Picture You

Call Me When You Can

Eloise did not know what was going through her head. Well, perhaps she did but she did not want to admit it. She decided to focus on the green trees outside that flitted past as her carriage continues on down the road. Her stomach was doing flips with nerves and Eloise couldn't help but pick at a loose seam on her gloved hands if only to keep herself from adjusting her dress for the tenth time.
Her carriage began to slow and her stomach flips began to double as the house came into view. She swears she could pass out were she not sitting.
"We have arrived, ma'am. Cowper residence."
The door to her carriage is opened and how coachman offers her a hand as she steps out. The sun seemed to be beating down on her, yet her body was covered in chills.
She had never been to the Cowper house and she did not know what to expect. The dark walls and decorations were a stark contrast to that of the colorful dresses Cressida always seemed to wear. Everything seemed almost untouched, as if no one did in fact live here.
"A visitor for miss Cowper, my lady."
Eloise takes a moment to catch her breath before daring the step into the Cowper's view. Cressida bit back a gasp at the sight of her Eloise, gowned in a sky blue dress with small, ruffled sleeves. A vision to be sure.
"Eloise," Cressida says with surprise, daring a glance at her mother who looked like someone had just slapped her.
"Cressida. Lady Cowper." Eloise greets with a small bow to each lady.
"What a welcoming home you have. It is like...a museum in here." Eloise says, cringing slightly at her poor choice of words. This elicited a small, knowing smile from Cressida.
"It is calling hour, Miss Bridgerton." Cressida's mother says with bewilderment.
"And I shall like to call on Miss Cowper a moment, if that is allowed." Eloise says daringly before she can chicken out.
Cressida looks to her mother who is looking back at her, seemingly at a battle with herself. To all of their surprise, Mrs. Cowper simply bows her head and silently takes her leave. Eloise smiles as her eyes slowly rise to finally meet Cressida's. She crosses the room, closing the distance between them.
"Is everything alright?" Cressida asks with confusion and worry.
"I only came to see that you were well. You did not seem yourself yesterday after..."
"Oh," she says with a slightly forced laugh.
"I do not believe I have ever had a friend call to the house before."
"Truly?" Eloise asks softly with surprise, her eyes never seeming to leave Cressida's.
"I cannot blame anyone. It is more like a...mausoleum in here. Isn't it?" she says, both girls giggling at the remark. It felt nice to be able to laugh freely again, especially now when there were no watching eyes.
"Are you alright?" Eloise asks again, resisting the urge to take Cressida's hands in her own. Before Cressida can respond, they can hear footsteps approaching as well is Mrs. Cowper's voice.
"I did make it clear it was calling hour."
Cressida's eyes leave Eloise's to look to the floor with fear and disappointment.
"Certainly you were not clear enough." Lord Cowper replies as he arrives to where the girls are standing.
"Miss Bridgerton, if I may speak to my daughter. Alone." he says, looking between the two young girls with judgement. Eloise did her best not to shrink under his gaze as Cressida seemingly did.
"Of course." Eloise says softly, making her way out of the room. Cressida's father begins speaking just as Eloise passed into the hallway, his voice easily carrying to her ears.
"You are not to be seen with that Bridgerton girl any longer. Do we have an understanding?" he snapped, his voice laced with distain.
Eloise dares a glance back to her friend who is already staring holes in the ground beneath her, her cheeks red with embarrassment. Eloise all but ran out of that dark house and into her carriage, her sobs that threatened to spill out making her throat feel all too tight.
It seems everything she does only brings pain to her dear friend. Perhaps her father was right. It might be best for Cressida to keep her distance from the well known spinster.

"Miss, we may need a bit more powder around your eyes."
Eloise looked at her lady maid, Sarah, in the reflection of her vanity before looking back at herself. Her eyes were red and puffy from the tears she had allowed to spill when she arrived home
"If you must." she simply whispers, not able to make her voice much louder.
"Oh, Eloise, are you not yet ready?" her mother, Violet, says as she enters her daughter's room.
"Only a moment more, Mrs. Bridgerton." Sarah replied for her after Eloise failed to.
"My darling, are you quite well?" Violet asks, sitting beside her.
"Just tired, mama. Do not worry, I will be in attendance tonight." Eloise says with exasperation.
"You have not seemed quite yourself all season, dear. You do know you can share with me what ails you." her mother presses. She watches as her daughter looks to her in the mirror before quickly looking back down to her hands clasped in her lap.
"I shall be down in a minute." Eloise says softly. Violet simply gives a half nod before leaving her daughter.
Eloise couldn't seem to keep her focus, even as she sat with her mother and sister in their booth, watching the dancers before them. She took a moment to note the state of undress the man is in as he is only sporting trousers. As well as the female dancer whose dress reaches only just past her knees. What Cressida might look like in a dress such as that.
Eloise tries to blink those thoughts away, glancing instead at her dear little sister who seemed to be looking back and forth from Lord Samadani to sir John Sterling. Eloise did not see the appeal of either suitor, one whom talked far too much and the latter far too little.
Once the dancers finished their performance, the dance floor began to fill as the ball began. Francesca was quickly pulled to the floor and her own mother left their booth to watch but was soon swept up in a conversation with Miss Danbury's own brother.
Which left Eloise alone with her thoughts, watching the room with boredom, as she tried to keep her eyes from searching for her dear old friend.
"Eloise, there you are!"
Eloise looks up to see Cressida entering her family booth and taking a seat beside her in her mama's empty chair.
"I have been searching for you all evening." she adds with a brilliant smile.
This statement makes Eloise's heart skip a beat and she bites her lip to contain her smile. Eloise takes a look around the room with a surprised chuckle.
"Should you not be careful talking to me?" Eloise points out, turning back to Cressida. She leans even closer to her before adding sarcastically,
"I am 'that Bridgerton girl' after all"
Cressida offers a sad smile as she looks away.
"You heard that."
She looks back to Eloise and they stare at each other for a moment before Cressida breaks the silence.
"I apologize for my father."
"And I apologize that he is a bloody fool." Eloise says, keeping her gaze locked on Cressida's, watching as Cressida looks around with shock before adding a breathless, "Eloise."
Eloise merely smirks and looks back out at the crowd, spotting the gentleman who had approached her at the queen's library the previous day. He catches her stare and raises his glass to her, his eyes scanning her form up and down in a way that made Eloise pull her gown further up her chest.
Cressida's giggle pulls her back to her conversation and she finds herself laughing with her friend. Her green eyes met her favorite pair of blue ones, their giggles quickly subsiding as the thick tension surrounds them once again, as it does every time their eyes meet.
"If you need to keep your distance from me a while...I understand." Eloise says, trying not to sound as sad as she feels as her eyes finally drop from Cressida's.
"No. My father will have to endure it." Cressida says confidently, waiting for Eloise's gaze to meet hers again, which happens almost instantly.
"Besides...he is a fool." she adds, earning a giggle from Eloise which electrifies her heart.
"You are unlike many people, Eloise. How is it you have the courage to be so different?" Cressida wonders aloud.
"It is not courage. I simply cannot understand why others do not see things the way I do." Eloise says simply, watching as Cressida adjusts herself in her seat so she is more fully facing Eloise.
"And how do you see things exactly?" Cressida asks, her full attention on Eloise.
"Well," Eloise begins, shifting to face her as Cressida did before continuing. "Since you have asked, I find the idea that a woman must perform for a man to capture his attention extremely offensive."
Cressida gives a soft laugh, glancing pointedly at the rather large shoulders on her dress.
"Yes, we do seem to put on a show." Cressida agrees.
"And what a show it is." Eloise says daringly, her eyes scanning Cressida's face.
"I just cannot help but die with boredom in conversation with these women. If I shall have to hear about one more way to stitch a dress, I fear my heart may just fail to continue on." she adds sarcastically, glancing back out to the crowd only to find that man still staring at her.
"We do waste so much time trying to charm potential suitors, most of whom have no intent to charm us in return." Cressida says, grabbing her attention again, though when Eloise looked back to Cressida she found her gaze trained to Lord Debling who is currently dancing with Penelope.
"And can you imagine the spare time there'd be if we did not always have to think about marriage. The time we would have to read or exchange ideas or do anything that isn't for the purpose of ensnaring a husband." Eloise allows herself to ramble, having never been asked to share her radical thoughts on society.
"That is interesting." Cressida says, her gaze still on the dance floor.
"Isn't it?" Eloise says with a smile, overjoyed at the idea of Cressida despising the thought of marriage as much as her.
"No. I meant, your brother is walking right up to Penelope and Lord Debling." she says, effectively crushing Eloise's fleeting happiness.
"We shall return to this conversation another time, yes?" Cressida says excitedly, already standing from Eloise.
"Uh.." Eloise mutters, unknowingly reaching out to Cressida as she quickly begins to walk away toward Lord Debling. And so Eloise went back to watching with boredom, her eyes reddened and glassy with the threat of tears.
"Miss Bridgerton, I do hope you have a spot saved on that card for me."
Eloise turns to see the man from the previous day standing before her expectantly. She manages to fight of an eye roll as she responds.
"Sorry to say it is quite full actually, see?" Eloise says, flashing her very blank dance card at him quickly. Not quick enough though as he grabs her arm and takes the card to look at it.
"Ah, seems there is a spot left." he says, using the arm he already holds to pull her from her seat and towards the dance floor. Eloise gasps at how brazen this man is with her as he drags her into a dance.
"Tell me, sir, what is your business here? And when is it again that you are to leave?" Eloise asks, not bothering to mask the sharpness of her voice.
"Tis not very lady-like to ask a man of his business-"
"Perhaps I do not wish to be lady-like." Eloise interrupts him pointedly.
"You would not understand anyways." he continues, ignoring her interruption.
"But if you must know, I am due to leave in four days. I do hope to find a wife before then." he replies, looking at her with what he might of thought to be a flirtatious smile. It only repulsed Eloise.
"If that is your wish, you are wasting your time with me. Good day, sir." Eloise says as she takes a step away from him, stopping their dance.
He stops her by tightly grabbing her wrist.
"We are in the middle of a dance." he growls, looking around at the wandering eyes. Eloise takes this moment to rip her arm from his grasp and create more distance between them.
"Not any longer."
Turning on her heel, she quickly makes her way through the sea of people surrounding the dance floor, suddenly feeling like she can't breathe. A sob escaped her mouth before she even felt it coming and she quickened her pace toward the nearest exit.
Fresh air was what she needed. And a moment of solus. As soon as she stepped outside she seemed to calm, her breathing starting to slow. She walked down the steps, toward the garden. She needed to be away from watchful eyes as she composed herself.
She had never met a man so bold, so insulting. And her mother wondered why Eloise all but ran from any potential suitor.
Once she found a space secluded to her liking, she took a seat in the grass, taking a moment to appreciate the stars above her. It was a clear night, and Eloise found herself thinking of Cressida and how she would love to take in this view with her. She allowed these thoughts to settle in her mind as they seemed to calm her nerves quite quickly.
Her moment of peace was all too suddenly interrupted by the one voice she most did not want to hear. A voice that made her heart drop from her chest.
"You dare embarrass me like that?"