As she always did on any really important day, Penelope Hayes wore red.

There was plenty of life left and if he had to he would use it all to get her back. The time had passed for making promises to her-all that was left for him was to act.

There was no pleasure like being envied on a mass scale.

Her heart the damned thing had begun to race and she only hoped that the rapid inflation and deflation of her chest wasn't visible beneath her fitted bodice.

As she always did on any really important day, Penelope Hayes wore red.

She found herself longing for home-not just for the hotel but for New York and all the real novels that she could lose herself in there.

But I wanted to tell you before I left how completely abjectly sorry I am for all the pain I have caused you and that if I die you were the one true love of my life. By the time you read this I will be gone but please know I am still always at your side.... Yours forever Henery William Schoonmaker