Chapter Text
Penelope tapped her feet on the floor. She'd been repeating the same movement over and over again, unable to stop herself. Philippa gave her a sideways glance, which indicated that she was annoyed by the tapping, but not enough to call her out on it yet.
In reality, Penelope could not help it. Her mind was racing with quick coming and confusing thoughts. It felt like her heart was planning to escape out of her mouth.
She'd thought about that day for a really long time. The day she first put out Whistledown. Sometimes it felt as though that moment would never come; she'd backed out on a couple of release dates, overtaken by her doubts.
But Whistledown was necessary. Penelope longed for a way to express herself, truly express herself to people. The short writings she and Eloise passed back and forth weren't enough anymore, at least not for her.
And not only was Whistledown necessary for Penelope, it also was important for the Ton.
They needed someone that would point out all of their hypocrisies. They needed someone who wouldn't swipe scandals under the rug. They needed someone that would share the most important of news. They needed someone that wasn't afraid of telling the truth.
The Ton needed... her. The same person they'd pushed aside over and over again.
That did not matter. In fact, being overlooked would only help Penelope, especially if she managed to continue past her first edition.
Lost in her thoughts, Penelope had stopped tapping her feet. She realised she'd been blankly staring at a wall; blinking hard, she stared around the room. Her mother was still sewing, her lips pressed in a line smaller than the needle she used. Philippa's face looked less displeased. Ms. Thompson was staring out of the window. Prudence was nowhere to be seen; neither was her father.
Penelope sighed, and pretended to continue reading the book in her hands. However, as she vaguely made sense of the printed words, her mind went back to the printing of her own words.
So many things could go wrong. At any step of the process, a single word could get out, and Penelope's life would be over. Her fingers gripped the edges of her book as she imagined being found out by the Ton.
That would never happen. That could never happen.
And to ensure that, Penelope had to make many decisions. The most painful was not including Eloise in the project. In the beginning, she'd envisioned the two of them writing Whistledown together, until she released it would not be possible. Eloise had a large family of people who cared about each other's wellbeing. Surely any out of the normal behaviour would be quickly noticed, and thus the risk was too high.
Right as Penelope was considering if she'd one day tell Eloise, Prudence suddenly burst into the room. In her shaky hand, she held a most familiar paper.
All eyes in the room turned towards the newcomer. Penelope held her breath.
"You will not believe what just arrived!" Prudence exclaimed.
Penelope tried to contain her smile.