Chapter Text
Colin heard about Penelope before he got to meet her.
He, along with the rest of his siblings, were encouraged to spend time in the marketplace. Despite their royal upbringing, their mother had wanted all of them to feel some sense of normalcy. Of course, precautions had to be taken, disguises had to be worn and whatnot, but they all enjoyed going to the market and not having to act as princes and princesses; to just be people. Some liked it more than others - Benedict thrived and charmed his way through the marketplace whereas a more reserved Francesca preferred to stay at her piano in the castle. However, the person who enjoyed it most by far was Eloise. She always came back from the marketplace beaming, speaking only of one person.
“Penelope told the funniest joke today!”
“Penelope quite enjoys reading, perhaps I should lend her something from our library!”
“Penelope and I had a brilliant conversation today! She has the most interesting opinions!”
“I have decided that Penelope and I are going to read Don Quixote and we are going to be knights!”
(To that, she was promptly told that ladies, especially princesses, could not partake in fencing lessons. Her outrage and devastation lasted for days.)
By all accounts, Eloise and her new friend Penelope were completely inseparable.
The only issue was, nobody had actually seen her.
Often, the siblings would go to the marketplace in groups and pairs. Colin went with all of them, but mostly Anthony and Benedict or with Daphne and Francesca. Eloise preferred to go by herself, and she often chose to go at times when the rest of them were in etiquette lessons (lessons she should have been at but would rather die before attending - her own words. Their parents had surrendered in that battle long ago).
She went every day by herself for weeks, presumably trusting her disguise to keep her safe, before the subject was finally addressed at dinner one night.
“I do not understand how none of us have ever seen this Penelope that you speak of so frequently,” Daphne said after Eloise had finished telling yet another story of their market escapades that day. “I have been to that market with you many a time and not once have you pointed her out to me.”
“Or any of us, for that matter,” Colin added, a teasing smile on his lips. “Are you certain that she is real, sister?”
“Of course she is real you half-wit!” Eloise snapped.
“Eloise Bridgerton!” Violet admonished promptly.
“She is real!” El insisted.
“And yet, none of us have proof of this,” Anthony smirked. “You must admit, sister, it is a rather curious thing.”
“ Very curious,” Benedict followed, grinning slightly. “Do you not agree, Colin?”
“Oh yes, absolutely,” he replied without missing a beat. “I, for one, am extremely curious.”
“Boys,” Edmund said, throwing the three of them a warning glance. “Be kind to your sister.”
“Penelope only works at the market during certain times of the week, when she is not helping her family, that is why none of you have seen her,” Eloise shrugged, continuing to eat her dinner.
“A likely story,” Colin couldn’t help but tease.
“It is the truth!”
“If that is what you insist.”
“I do insist because it is true, and if insinuate she is not real one more time, I will-”
“Alright,” their mother cut in, using the tone they had all come to recognise as the argument-ending tone. She turned to her daughter. “You know dearest, you are more than welcome to invite Penelope to the castle one day if you would like, we would love to meet the girl you are so close with.”
“I have mentioned that to Penelope before,” Eloise told them all. “She does not want to come to the castle.”
“Really?” Anthony questioned curiously. “Whyever not?”
“She says it is not her place, that she belongs in the marketplace,” his sister replied with a slight frown. “I must admit, I am not quite sure why she believes such things.”
“Well, you tell her that any friend of yours has a place ready and waiting for them at this castle,” Edmund told her. “And you can tell her the king himself said that.”
Apparently, even that was not enough to persuade Penelope, who still never came to the castle and who he and his siblings had never seen. He had initially questioned Eloise’s friend being real primarily as a way to touch his sister’s nerves. It was ever so fun to watch her lose her temper after all, but the more time went on, the more genuine his inquiries became, as did the rest of their brothers and sisters.
Eventually, Colin had been tasked by his parents to follow Eloise to find out if this Penelope woman was real or not. He had to admit, he was rather curious, and finding out if his sister had made up an acquaintance sounded much more entertaining than etiquette lessons.
Eloise may have been stealthy, but so was he. She had not even realised he was following her. He hunched behind a cart, watching as his sister excitedly ran over to a girl who looked about her age, pulling her into a hug. Colin instantly knew that Eloise could not have been lying about Penelope only being allowed in the marketplace at certain times. She had fiery red hair and was donned entirely in vibrant yellow - if she had been at the market at the time as any of them, she would have been quite hard to miss.
That and, well… It was rather difficult to miss a pretty maiden such as herself.
Colin continued to observe as they perused the stalls. He could not manage to hear their conversation from where he stood, but it looked like a rather enthusiastic conversation. It was quite nice to see. Eloise was always scowling about something or other in the castle, whether it be a patriarchal imposition she wished to push against or a dance lesson she wanted to escape from. Some scowls were certainly more warranted than others, he would admit, but it was nice to see her so happy.
He was rather good at this spying business, Colin thought to himself smugly. Perhaps he needed to put this to good use. He could find out who was hiding all the chocolate macarons, and have a serious discussion with whoever the thief was because chocolate macarons were so clearly the best and to hide them was nothing short of an act of cruelty, an offence punishable by-
Just like that, he was assaulted by a devilishly yellow head covering. It hit him square in the face, knocking him into a puddle of mud behind him.
“Oh my!” He heard a horrified voice cry out. Colin opened his eyes to see Eloise’s friend standing right before his eyes. “My sincerest apologies! The wind knocked my hat clean off my head! Are you alright? Would you like some help? I hope you have not been hurt!”
Colin blinked, processing the absurdity of the situation he found himself in. This morning, he had been unsure if Penelope even existed, and now here she was, standing before him and apologising profusely as he lay in the dirt. What peculiar proof of a person’s existence. He could not help himself, he burst out laughing. “Well, that was not very well done of me, was it?”
Penelope blinked at him as Eloise came to her side. She recognised him instantly, irritation flashing across her face. “Colin, what on earth are you doing here?”
“ Colin? As in, your brother, the… the…” she turned to him, eyes shining with mortification. “Your Highness, I am ever so sorry for my carelessness, I-”
“Oh, do not worry, there is no need to apologise,” Colin quickly dismissed with, what he hoped was, a disarming smile. “You cannot control the wind. Besides, it is possible I should have been paying more attention. If I had, perhaps your hat would not have hit me in the first place.”
Penelope stared at him for a moment before a smile graced her lips. It made for a pleasant sight. “I have heard of princes’ one great weakness being their true love or insecurities that consumed them. Who would have thought hats would be an item on that list, and for one of Mayfair’s own princes!”
It was at that moment that Colin decided he did not just like her hair, her dress or her smile. He liked Penelope , and he could see why his sister did too.
“Yes, well it was not just any hat, it was a yellow hat,” he played along with a smirk. “And, for your information, yellow is my favourite colour.”
Her jaw dropped, her eyebrows raising instantly. “Of all the colours- why would yellow be your favourite?”
“Yellow is a lovely colour!”
“It is ghastly!”
He gaped at her. “You do realise you are, in fact, wearing all yellow, yes?”
“Not by any choice of my own,” she grumbled, glaring at her dress. “My mother believes that yellow is a happy colour, and of course happy girls wear happy colours.”
“Though they may not look happy whilst doing so,” Colin quipped.
“Precisely,” Penelope threw a small smile in his direction.
Colin could see perfectly well why his sister was so keen to talk about Penelope all the time now. She was clever and witty, with a rather sharp sense of humour. From what he’d witnessed before the hat incident, she seemed to be keeping up with Eloise’s incessant ranting, which was no easy task. It was no wonder the two of them were friends.
“I believe we have not officially been introduced,” he said with a grin. “I am Colin, and that is what you will call me, none of this ‘Your Highness’ business.”
“O-oh,” her eyes widened.” Alright… Colin. My name is Penelope.”
He already knew, but the confirmation was nice. Colin grinned at her. “It is very nice to meet you, Penelope. I am glad to see that you are real and not a figment of my sister’s imagination.”
Her brows pinched together. “I’m sorry?”
“I merely jest,” he laughed as his sister glared at him. “Eloise has told us much about you - all good things, I assure you.”
“That is a relief to hear,” Penelope joked, though he could see the genuine relief in her eyes.
“Well, as you can see, brother, Penelope is very much a real human being, you have found the answer to your ridiculous question. You may leave now,” El attempted to shoo him away.
“Now, why on earth would I do that when I could stay and get to know your friend, and my new friend, Penelope?” Colin said, secretly enjoying how red Eloise’s face was getting. She would enact revenge for this, he just knew it, he simply did not care. He turned to the friend in question. “If that is alright with you, of course.”
Penelope smiled, a light blush on her cheeks. “If you wish to stay, I will certainly not object.”
“Excellent.”
And just like that, he had met the woman who would become the most important person in his life.
That night, when Eloise recounted the entire story, laughing extra loud at Colin’s excursion in the mud, she finished with, “So you can all stop with this ridiculous notion that my friend is imaginary! Colin has seen her himself!”
“It is true,” he admitted. “She is rather charming and very witty. I must admit, I quite enjoyed meeting her.”
El turned to him with a glare, not dissimilar to the look she would give anyone who tried to touch her toys as a child. “She is my friend.”
“I am aware, El,” Colin couldn’t help but roll his eyes. They had all assumed this possessive streak of hers was something she would grow out of. Evidently not. “I am merely complimenting her character. There is nothing wrong with that. And besides, you may not want to hear it, but Penelope is my friend now too.”
And though nobody at that table knew it, including Colin himself, one day Penelope would end up being so much more.