God, what a dreadful woman.

Penelope could hear Lady Bucklebee going on and on as the woman stood in the doorway to the shed. Penelope would have undoubtedly interrupted her by now if it were not for how Lady Bucklebee was holding the men inside at gunpoint. Penelope's heart throbbed in anxiety, but she would not let herself think of it. She must focus on her approach.

From the pitches of voices inside the shed, Penelope knew there were three very important people there, people she cared very much for. And with how Bucklebee was raving, as though she had gone quite mad, Penelope felt incredibly uncertain.

Were the men armed? Unarmed? She knew that Beckett, specifically, was raising his voice angrily, and it made her mouth run dry. Lady Bucklebee was declaring that she would spread the news of their affair if Beckett did not oblige her requests.

It took everything in Penelope not to scream to Beckett that she did not care. She did not care who knew about the...affair.

She hated that word.

It did not feel like an accurate descriptor of what Beckett was to her.

Sliding along the side of the shed, Penelope was scooting closer to Lady Bucklebee when she heard her brother's voice demanding her to lower her weapon.

From what Penelope could tell, she did not.

Her stomach flipped.

Why hadn't she connected the dots earlier? Lawton's involvement had made all the sense in the world, but what about how often Bucklebee regaled of her times in France? She spoke of her opportunities, and Penelope had been too focused on affairs of the heart and otherwise to think it could be anything else.

Bucklebee lived in the opposite direction—further from the coast. The access to the port was here, at Hutton House. Staging the weapons on Penelope's estate would draw less attention. People came and go consistently. Visitors went largely unnoticed. And as a widow, Bucklebee likely needed funds to support her extravagant lifestyle, all her carting back and forth between England and France.

Penelope tensed, leaning in to peer through the cracks in the shed's outer walls. She saw the shadows of the men, Beckett's looming larger than all the rest. She felt tears prick her eyes as she recalled how she had stood precisely where he was while they kissed without care.

All she wanted right now was to kiss him again. She wanted that damn woman to stop pointing her godforsaken gun at Beckett Ash because she needed him alive.

Even as Penelope's pulse ticked up, she could take a steadying breath. She could make out that they were at a stand-still. Beckett, Griffin, and Leo were all well-armed, meaning that if they simply had a distraction, they might be able to overtake Bucklebee.

Not wanting to risk waiting until it was too late, Penelope closed in. Tension and anxiety swirled in her gut as she wiped her sweaty palms on her dress. She wished she, too, had a weapon at her disposal. But there hadn't been time to find one if she'd wanted to tail Bucklebee.

And she was glad that she had.

With a deep breath, Penelope stepped forward.

"I do not believe we care, Lady Bucklebee." Penelope made sure to speak loud enough for her voice to carry into the shed. "You may tell the world about Colonel Ash and me. I do not care."

As Penelope had expected, Lady Bucklebee swerved in her direction, gun swinging to pin itself on Penelope instead. But she only had to hold her breath for half a second before a shot rang.

A scream slipped out of Penelope, a release of shock and worry. Penelope could not feel her fingers nor her toes. It had not been her had it? But no, there was a cry. There was a cry that was not her. And it had not been Beckett or Griffin or Leo. It was too high-pitched. Too close by.

It was Lady Bucklebee. She was rolling on the ground, clutching an ankle. And Griffin was stepping over her, kicking her weapon away. Leo marched over, too, stroking his chin as he looked down at Bucklebee.

"Do be quiet." Leo leaned down to inspect her wound while Griffin quickly made work of tying her hands together. "Heavens, it is a graze."

"Next time you point a weapon at my lady, it will be more," Beckett growled, coming out of the shed last. He barely spared a glance at Bucklebee, though. His eyes were only for Penelope, and she replayed the words he'd just said in her head.

My lady.

But he did not say it teasingly or in mock formality.

He said it as though it were a possession.

His.

"Jesus Christ, Penelope," he cursed, grumbling as he pulled her shaky body into his grip. "Must you always thrust yourself into harm's way?"

His warmth wrapped around her, soothing her nerves. Beckett felt safe, felt like home.

Hands ran over her frantically, and Penelope let Beckett be his overbearing self as he tested that she was whole. Which she was....almost.

"She was threatening you," she managed to say. "She was threatening...us."

"Us," Beckett sighed, holding her tighter. He kissed her forehead and cheek before moving down her neck. And Penelope couldn't care less about how much of an audience they had. She just wanted him to never stop.

Penelope did not know how to make it happen, but she knew she must figure it out. There needed to be an us.

The prickle of tears that had threatened earlier finally began to fall. She could not remember the last time she had shed tears. Years of loneliness and facing scandals from her remote corner of England, and Penelope hardly ever cried. But tonight, she did not know how to make the tears dry.

"Darling," Beckett cooed. "Penelope, it is alright."

"I do not want to lose you," she sniffed.

"You won't," he breathed. "I promise you will not lose me."

"You shall leave." Her greatest fear slipped through her lips. "You're going to leave. Aren't you? You said that you couldn't ever understand why a man would leave me, but you're going to... Aren't you?"

He shook his head, fingers wiping tears from her cheeks persistently. Behind him, Penelope barely registered Leo and Griffin dealing with Bucklebee, and also...Lawton. Lawton was bound and tied as well. Was he involved, after all?

"I am not going to leave, Penelope."

Beckett's intense commitment brought her attention back to him.

"But you were so...so upset. And you were gone. I could not find you all day, and—"

"Oh, I am."

"What?"

"Upset." Beckett's brow furrowed, but his eyes were soft when they swept over her. "I am positively maddened by the thought that I cannot marry you myself. But I cannot stay away from you. I never would have been able to bring myself to leave."

Penelope had to swallow the lump in her throat before she could speak. "But you hate it here."

She was unsure why she was pointing this out when Beckett said precisely what she wished to hear. But she simply...needed it. She needed him to reassure her of why he was staying.

"That was before." Bending down, Beckett brushed his lips against hers as he smiled. "Now I hate any place where you are not. Come now."

He attempted to usher her toward the house, but Penelope pulled away. There was one question she still had for Lady Bucklebee.

"There are not many who know of this part of the grounds, Lady Bucklebee," she said.

The woman's face was pinched in pain, her eyes like darts as they slammed into Penelope's.

Penelope wiped at her tears, wanting to face Bucklebee without them.

"Exploring the grounds was one of the first things I did when I arrived." She said it haughtily, as if she still longed to prove her superiority even as she writhed on the ground with her hands tied.

"Surprising that no one noticed you poking about," Penelope hummed, mostly to herself. Lady Bucklebee was not precisely a woman who easily flew beneath notice. She spent most days drawing attention toward her instead. How had Penelope missed her actions?

"Do you not recall when you and the Colonel disappeared during lawn bowling?" Lady Bucklebee scoffed. "A pretend search party did wonders to assist my location scouting."

"Not a very sufficient search party considering we were not very far away."

"Oh, I did not truly mean to find you." Her voice was sickening. Nasally. "Although the scandal if we had would have been sweet."

"I think this scandal will be sweeter," Penelope said with the slow curling of her lips.

Penelope was not truly one for scandals, but she had to admit to feeling a touch satisfied at this one. So with that, she turned away. She did not even wait for Lady Bucklebee's reaction. A hand slid into hers as she walked, and she gripped it tight. She gripped it as tight as she could.

With this matter put behind them, she had not a clue what would happen next.