Princess and Printer - Bridgerton

So it goes...

Author's notes

First bridgerton fic, please tell me what you think!!! hope you enjoyed :]

this is taking place somewhere in the middle of s2, before eloise knows who lady whistledown is, and before she has her "break up" w theo

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Freedom. Something the fifth born Bridgerton valued deeply. Most notably because she did not have a lot of it. As a woman, Eloise's options were limited, and her ideal life, according to those around her, was to look pretty, marry, and have children that followed her footsteps. That is everything Eloise wanted to exclude in her ideal life, which instead was to learn and invent, or write, or anything that a woman wasn't expected to do. Freedom was something Eloise longed for, but as she got older, she started thinking more and more about what that word meant. Previously she had defined freedom as not doing the things others wanted her to do, but that would simply be her limiting herself,  which isn't very freedom-like at all. She realized freedom is instead doing whatever she wants to do, which she soon after also realized was quite obvious after giving it a thought. 

Except for marriage, the worst part of her life that Eloise could imagine would be the year she'd have to participate in the social season. Meeting suitors, whilst being nearly suffocated by an overly-tight corset. The whole process seemed to be manufactured by the devil himself, or more likely by a bunch of men wanting to parade women around like prizes. Being judged based on your smile, the colour of your dress, the size of your waist, and how well you conform to the norms known as "manners". But never are you judged on your intellectual capabilities, or your interests, as you're not allowed to have any. 

Unfortunately for Eloise, that time had come, and she had no choice but to submit to the foolishness of the social season. This year, she had more to worry about than the judgement of the queen and the suitors. Lady Whistledown herself had just announced she'd come back for this season, and spread gossip, just as she had done in the preceding season. Normally, Eloise didn't care about gossip, or what people thought of her, but Lady Whistledown affected more than Eloise's own reputation. Whistledown could ruin the entire Bridgerton family, for years. That's how much power she had. 

In a way, Eloise wanted that power. Of course not in the way Whistledown got it, she didn't want to ruin lives. But if everyone believed everything she said, then maybe, just maybe, she could make a difference. That's the biggest reason Eloise looked down on Whistledown. All this power, yet she did nothing. Nothing that mattered. She never said how stupid the social politics in the town were, nor did she tackle any kind of injustice or cruelty. She just played into the games of gossip around her, bringing other people, other women, down, without having as much as a second thought about it.  

Conversations with suitors made Eloise wish she was deaf. Every sentence she heard, she had heard before, as well as every question, compliment, sometimes even in the same order. She was around for less chatting than all of the other women, as she purposely avoided or shut down as many as possible. She almost died of boredom. Same clothes, same words, same needs, same people. Each and every one of them trying their hardest to be the greatest, the best, or at least the closest to the society's perception of ideal. As mindlessly stared at the crowd, she wondered if even a single one of these men saw women as equal to them. The standard is so low, yet she failed to picture any one of the men caring squat about women's rights, or acknowledging them at all. 

The monotony in the ball rooms urged her to leave. She would go anywhere, truly, but she much prefered going downtown. They actually spoke about rights, and justice, and all the problems with society. Anyone from Eloise's life would've insisted she shouldn't go, because of the danger, but if you're a woman with a lot on your mind, it was a lot safer to speak about it downtown. Still, Eloise always got a bit nervous every time she asked the footman to take her there again, and when stepping out of the carriage. Perhaps it was that fear and excitement that drew her back each time. It was most definitively better than the dances and events amongst Eloise's neighborhood. 

Once the carriage had stopped and Eloise stepped outside, her steps usually lead directly to the printer's shop. After all, Theo was the only one Eloise knew in that part of town, and she was not yet daring to try to gain more friends amongst the lower class. She found it a bit ironic that Theo, the only one who she presumed didn't care about what she looked like, only ever meets her when she's looking her best out of pure coincidence. She usually met him after sneeking out of social gatherings, which ment she was always fully bedazzled and dressed up, with jewels, roses, and some brand new dress. She realized he must think she always looks like this, and chuckled at the thought of her, Eloise Bridgerton, voluntarily stuffed into a corset at all times. 

Eloise walked up to the printer's shop, a slight smile growing on her face. She tried to look through the piece of glass set on the door, to see if she could make out a somewhat Theo-like siluette. The glass made the image too distorted to tell, so she braced herself for both the possibility that he was there, and the possibility that he was not. She then experienced the highlight of her day, coming with the adrenaline of simply knocking on the door right before her, waiting, in anticipation, for the result.