Colin is furious with Penelope over her secret, but she defends herself and accuses him of running from responsibility with his travels. She fears that she’s witnessing the death of her dream of Colin: “She’d built up the perfect image of him in her mind, and with every word he spat in her face, it was becoming more and more obvious that her dream was quite simply wrong” (202). 

Colin thinks that Penelope should let Cressida take the blame for being Lady Whistledown, but Penelope refuses to let Cressida take the credit. Cressida has been cruel to Penelope many times, and Penelope is proud of what she’s accomplished as Lady Whistledown: “[S]he couldn’t let Cressida have this. Not her secret life, not the one little corner of her soul that was strong and proud and completely without fear” (207). 

Colin is upset because he feels protective of Penelope, which leads him to contemplate her attractiveness. He kisses her during the carriage ride home, and Penelope kisses him back because she loves him. Their embrace progresses, but they are interrupted when Colin’s carriage arrives at the Featherington house. Colin helps Penelope down from the coach and demands to know if she will marry him.