More Today than Yesterday

In memoriam

That first night after Richard had died, Sophie slept in Benedict's bed again. She held him close throughout the night, as he did her. She buried her face in his chest; both of them had tears streaming from their eyes.

Sleep was sparse; both would wake regularly from bad dreams and in need of comfort, which the other was ready to supply. Once woken, they would comfort each other for some time before they could fall asleep again, and the cycle could repeat.

Benedict and Sophie were not the only people in the two neighbouring houses to have trouble getting decent sleep, so, when they all gathered for breakfast, not one rested face could be seen among them.

It was Elizabeth who had felt it the worst; she had no one to comfort her during the night and had not slept for a single second. She had barely closed her eyes since it allowed her mind to focus on the tragedy that had occurred, and it was visible in her face.

Elizabeth's eyes were red and it looked as if her face had aged overnight. Her normally vibrant smile was far away and what remained was an empty expression with occasional bursts of sadness.

The Bridgertons and the Gunningworths spent the day much like they had the previous one, feeling sad and comforting each other.

Edmund took it upon himself to divert the many friends and neighbors who showed up to offer their condolences. Every time the doorbell rang, Edmund would take a deep breath, get up from the sofa and go to the door.

The conversations he had at the door were mostly so similar that he didn't even have to think about what to say; when condolences or prayers were offered, he would thank them and when they offered their help, usually using the words " if there is anything I/we can do, " he would thank them once more and tell them that they would let them know.

The ones that wanted to speak to either Elizabeth or Sophie he let know that it would have to wait until another time, as neither was up to it at that moment.

Elizabeth's mother arrived a little past noon, shortly followed by Richard's mother. Tears flowed again as they all hugged. Richard's mother had the same look as Elizabeth, clearly devastated and in need of comfort.

After dinner Kate came over; she and Sophie went out to get some fresh air. They went to a park, sat on a bench and talked for hours.

At one point Kate suggested that they let some of their sadness and anger out by yelling it into the darkness of the night, so they started yelling. Kate stopped quickly, but Sophie had trouble stopping once she opened up. For several minutes, Sophie's screams filled their corner of the park, the sound echoing on the surrounding trees.

Hoarse and exhausted, Sophie stopped her screaming, slumping down on the bench besides Kate. When Kate asked her if she felt any better, Sophie simply nodded, her voice being of no use at that moment.

For the rest of the evening Sophie didn't speak a single word, both because her throat was too sore and because nothing she wanted to say could be expressed by words.

Benedict had spent the evening, while Sophie and Kate were out, by helping his father make funeral arrangements. Elizabeth got the final say on the bigger things, but both Edmund and Benedict knew she had enough on her mind without having to look through a catalog of coffins or have to decide on a font for the tombstone.

When it became time for bed, Elizabeth thanked both Edmund and Benedict for helping out, and told Edmund that she wanted him to do the eulogy. Saying no was not an option for Edmund, both him and Benedict had only two days before promised Richard to look after the girls, and neither had any intention of breaking that promise.