Heaven Made (34 page)

“Because,” Thomas said finally resigned to his chum’s foul
mood. “Penny has quite a low opinion of her own appearance. And although she
isn’t what society would call a full blown beauty, like I’m told my sister is,
if she just had a fashionable dress and did something with her hair, I’m
certain she wouldn’t be lacking in respectable suitors at all.”

“Respectable?” Cord laughed certain now that Miss Kincaid
must be quite disagreeable.

“Penny isn’t like other girls,” Thomas said thoughtfully.
She’s quiet, smart, funny and has a heart so big it’s almost painful to be the
recipient of her goodwill. And because her father doesn’t know what a treasure
she is, all that sweetness is trapped behind a complete lack of self-esteem.
The things that bastard has done—it makes me want to take him out and thrash
him. Speaking of reprehensible parents,” Thomas said changing the subject
quickly. “Are things any better at home? I would guess not from the amount of
whiskey you’ve consumed already. Tell me what old Charlotte has done this
time?”

With a dark glare at Thomas, whom Cord considered as close
as a brother, he began a dissertation of life and misery at the Vandenberg
house. As he spoke, he thought of Miss Kincaid. It was somehow comforting to
know that he wasn’t the only person in Philadelphia with unsatisfactory kin.

****

“What a day!” Georgianna Westcott collapsed on the powder
blue sofa in the aptly named blue salon where everything from the walls to the
artwork was either a shade of blue or ivory and trimmed in gold leaf. Accepting
a glass of lemonade from Sophie, the pretty blond downstairs maid, Georgie
continued with her excited chatter. “Can you believe all the new dress shops
that have opened, Mother? I thought Boston had the best modistes, but
Philadelphia has surpassed even my expectations. Oh, Penelope, I can’t wait
until Saturday when that delicious burgundy gown of yours is ready. You are so
lucky that you can wear all those beautiful dark colors while I look like a
wreck in anything that isn’t pastel.”

Penelope Kincaid ducked her head and sipped her lemonade.
She was embarrassed by the whole ordeal of shopping. All the seamstress’s
fussing and fidgeting over her, Mrs. Westcott, Georgie’s mother, picking out
all of the fabrics and trimmings. It had been unnerving to be the center of so
much attention.

After all, as her little sister Maggie would say, she was
just ‘Plain Penny’. She put a hand to her plain brown hair in its plain little
bun. It matched her plain brown eyes and her plain attire, not to mention her
plain face and tall, but plain figure. As she had been told all her life,
Penelope was a study in plainness. It was her fate and she was determined to be
comfortable with it. Thank goodness they had been able to make all of their
purchases in one day. She didn’t think she could have withstood another
afternoon like this one. Penelope was used to blending in, sitting quietly and
listening, observing and only offering a comment when called upon to do so by
one of the few people who noticed she was present. Today, Celeste Westcott had
treated her as if, well, as if she were Maggie. Fussing and cooing, telling her
how pretty she would look in this or that. It was difficult to believe that
Father had approved of all of the extravagant purchases for his eldest
daughter.

Thinking of her sixteen-year-old sister sent a guilty flush
up Penelope’s neck. Margaret was stuck at home in Pittsburgh with Father.
Sitting through his business dinners, listening to endless discussions of mills
and factories, unable to go anywhere or do anything fun.  Because, of course,
her older, chaperone sister was residing in the lap of luxury in one of the
finest mansions in Philadelphia county and about to enter the upper echelons of
society that had always been denied the Kincaids in the past.

Triumph and excitement quickly replaced the fledgling
feelings of guilt. It was such a relief to be out from under that shadow.
Penelope sighed with pleasure. It was good to be away from her home in
Pittsburgh and her family. The last time she was there for Christmas, it had
not produced pleasant memories. Father was so busy with his business deals that
he hadn’t even been present most of the time. That wasn’t such a bad thing in
itself, but it did mean Penelope was required to spend every moment with her
younger sister. Maggie was only three years younger than herself, although she
acted as if they were separated by ten. 

A hot blush flooded Penny’s cheeks as she remembered that
last visit. Maggie had dragged her from one social event to another, and the
entire time Penelope was certain she must have been invisible. That was the way
people treated her when the petite, blond haired, blue-eyed, perfect in every
way, Maggie, the beautiful and accomplished Margaret Kincaid, was in the room.

Penelope settled back on the settee and observed Georgianna
and her mother plan the next two weeks of parties and social events. She
watched the warm loving picture of very much alike strawberry blond haired
green-eyed mother and daughter laughing and teasing each other. They were
treating her as if she belonged here and was a part of their family. Penelope
decided then and there as she watched their merriment and pleasure, she would
play along and allow them to primp and pamper her like a china doll as they seemed
intent to do.

Why not?

After all, she deserved a little bit of fun in her life too.
Maggie did not have exclusive rights to being treated like a princess. One
didn’t have to be the belle of the ball to have a good time, did one? Although
Maggie would have her believing it was true. At this moment Penelope could
imagine that even she herself might find a glimmer of joy in the upcoming
weeks, though it might mean that she had to marry some man she hardly knew at
the end of it all.

She was certain that was why her father had deigned to allow
her to come at all, not to mention pay for new dresses. Why else but so that
she could make good connections and allow Maggie a chance at meeting and
marrying one of the richest men in Philadelphia? Although the men who fit that
description might be as ancient as a petrified forest, that wouldn't stop her
father from trying. Money was all he thought about.

“Any progress with Thomas’s list?” Georgianna asked
innocently of her mother bringing Penelope back to matters at hand.

“Oh you wicked girl.” Leaning over, Mrs. Westcott kissed her
daughter on the cheek. “You know how your brother and I fight over his bachelor
ways. He scurried out of here last night to meet up with Cord and I didn’t get
a chance to talk to him. I declare, he would rather fight a grizzly bear than
discuss his future marriage plans with me.”

“Well, he promised to take Penny and me riding through the
park tomorrow. I hope he hasn’t forgotten and tries to throw us over for that
awful Vandenberg boy,” Georgianna said with one of her notable pouts.

“Cord Vandenberg is hardly a boy anymore,” Mrs. Westcott
scolded. “Do you know that his mother hasn’t set a foot outside that mausoleum
of a house since ‘The Tragedy’ over ten years ago? What can Charlotte be
thinking to still treat that young man like a pariah in his own home?”

Celeste gazed off as if she were in another time and place.
Penelope couldn’t help but be a little curious about this mysterious Cord
Vandenberg and ‘The Tragedy’. Starting a conversation or making discreet
inquiries wasn’t exactly her cup of tea, but it didn’t look as though Mrs.
Westcott was going to expand upon her curious statements without a little
prodding.

“What was, ‘The Tragedy’?” she asked with proper emphasis on
the word itself.

Blinking as if coming out of a dream, Celeste looked at her
ward. “You never heard of ‘The Tragedy’, Penelope? Oh, of course not. You were
just a child and all the way in Pittsburgh. Your mother would have been aware
of it, may she rest in peace. After all she, was part of the in-the-know crowd,
but your father would never have allowed her to talk about such things.”

Penelope blushed at the reference to her mother’s supposedly
bad marriage to a man her family had considered quite beneath a Winterbourne.
The scandal of it had kept herself and Maggie from enjoying their rightful
place in society, until now. Penelope realized her father was more clever than
she had credited. Of course he’d agreed to this visit and the clothes
allowance. What better way to present Margaret Winterbourne Kincaid into the
social status that he felt his youngest daughter deserved? It was infuriating,
really, to think she had been manipulated so easily. But that was her life.
Isaiah Kincaid told her what to do, and she did it without question and without
regard for herself. Maggie was all that mattered. Maggie was everything. Biting
her lip to keep from crying at the injustice of her status in her father’s
eyes, Penelope vowed to remain strong and listen to her hostess’s story without
breaking down.

“Anyway,” Celeste continued. “Cord’s older brother, Daniel
was quite a charming young man. The center of his parent’s world They had high
hopes for him, a bit too high if you were to ask me. A place in the Senate,
they hoped, or maybe even President. Anyway, he had a penchant for trouble,
even as a child, and trouble found him in the form of one Anna Foster-Mills.”

“Oh, I’ve heard that name,” Penelope said sitting up
excitedly.

“Well of course you have,” Mrs. Westcott affirmed with a sad
frown. “The woman made the front pages of every major newspaper across the
country when she went mad and murdered poor Daniel with an axe. She was in love
with Cord you see, but when she realized that Daniel would inherit most of the
family fortune, she went after him instead. She was one of the most beautiful
women I have ever seen. Too bad she wasn’t recognized by society or she would
have been quite the belle.  Anyway, both Daniel and Cord fell madly in love
with her. They fought over her and I think she enjoyed it.

“Finally, she decided that she could have the fortune and
Cord if she eloped with Daniel and then murdered him. Later she could marry
Cord and live happily ever after. But Cord followed them one night after the
elopement, probably to beg Anna to leave Daniel, and he caught her with the
bloody blade in her hand. Of course, his heart was broken, but he also finally
saw Anna for what she really was. She went to an asylum and died there within a
year. But Mrs. Vandenberg never forgave Cord.”

The room was silent for a moment and Georgianna gave a
dramatic shudder.

“But I don’t understand,” Penelope said looking from mother
to daughter. “Anna killed Daniel, not Cord.”

“Yes,” Georgianna interrupted receiving a glare from her
mother. “But Mrs. Vandenberg can never forgive Cord for being the one to live.
Every time he comes home she wails, ‘why didn’t you die? Why did you have to
live?’ Thomas always comes home quite drunk and goes over the whole gruesome
thing every time Cord is in town.”

“I really need to have a talk with that boy,” Celeste said
standing as if to go find him. “I’ll have Sophie tell Cook to send trays up for
your supper. I’m sure we’re all too exhausted to put up with Thomas and your
father at the table tonight anyway.”

Her green eyes twinkling with suppressed humor, Georgianna
waited for her mother to leave before bursting into giggles. Penelope was at a
loss as to what could possibly be so funny after such a sad and sobering story.
She could certainly sympathize with the young man’s conflict with his family.
She was well aware of how cruel relatives could be. Penny felt a strange
empathetic connection to Cord although she had yet to meet him.

“Mama is angry with Papa because he made fun of our shopping
expedition this morning,” Georgianna revealed. “She thinks she is punishing him
by not making him dress up and eat dinner like a gentleman. But I think that
secretly Papa is quite relieved to be able to put on some broadcloth and go
down to the pub for a brew and some plain fare.”

Still reeling from the story of the Vandenberg’s devastating
tragedy, Penelope could only nod her head as she followed her friend up to
their adjoining suite. They shared the sitting room and each had their own
bedroom on either side. Boxes and packages where stacked everywhere in the
sitting room and Gertrude, the curly haired brunette ladies maid they also
shared, was trying to sort through it all. 

Georgianna gaily plunged in, helping the older woman to put
away the various items. Both girls had everything from hair ornaments, ribbons
and silk flowers, to kid gloves, stockings, and other unmentionables. They each
must have purchased ten new bonnets, and the rest of their things would arrive
daily for the remainder of the week. Penelope had marveled at the choices at
the time and now she wondered if she would actually have a need for ten
bonnets. Georgianna and Mrs. Westcott had picked out most of her new outfits.
Penelope felt too out of her element to even comment, except when Georgianna
tried to convince the dressmaker to cut one of her evening gowns lower in the
front than even the ones they’d seen in the Paris magazine. Penelope had firmly
refused and insisted on a more modest cut.  It had been a wonderful day, she
realized looking around at all the packages. She felt as though a fairy
godmother had waved her magic wand and turned her into a princess. People cared
about her and wanted her to be happy. Nothing could compare to that. Not even
the gold tulle ball gown that Gertrude was unfolding. Penny hugged herself with
pleasure. Nobody was going to interfere with her happiness here at Mount
Pleasant. Not Father, not Maggie, not even the depressing Mr. Vandenberg. 

Gertrude arrived a few hours later with a cold supper and
hot tea, and the girls settled in for the night. Tomorrow, Gertrude would be
recruited to wield her magic touch on Penelope’s hair and create a coif that
would transform her. Of course Penelope didn’t actually believe this was
possible, but it couldn’t hurt to allow the woman to try. After all, this was
her fairy tale and she was going to live it to its fullest.