She bit her lip. She must control herself somehow.. Try to think things out. Perhaps the girl in white was just a friend. Jeremy must have had a number of girlfriends before he met her. It was unreasonable to expect him to give up all of them just because he was engaged. That was the sort of tie he hated... A ray of hope entered Penny's mind. She tried feverishly to enlarge upon it to convince herself that this all meant nothing. Obviously, Jeremy would not want to dine alone. It was stupid of her not to have thought of that. She knew he hated being by himself so he would never spend a solitary evening at the Savoy. And the girl? She was probably the wife or girlfriend of some friend of his... In town for the night. Maybe she had called Jeremy, and he knowing his Penny was not returning until the next day, would have welcomed the opportunity of a companion. If only she had joined them at the table instead of running away in that absurdly childish fashion, he wou

"Poor sweet" he murmured. "Letting yourself get worked up about my father's secretary. It makes me laugh to think about it""She looked very attractive" Penny said."Oh, she's pretty but frantically dumb. She really bores me stiff" But she made you smile, Jeremy, she thought. "It must be a big thrill for her going out with the boss's son" "Well, that is really the reason I took her out. Father said she led a frightfully dull life and never went anywhere so I said I would give her a night out if I had time. As a matter of fact, darling, we spent most of the evening talking about you" Did you? Was that what made you both laugh? Penny wondered."I expect she was very disappointed when she heard you were engaged" Penny said. "Oh, I don't think she cared" Jeremy said lightly. "She's married, you know" 

"Trouble aways comes in threes" aunt Ann said tactlessly and with a worried frown. "I wonder what the next one will be?" 'My baby' Penny thought with a twisted smile. She spent the afternoon in a fever of impatience. The hours dragged themselves away and everytime she gazed at her watch, she was certain that the hands had not moved since last she looked at it. By five o'clock she knew she could not wait another moment. She went outside to call Jeremy herself. When he finally picked up the call, Penny breathed deeply. "Hey," she said. "I'm sorry I couldn't wait for you to call. I know you said you would call me but I'm kinda worried. What's going on? Is something wrong?" Jeremy hesitated, before he said, "Yes. I mean.... It's not such a big deal but it's still a big deal" "Just tell me, Jeremy, please" Penny begged. "Okay, babe, I'm being

He stopped talking and Penny saw that the hand holding his phone was trembling. "I would say I was sorry if I thought you needed any sympathy" she said. "But frankly speaking, Joey, you are well out of it. I'm not worth your love" "Don't say things like that, Penny. You are everything I ever imagined a girl could be. Sweet, intelligent, beautiful and much too modest. Just to know that you see me as a friend is more than enough now.... Since it can't be different"  "Oh Joey, of course I look on you as my friend. And you and Audrey are the best ones I have and I terribly, terribly fond of you both. But don't love me. Please don't. I couldn't bear to feel responsible for causing you any unhappiness."  Joey took her hand and held it in his own for a moment.  "You could never do that Penny, except by being unhappy. It would make me sad to see you miserable. I told Audre

"Audrey, do you really think Joey is in love with me?" Penny asked suddenly, distressed by her own thoughts. "I mean, might it not be... Well, force of circumstances? After all, I was practically the first girl he met when he came back from abroad" "That would be so if I didn't know my brother so well. But you are everything he ever dreamed about. Penny, he told me so himself. I think that if he had met some girl first, he would still have waited till you came along" Penny bit her lip. "Audrey, do you think i should just go away?" she asked on an impulse. "While I am here things will remain as they are. If I weren't here, he might forget about me and look around for someone else" "I doubt it, Penny. Honestly, if I thought it would help, I would say so. But Joey isn't the type to forget easily... If at all. He would be utterly miserable if you went away now. He would worry himself sick about you. Now