ₚᵣᵢᵥₐₜₑ 𝒹ₑₜₑ𝒸ₜᵢᵥₑ |ᴬⁿᵗʰᵒⁿʸ ᴮʳᶦᵈᵍᵉʳᵗᵒⁿ

• sᥱ᥎ᥱᥒ •

ᴛʜᴇ sᴀᴍᴇ ᴅᴀʏ, ᴀғᴛᴇʀɴᴏᴏɴ

Enola sat on top of Potato as they made their way through a small patch of forest just outside the city.

She needed to think and for that she needed her peace and quiet - no Lady Danbury nagging her about her eating habbits or Simon trying to pick a fight with her.

A detour was the perfect opportunity for her to collect her thoughts about the new case, planning out her next moves.

The case was about a young woman named Amelia. She was working in the kitchen of Lord Pergrim's masion, the man who had given the previous ball. Without any prior notice she had vanished - leaving all of her stuff behind. The other employees worried for her so they started their search, but to no avail. It didn't help that Pergrim didn't care in the least, 'she probably just ran way, that stupid girl', were his exact words.

Since they couldn't continue on their own, they had the idea to hire an investigator in secret. One of the errand boys had gone to the city and got the tip on a young and clever detective from a vendor, thus Enola was hired.

All of a sudden, while she was deep in thought, something hit her on the back of her head. Hard.

When God gave the humans grace, Enola must have been dead asleep in her bed, fully covered by her blanket, because the way she lost balance and fell down Potato couldn't even be considered as normal anymore. Her face sure resembled that of a walrus as she went down.

Enola groaned as she laid on the ground, her body aching all over. Still a little disoriented, she forced herself to sit up and scan her surroundings for a threat.

Instead she found a colourful ball the size of an apple laying right next to her in the grass.

"What the-"

"My goodness," a voice nearby exclaimed. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

With an annoyed huff, Enola picked up the ball and got onto her feet, noticing how one of her ankles hurt under the pressure of her own weight. She held onto Potato's saddle.

"Oh, my- Miss Holmes. I am so, so  sorry. I was bored and on a walk and thinking about this thing that Penelope told me," Eloise Bridgerton told her, barely taking a break to catch her breath as she continued to ramble on. "The is this maid and she is not married but somehow she got pregnant and we just- I mean, doesn't someone have to be married to be with child? What if that were to happen to me? And I was worried and thinking and I didn't pay attention an-"

"You sure seem to have a lot on your plate," Enola interrupted.

Now realising what topic she had just rambled on about, Eloise held a hand in front of her mouth. "Oh my god, I'm sorry I just talked way too much didn't I? Could you- could you do me the favour and just forget about what I said?" She nervously rubbed her hands together, hoping this wouldn't get to her family.

Enola stared for a few seconds. "Tell me, how old are you now?"

"I will... debut next season, if I cannot stop it," the girl said, mumblin the last part to herself.

Still, the detective had fine ears. She heard what the young Bridgerton just told her and was more than pleased that among all those girls at least one had a little sense of self worth. "You're soon becoming of age and your mother hasn't yet told you about how children come to be?"

Eloise nodded, anxious whether she would finally get and answer. But should she really ask a stranger that  kind of question? "Uhm, when did your mother inform you?"