A Matter of Priority

Chapter Six: An Unattended Éclair

August, 1816

It was hardly his fault.

Anyone would be tempted.

It was just sitting there where anyone could come upon it.

And in a common area of the house -- the dining room, in fact, where people ate.

To have it sit there, uneaten, was really the greater crime.

These were the things Colin Bridgerton told himself as he stared at the pretty little box on his dining table.

He'd already opened and closed it. He knew what it contained.

It was an éclair, filled with cream and covered in caramel. Even if he hadn't seen it, he could smell it. Nobody crafted an éclair like Mrs. O'Hara. It had always been one of the best smells of his youth. She only made them for the fanciest parties.

He actually preferred the kind with chocolate on top, but he was not going to quibble as this one was here and the chocolate kind wasn't.

He stared at the box again, specifically the note peeking from underneath it.

Pen,

It will get easier, I promise.

I hope this helps.

All my love and support,

Kate

Just reading the words, he felt guilty for what he was considering. Obviously, this was some sort of special present from his sister-in-law to his wife. And she was obviously trying to help her through something hard... but with an éclair?

Surely, whatever Pen was going through -- and if she hadn't told him yet, she would soon enough -- he could give her much more help than some silly dessert ever could.

In fact, he actually did have some idea of what Pen was going through. And an éclair was very unlikely to help.

Pen had been very uninterested in food lately. She turned her nose up at everything and, when she didn't, she ended up sick. She surely didn't want something like this rich, creamy confection covered in caramel, powdered sugar, and a sweet little frosting rosette. Just looking at it might even worsen this stomach ailment of hers. Last night, when he'd offered her a piece of lemon cake, she'd said she no longer cared for cake and fled from the room.

And an hour ago, just before this sinful parcel had been delivered, he'd walked in the door and kissed her. She'd been quite enthusiastic about it... until he suggested lamb stew for supper, which was her favorite, and she'd actually stared at him as if he'd committed some crime before stumbling up the stairs.

Surely, he'd better get rid of this thing before it offended her sensibilities, too.

Or at least that was what he told himself as he took it in his hands...

******************

A half-hour later, his wife joined him in the library. "Pen! Feeling better?"

"Perhaps," she'd said, swinging her arms this way and that. "Or I will be soon. Kate's sending something over. Perhaps it's here already. I should ask Mrs. Gross if-"

"I'm certain she's busy with supper," Colin muttered, holding up his paper a little higher, guiltily rethinking his idea that she'd not welcome Kate's gift. "How is Kate these days? I haven't been to Bridgerton House all week."

"She's well. The two of us had a very nice talk today about... Well, about things."

Well, now he was intrigued, mostly because Penelope was pacing the room as if in a race from one end to the other. "What sort of things?" he asked warily.