you are in love, BENEDICT BRIDGERTON

DECISIONS, DECISIONS

after cressida's most shocking claims to be whistledown, the actual whistledown decreed that something must be done immediately.

so, as it were, edith had arrived at featherington house within the hour that penelope was writing the article that debunked cressida's claims. obviously, the girl aged nine and ten had no plans to get caught in the middle of her best friend's so-called 'writing time', but pen allowed herself to embrace edith's familiar prescence.

edith was willing to just sit by penelope's side whilst she wrote, which was one of many things the red-headed girl was happy to accomplish upon those close to her finding out her secret. so far, edith was the only person to come to terms with it and accept it as it was.

comfortable silence wasn't exactly an issue or something hard to achieve been the two naturally quieter girls of the former trio - eloise usually filled the gaps of silence, but that wasn't to mean that silence couldn't possibly be embraced by the girl who wanted to do nothing but read.

so, when they all weren't waffling and wittering between themselves, the three could just sit in silence and read their respected texts and novels. pen usually with a book of romance, eloise with a philosophical manifesto, and edith with some-sort of gothic or crime solving work of fiction (which was likely to be borrowed or handed down from alison.)

the youngest driftwater missed these simpler times with her two best friends, hence why she was determined to get the group back together again.

"pen, are you sure i'm not pestering you?" edith speaks up from the arm-chair beside penelope's bed, after several minutes of silence.

penelope breaks out of her spiralling thought process and stops writing so speedily, looking up at her friend and attempting to offer a smile amongst her own stress. "having you here is a small comfort for me in the face of this debacle with cressida, so i thank you. but, if you are growing bored of sitting there and watching me write, then you can go home by any means." she says kindly.

"i'm not bored in any way, i promise. i just want to do whatever suits you, pen. the last thing i want is you getting annoyed because i'm taking up all the air in the room."

"you could never take up all the air." penelope says softly. "if anything, you add more to the room. your friendship throughout this mess with my family, eloise, cressida, and even colin, has aided me like you wouldn't believe. i do not know what i would do if i didn't have you, edith." the girl almost tears up.

"please, do not cry otherwise you will make me cry." edith lets out a small chuckle. "i am saving my tears for your wedding."

"you need not cry at my wedding."