𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒔 ❦ eloise bridgerton

𝐯 ❦ 𝒆𝒚𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒚𝒆

。.✧ ゜ ⋆  .  。・゜⋆。. ✧・

MARGOT WOKE UP THE NEXT day feeling more pleased than she should've been. Her great aunt had ridiculed her, and yet she was more focused on the way that Eloise's eyes had sparkled as she comforted her.

It was even stranger when she came to the breakfast table. Her great aunt donned a permanent scowl, and her mother looked rather ashamed — of herself or of her daughter, that remained to be seen.

Despite the tense air and the sharp tone of her aunt's voice when she told her to sit up straight, Margot's joy could not be dampened. There was a light inside of her that kept a smile on her face even when Charlotte critiqued her mannerisms.

Still, Margot was happy to escape from her household and go over to the Bridgertons. After all, her great aunt had practically encouraged it. If Margot could do one thing that pleased her, that was a bonus.

It was no surprise to Margot that as soon as the doorman let her in, Eloise ran up to her.

"Oh, I am so glad you are here. Francesca has been busy with callers today, so Hyacinth has resorted to bothering me. I am in desperate need of respite," Eloise spilled out as she approached her friend and led her into the house by way of pulling her arm.

"Hello to you too, Eloise," Margot said with a small chuckle that made Eloise flush.

"Hello, Margot. It seems I am a bit overexcited," Eloise admitted.

"I don't mind it," Margot said, which made Eloise's cheeks even more pink.

After a pause, perhaps to let the redness drain from her face or to catch her breath, Eloise rambled on. "On the bright side, now that Fran is being shepherded around ballrooms by my mama, she will leave me alone for the time being," Eloise said with a glint in her eye and a smirk on her lips.

"How convenient for us," Margot said, donning a similar expression.

Eloise led her to a different room that Margot had never seen, far from the callers that were likely with Francesca and Violet in the sitting room.

"So, what did you think of the book?" Margot asked after sitting beside her friend.

"Oh, I devoured it."

"You finished it already?" The corner of Margot's lip turned up with admiration.

"I just could not put it down. Though I was scolded at breakfast for that," Eloise remarked.

Margot donned a pleased smirk.

"I'll have to bring you another one, then."

"I would like that," Eloise said with a genuine smile.

Eloise began to tell Margot of her favorite passages, pointing out Margot's insightful notes as well as ones which Eloise thought lacked depth. Margot would not have expected anything less from the girl.

The girls were in the midst of going over one particular passage which Margot had to reread before she could discuss it when Eloise interrupted her with a different thought.

"I know why my brother wanted you to befriend me."

Margot stopped reading in the middle of a sentence. But she did not hesitate to speak her mind. "He did not ask me to befriend you. I did that all of my own accord."

Eloise pressed her lips together into a small smile, before continuing.

"Well, I know that he wanted me to see what an unmarried woman went through. You know, Kate could've been that figure until she married my brother, though she was not so opposed to marriage itself in the first place. Anyway, I just wanted to say that if you are the picture of unmarried life he wants me to see, I shall be glad to reach such a fate."