known to be rather”—Lady Bridgerton delicately cleared her throat—“single-minded at times . . .”

“Mother!”

Lady Bridgerton continued as if Hyacinth had never spoken. “. . . and I do not want you to forget that your primary focus at this time must be to look for a husband.”

Hyacinth uttered the word “Mother” again, but this time it was more of a groan than a protest.

Penelope stole a glance at Eloise, who had her eyes fixed on the ceiling and was clearly trying not to break out in a grin. Eloise had endured years of relentless matchmaking at her mother’s hands and did not mind in the least that she seemed to have given up and moved on to Hyacinth.

In truth, Penelope was surprised that Lady Bridgerton seemed to have finally accepted Eloise’s unmarried state. She had never hidden the fact that her greatest aim in life was to see all eight of her children happily married. And she’d succeeded with four. First Daphne had married Simon and become