Danbury's Angels

Chapter 2

It was afternoon when Eloise Bridgerton heard a knock on her room door.
After a short knock,a red-haired girl, well known to her,entered the room.
As soon as she saw her,a smile adorned her face with the famous Bridgerton features.
Penelope Feathrington was like a sister to her.
Eloise and she,as well as their youngest sisters,were best friends.

The 4 of them grew together,like petals on a stalk.
Although they had different characters, they had the same thoughts,ideas, dreams and that brought them together.

Each of them had a rebellious spirit, although each showed it in a different way.
Some in a very conspicuous way and some in a completely mysterious way.

"Pen!",Eloise exclaimed happily as she energetically got out of bed leaving the book she had read a few seconds ago.

"Nice to see you,my last days have been filled with great boredom,
sometimes I crave our missions, ",she recounted.

"Speaking of missions",Penelope began as they sat on Eloise's bed.
"Lady Dunbory has invited us to meet at the ring."
"Don't tell me that the action will enter our lives again?", The girl with auburn hair said enthusiastically.
"Looks like they will,as I heard,tonight we will have to implement the plan that Lady Danbury will tell us today," Penelope said quietly.
The Bridgerton House is a place where a lot of people live,both family members and servants.
It would be a big scandal if they heard what the two of them were talking about.
"You said tonight?At the Queen's Ball?!"
Penelope just nodded silently.
"It seems serious",the Bridgerton girl said after a short silence.

"When did we do anything not serious?" her friend asked,sighing.
"You're right..."
"And when was I not right?" Penelope said playfully,waving her red hair.
Eloise was one of the few people before whom she could show her witty,devilish side.
She was one of the people next to whom she felt relaxed and who she knew would not judge her for no reason.
That made Eloise laugh.
She looked at the clock in her room, then asked, "When should we meet with Lady Danbury?"
Penelope looked at the same hour as Eloise a few seconds ago.
"In half an hour,we should go",she said excitedly,getting out of bed.
In a few moments,they were both in the hallway.
"And Hyacinth and Felicity?",Eloise asked.
"Felicity is here,I'm sure she already told Hyacinth."
And so in five minutes they found themselves in a rented carriage,it was easy to lie to Lady Violet as they went for a walk.
The servants themselves knew they needed to keep their mouths shut since this was not their first time not to go in private carriages without maids.
And they didn't have to worry about columns Lady Whistledown could write.

They soon came to a modest part of the city where the middle class lived.
It was a safe place,no one they know will see them here.

They discreetly entered an abandoned small building.
The interior of that building was the same as the exterior,dirty,dusty,all made of cobwebs ...
But there was an old wooden door.
Penelope took a key from the inside pocket of her robe and unlocked the door.
The girls entered one by one and passed through a long narrow corridor until they reached a large room where four women were waiting for them.

"Thank God ladies,you deign to come", the Countess of Dunbury used to say in her sarcastic tone.
",I almost thought it was beneath your honor to keep coming to places like this, and you won't even come"" she quickly added in a reproachful tone.

In addition to the old Countess, the remaining two Bridgerton sisters, Daphne and Francesca, were in the room.
Both looked more serious than usual.
On a tripod, not at all feminine (which was unacceptable,given her title),sat Kate Bridgerton, former Sheffield, wife of Anthony Bridgerton, their eldest brother and current viscount.

The room was so large that it could hold at least three hundred people.

the walls were wooden, dust fell from them, which would always defiantly get into the nostrils and eyelashes and would harass them dangerously.

There was an old,dilapidated ring where bloody battles used to be fought.
The appearance of that ring gave off a ghostly note of loneliness and abandonment.
Around the ring were numerous seats that hadn't been used in years.
The silence in this room gave a strange sense of emptiness.

"Do you want us to let go of the roots of waiting so that you can take revenge on us or would you rather tell us what this is about?",Hyacinth broke the silence which earned her a scolding look from Daphne and Franceska as warning to behave and a slap on the shoulder from Felicity that made her moan loudly.

"This first option sounds applicable to me,but unfortunately we have more important work to do",the countess flapped her stick,then continued.

"The thing is delicate.
You know there is speculation about who will be the new ruler? "

"Even if we don't read Penelope's column, people are talking about it on all sides",Hyacinth interjected causing her to get quite reproachful glances.

The Countess shot her a look and continued.
"At palace,of course,that's the main theme.
It seems that Prince Friedrich could inherit the throne. "

"We guessed,and?" Hyacinth interjected again.

"But I heard someone wanted to murder the prince."

As soon as she said that,tension was felt in the air.

"This is going to be interesting",Kate was heard saying with a small,devilous smile.

"Do we have to save him?",Daphne exclaimed for the first time since this meeting began.

"Yes,and I know who could help us."
Suddenly every girl in the room approached Lady Danbury's head.

"A girl who works in the court service heard a conversation about murder.
She didn't seem to be very discreet and they seem to have imprisoned her because otherwise she could have told someone about the plan. "

"Who locked her up?",Francesca asked.

"I don't know,but I suspect someone.
We have to free that girl,she can help us a lot.
She must be locked up in a dungeon,in a palace.
There's a ball tonight and it's a great opportunity for us. "

The girls exchanged worried glances.
This could cost them their lives,which would not be the first time.

"What is the plan?",impatient Eloise asked.

The countess's part of her lips twisted into a frightening half-smile.

That facial expression was always an overture to something euphoric,exciting, mysterious and dangerous.