Penny was on the verge of tears when she heard her sister's voice calling her name. Relief poured through her as she made one last attempt to free herself from the man. She heard a loud tear as the fabric of her sleeve gave way, the lace trimmings torn from her beautiful birthday gown.
"Oh!" she exclaimed in fright, but, just in time it was, surprisingly, Bernard who saved the day, shoving the offending gentleman aside. It was a day for strange things, she supposed, with her getting entangled with this and Bernard saving the day. Who would have thought he had it in him?
Penny's eyes were wide as Gen enveloped her in her arms and once safely there, the younger of the twins began to tremble. "It... it was terrible," she whispered to her sister, trying to force herself not to cry. She had to be brave; this was her plan, after all and, as promised, Genevieve had been there to protect her all along. "Thank you," she murmured sincerely.
Humphrey Spebbington seemed at a complete loss as Bernard railed at him and Penny thought that somehow, the rude awakening had snapped him out of the spell of the potion. She almost felt bad for him except for the fact that she wasn't entirely convinced his behavior was entirely the work of the potion. She imagined that Spebbington must have been a lusty fellow to begin with, to be so effected by the potion; Penny doubted that the potion was that strong, not for the price she had paid for it. No, despite her unease about their methods, Penny could hardly feel much remorse for how things would play out.