It was a small victory, to be sure, but Penny felt a wave of relief all the same when she heard her sister's voice call out in reply. It was weak and tearful but she was there and, well, that was something. Penny quickly bustled over to where the voice had risen from, finding her sister in a heap of sapphire taffeta and tears at the foot of the ladder to the hayloft.
It broke Penny's heart to see Genevieve scrunched up as she was, tears streaming down her usually defiant face. Genevieve was the strong one, the unbreakable one and here she was, fragile as she herself so often felt. It only made Penny feel all the more guilty for her uncharitable thoughts, the guilt weighing heavy in her heart, which was still racing from the run. It shook her to her core to see Gen looking so vulnerable, so afraid, so hurt.
"Genvi," Penny murmured softly, letting herself sink to the ground beside her sister, for once not mindful of the fact that she might dirty her expensive skirts. At this point, the beautiful gown she adored so much was the furthest thing on her mind. "I'm so sorry." It was a small thing, the apology, an expression of her sorrow for the position Gen found her in most openly, but also an expression of the guilt Penny felt for the litany of inappropriate and shameful thoughts that had run through her mind when she had heard the news, for the distraction she had felt lately and the fact that she'd paid so little attention to her twin of late. After all, with so many secrets to hide, it was difficult to spend time with the one who knew her best. Indeed, there was genuine remorse in Penny's tone, as well as a genuine love for her sister reflected in her pale eyes.