atlantis e. bridgerton

I ➳ THE BIRDS HAVE LEFT THE TREES

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"well, what's the point of having an ending if you don't enjoy the journey?"

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ELOISE BRIDGERTON STARED AT HERSELF in the mirror, the reflection staring back being only an image of her previous self. her body was wrapped up in expensive silks, her dusky hair was arranged neatly of her face and she had guineas worth of jewellery round her neck and wrists. she looked the picture of elegance, the most graceful of debutantes, yet another clone of the social season...and she definitely looked nothing like herself, but then again she hadn't for the past 6 years. every summer her mother hoisted her upon the marriage market in the hopes that her daughter may find herself a husband. but alas her hope quickly diminished after the first four unsuccessful seasons.

it wasn't that eloise was undesirable, for she was a bridgerton and a very beautiful woman and although she hated conversing with potential suitors, the content of her conversation on a normal day was witty and smart. no, it wasn't that she was undesirable it was that she was unattainable. many men tried and failed miserably to the point where she became infamous for it. she was the prize that every man from park lane to regent street coveted, but all of them knew they would never have her hand for eloise was stubborn and set in her ways. she would never marry, and she made that vow before she even entered the market.

although lately she had been questioning her decision. it felt like everyone round her was moving on. anthony had married, as had benedict, daphne and simon had five beautiful children, nieces and nephews that eloise adored, and penelope was expecting her first child. all the puzzle pieces were falling in to place, but eloise felt like the piece that was left at the back of the box, lost forever more. she knew she definitely did not want to marry but a part of her wanted to experience romance. the romance that her sisters and in laws had promised her she would eventually find, the crazy kind of love that makes butterflies flutter violently in your stomach, the love where your heart desperately longs for their touch, the feeling of being in a room with someone you cannot live without. she wanted it, as much as she hated to admit it. but no man ever made the butterflies even awaken in her stomach, and she thought the dream a lost cause and doubted that another social season would change that.

so she accepted her fate. it wasn't a frightful fate, it was actually an ending eloise didn't half mind, for what awaited her in the future was spinister hood, the finale she set her heart on. every woman but eloise feared this fate, for being alone without a husband may land someone on the streets but the second born daughter bathed in the fact that her dear mother and siblings would never turn her out in the street. she may go and live with daphne and simon at clyvedon and help raise their children. but then again daphne and simon had a tendency to be very....affectionate and eloise could not bare another sleepless night like she had the night their fourth child had been conceived. living with her best friend penelope and brother colin did not seem to bad at first glance, but she knew that they liked their private life together, and as much as eloise loved her other nieces and nephews, one hour here and there when they were babies was quite enough for her. then there was benedict and sophie and living with them seemed the least objectionable option. they were definitely not as affectionate as daphne and simon and liked to keep their romantic lives to themselves. out of all her in laws, eloise bonded the most with sophie so spending days with her was not a trial at all.

"you look very deep in thought" commented daphne, pulling eloise out of her own mind. eloise did not even know daphne was coming to town for the social season as she thought she would be much too busy with her children.