“Where is this going to end?” she asked.

Mrs. Lengholm administered a final punch to the dough before replying. “I don’t know,” she confessed mildly. “Why don’t you ask Mr. Hughes?”

“That snake! Ugh!” Penelope grimaced with conviction.

“He’s got his faults,” admitted Sophie, “but he has a great admiration for you. You could twist him round your little finger if you agreed to marry him. He’s rich, he’s good looking, he’s got culture. You’d be better off than many a princess. I know the man, miss. If he sets his mind on a thing he gets it. He gets it by fair means if he can, but he gets it anyway. I have never known him fail in anything that he set his heart upon. It would be better for you to be dead than to hope to thwart him.”

“I would rather die,” asserted Penelope.