𝘼 𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 [Eloise Bridgerton]

•11•

Ruby toured the gardens, tracing the steps she had shaped with Eloise days before, remembering the beautiful words from her book that she had read out loud, and wishing her life was somehow different. She wanted better circumstances, a better mother. She wanted to be near Eloise without getting scolded by everyone that saw.

Your utmost priority is marriage to a suitor. The words belonging to her mother rang like endless bells inside of her head.
She did not understand why people were so consumed by marriage, even if it wasn't their own. She thought that, in life, there were many more enjoyable pleasures that surpassed the importance of marriage to a man.

As she sauntered through the empty clearings with wonder, the idea of marriage began to sicken her as she thought even more deeply. Marriage to a man was like being owned and restricted. Ruby did not want such a thing to ever happen to her, or to Eloise. She would never let it happen.
Her mind weighed the positives and negatives of marriage, and soon enough, she began to swear to herself and to the gods above that she would fight forever to prevent herself from marrying. She would fight until her last breath; she hoped Eloise would too.

~

He was basic, to say the least. Eloise had no idea why her mother would choose this man of all the other men in London; not that she would care any more if he was different or better looking.

Lady Bridgerton beamed, as if she had come up with some sort of miracle, and led her clueless daughter towards the mysterious man. "As you have found it hard to find a suitor, I have kindly asked Patrick to get to know you," announced Lady Bridgerton.

Patrick smiled dryly.
Eloise did not know what to do, what to say or even how to act. This was the last thing she wanted her mother to do, although, she would be lying if she said she hadn't expected it. Regret chimed through her brain. She should have met suitors, she should've picked a man. Knowing that her proposal would be until next season, she should have temporarily chosen a suitor. At least to pre-occupy her mother, to make her think she was trying, to make her think she was interested. Yet the only thing she focused on was Ruby. The opposite of a suitor.

Eloise's heart stung slightly. She almost felt betrayed by her own mother. She was sure she had given all the signs of not wanting to marry.
But her mother had perused anyway, and there stood before her was a man that she could possibly be spending the rest of her agonising life with.

Daphne began to play her piano keys softly, possibly to fill the awkward silence of the room. Eloise felt a sudden ferocity consume her insides, boiling and bubbling, ready to explode. She could not believe her mother, nor her sister for not stopping this tragic event from happening in the first place. The awkwardness of the room proved that Lady Bridgerton was anxious to experience Eloise's reaction, yet even that worry did not prevent her from doing what she did.

Lady Bridgerton picked up on Eloise's upset, and began to question her, but before she could utter a sentence, Eloise completely broke.

"How could you do this to me?!" She demanded. Daphne's piano practice came to an abrupt halt, echoing through the room as the noise slowly decreased into silence.

Lady Bridgerton frowned. "Do what? I am simply helping you find love, Eloise."

"Love?" A tear rolled across Eloise's cheek and onto the carpeted floor. "I think everybody in the world knows we do not marry for love."

"Don't be absurd!" Lady Bridgerton tried. "I cannot believe..."

The room fell completely silent. Eloise's mother thought of the Bainbridge family and how close Ruby had gotten to her daughter. They had been spending valuable time together; time that Eloise could have used to her advantage.
Her daughter was spending time with Ruby Bainbridge instead of possible suitors?
She could not understand the reason nor the possibly that Eloise preferred wasting her time on a girl rather than spending time finding a husband. It just didn't make any sense.

Eloise stood still. The room felt so effortlessly big while she felt so simple and small. There was no hope for her future; she could not be free.

It seemed that the only option was to marry. And to make the matter worse, it was a man she was to be tied to until death due their part.

~

*Author's note: Hi! Just a disclaimer:

I am writing each Bridgerton character in the way I want to write them. If certain characters do things they might not have done in the show, or act completely different from their character in the show, please do not question it.

I enjoy writing these characters in a new way. I am only taking inspiration from Bridgerton and am not duplicating the character's personalities in my story.

I hope you understand, and I hope you are enjoying my story :)

-Plumb