𝐀 𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘

"𝑩𝒖𝒕, 𝒚𝒆𝒔, 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖."

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

𝐄𝐋𝐎𝐈𝐒𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐅𝐈𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐊𝐒 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐀 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐈𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐘 and she now found herself hastening towards the Modiste, in hopes of confronting Madame Delacroix.

Her shoes clicked and clacked on the cobbled street before she climbed the stone steps and the Modiste's door was opened for her by someone walking out of the shop. She thanked them as politely as she could in her hurry and then walked quickly through the door, Madame Delarcoix catching sight of her immediately.

"Mademoiselle Bridgerton," the woman greeted and Eloise turned her head in her direction with purpose.

"Ah."

She walked further into the shop, closing the door behind her and feigning casualness. Madame Delacroix followed her and tried to start a friendly conversation.

"What are you doing here on your own?" the woman asked in her mystical french accent. "I thought you did not care for vêtements."

"I am not here for dresses," Eloise sighed, sliding her hand across the counter and then turned to the woman with a smirk. "I should, however, like to dress you down."

Madame Delacroix eyed her with confusion and Eloise felt herself trying to rethink those words in her head, not previously realising how they would sound to someone out of proper context.

"Excuse-moi?" the woman asked with as much politeness as she could muster.

"You worked with her, did you not?" Eloise swiftly moved on. "Lady Whistledown?"

Madame Delacroix merely let out an exasperated sigh and a chuckle, starting to pin a nice corset to a dress. "Mon Dieu! You have a fantastical mind."

Not seeing past the woman's facade, Eloise chuckled dryly. "I thought you were her at one point. That proved to be wrong. But I do realise you have boys taking packages in and out all day long, which puts you in the most perfect position to direct her issues to the printer without raising a single eyebrow."

"I do not know what you are talking about," Madame Delacroix nervously laughed, still not looking directly at the young Bridgerton.

Clearing her throat, Eloise took out an old copy of Lady Whistledown's newsletter and began to read from it clearly. "'Madame Delacroix is old, but at least she is capable.' Not often Whistledown throws out a compliment."

Madame Delacroix was on the brink of panic at this point and she felt herself trapped in a corner, quite literally. "I do not know many ladies who would consider being called 'old' a compliment."

"Your business prospered after she wrote--"

"Miss Eloise," Madame Delacroix exclaimed, turning around from the dress she was trying to busy herself with. "It would be foolish of me to be engaged with such a scandalous person. As foolish as it is for you to be poking around like this when I know what Whistledown recently wrote of you. No?"

Eloise felt herself heat up in embarrassment, yet she did not feel as if she had failed at her task. Madame Delacroix was obviously hiding something and only used her slandered reputation as a shield from explaing herself.

Beside them, the Modiste's door opened and the Featherington family made their way inside, giving Eloise disapproving looks before calling Madame Delacroix's attention to them.

"Madame Delacroix, we would like to be gilded," Lady Featherington spoke, looking between the two women and then wandering further into the shop.

Still feeling hurt from Madame Delacroix's comment, Eloise stared at her for a moment with her shoulder's slumped before the woman turned away, happy to not have to continue the conversation. Then Penelope walked through the door after her family, eyes widening at the unexpected sight of Eloise.

"El."

The girl turned and looked at Penelope, her eyes glazed with tears, but she shook them away and walked past the red-head, whispering as she did. "Meet me outside."

Eloise rushed around the side of the Modiste, finding herself in a small alleyway with multiple abandoned contraptions covering the cobbled wall. She ran back to the entrance of the alley, making sure Penelope was coming, and when she saw the smaller girl, she turned and paced around the cobbled clearing.

"I realise you are not to be seen with me," Eloise hurried to speak before anyone may catch them or Penelope walked away. "But spare me just one moment."

"Eloise--"

"The print shop where Maria works was, in fact, Whistledown's," the Bridgerton carried on, not letting the Featherington get a word in edge ways. "She has told me everything."

Penelope felt her heart sink to the pit of her stomach, eyes squinting at Eloise. Maria must not have said 'everything' since Eloise was not shouting or accusing her right now. That didn't make her any less angry at her other friend for betraying her so.

"Eloise, I thought you had quit your hunt," the red-head swallowed, stopping herself from letting any distaste she had for Maria at that moment out. "Were Whistledown's words not enough?"

"You are not listening to me!" Eloise exclaimed, feeling thoroughly disregarded. "I am going to find her now!"

"Do not scream at me!" Penelope replied in the same loud tone.

Eloise felt herself take in a deep breath, not realising her voice had risen to such a level, and she stared at her friend, seeing the anger and fear in the girl's eyes. Though, she mistook them to all be directed at her, when in reality could feel a panic attack coming on and her anger at Maria fuel her.

"I am-- I am sorry. I--" Eloise stammered, but this time Penelope cut across her.

"People know you... you have been speaking to her. Maria," the Featherington warned, swallowing down her guilt, anger and fear. "There's been gossip about you and a woman from the lower classes. You had to have heard people talking."

Eloise's eyes widened and her blood ran cold. "Who? Who is talking?"

"Servants," Penelope swiftly lied. "Those who have heard it from their houses. My sister asked me about it just the other day."

Feeling light headed, Eloise put her hand on her hip and she looked around the clearing, trying to blink away the fearful tears that threatened to spill.

"I thought I had been discreet," she said with sadness. "Are you quite sure?"

"Lady Whistledown has done you a favor," Penelope stated firmly. "If she were to find out about this and write about it, then... Your family are already in a great deal of trouble. You've been consumed by thoughts of her for far too long. First, you love her. Then you hate her. It is enough. I can not-- I do not want to hear about it anymore."

Eloise looked down at her friends, her words imprinting on her mind. Though, she couldn't believe she had been so wrapped up in both Lady Whistledown and Maria Sharpe, that when Penelope spoke of the writer, it was completely interchangable with her relatationship with Maria as well.

Taking the chance of Eloise being speechless, Penelope stepped forward and grabbed her friend's wrist. "This scandal of yours will soon pass. I look forward to the day when things'll return to how they used to be between us."

Eloise tried to speak again, but Penelope had already disappeared back into the Modiste. The Bridgerton now had a bigger problem at hand, she had to stop whatever was going on between her and Maria, not matter how much it broke her heart.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

It was late evening and Maria was leaning over her workbench, Eloise leaning beside her, both their bodies flush against each other. Both of them couldn't stop their eyes wandering to each other and whenever they made eye contact, they would laugh it off and their faces would go a deep shade of red.

Eloise picked up one of the many Lady Whistledown newsletters that were covering the workbench's table top and was reading it intently, Maria reading another after the Bridgerton told her what had happened at Madame Delacroix's shop.

Though, of course, Maria knew that the woman was part of Penelope's scheme, she had to pretend otherwise. Maria also felt deeply guilty about not telling Eloise everything, it was a constant battle in her mind, but whenever the girl was around her, she went blank and couldn't seem to think straight.

"What about the other Modiste?" Maria asked, looking towards Eloise with the small gap between their faces.

Eloise looked up, feeling herself being sucked into those golden, brown eyes before shaking it away and answering. "The other Modiste was driven out of business in part by Lady Whistledown praising Madame Delacroix."

"Well, then, she must be helping," the brunette said.

"Perhaps," Eloise sighed. "But she is quite crafty. If Madame Delacroix is involved, she will never admit it. Yet another clue that will only lead nowhere."

Maria nodded, picking up another of the newsletters and feeling her and Eloise's arms brush against each other. Both girls had to suppress a shiver and Eloise only reminded herself that this would soon come to an end, when she found the right moment.

Trying to distract herself from that thought, she went back to work while Maria moved her arm out to lean on the workbench, only to accidentally push a pile of the letters onto the floor. She sighed and dropped to her knees to quickly pick them up.

"Oh," Eloise chuckled, watching the girl try and pick them all up into her arms. "Do not bother yourself."

The Bridgerton dropped to her knees beside the girl, helping with picking up all the newsletters, placing them into Maria's hands, but then they both reached for the same one. Their fingers brushed each other until Eloise moved it forward slightly, wanting to feel her hand in the other girl's.

She had been right, her hand was much nicer to hold than Lord Morrison's and now she only wanted to see if Maria was better to dance with. Shaking away those thoughts, the two looked into each other's eyes, blue meeting brown and it was a connection. Not a tangible one. But it was one that they both felt and it scared Eloise how much she enjoyed it.

They both felt slightly overwhelmed by the connection they had just found and they both rose themselves up from the ground. Maria held the pile of letters in her hands, looking down at the smaller girl, feeling herself swallow out of nerves. Eloise looked back, eyes wide and full of curiousity, wandering down to the brunette's lips.

Maria wasn't in control of her actions as she would have stopped herself if she was in her conscious mind, but she started to lean forward, eyes flickering from Eloise's intriguing eyes to her pink lips. Eloise did the same, but before anything could happen, Penelope's voice echoed through her mind and she turned her head away.

Maria's eyes widened as she realised what she was doing, and she stepped away from the Bridgerton quickly. "Eloise, I-- Forgive me."

Eloise chuckled, her eyes looking from Maria's fearful face to the floor, though the chuckle wasn't a happy one, it was sad. She shook her head, stepping away from the other girl as well, thinking there was no better time to finally end whatever it was between them.

"This is absurd," the brown-haired girl swallowed.

"Eloise, I am--"

"Please, call me Miss Bridgerton," Eloise interrupted, feeling her heart start to crack at the girl's broken face. "This whole thing, it is absurd. I-- We cannot continue to meet like this."

"But, El-- Miss Bridgerton, this was your idea," Maria practically pleaded.

Eloise looked away, not being able to bear the tears in the brunette's eyes and the tears that would soon fall down her own cheeks.

"I know. I..." She cleared her throat and starting to pile up the rest of the newsletters into her blue box. "I know it was. And I am sorry for wasting your time."

Maria heard the girl's voice crack as she stopped herself from crying, but she only felt her heart growing heavier and heavier in her chest. "No... you are not. You are scared, Miss Bridgerton, though I can not blame you for that. My only question is why now?"

Eloise swallowed, a tear rolling down her face. "People are already talking about us, Maria. And, no, I do not normally care what other people think, but, yes, I care about you. And if we continue on like this, I could not live with myself if you are the one who has to face the consquences."

Maria's eyes watered, but she kept herself strong and looked directly at the smaller girl. "You are no different than everyone else, I should have guessed."

Eloise took a deep breath, feeling her heart still snapping, but slowly and painfully.

"I can only understand, Miss Bridgerton. This really was just a... a holiday from your reality. I was merely a mirage in the sunlight that was created in your mind to justify your feelings of displeasure that you were born into high society. Now you can 'promenade' back to Mayfair and forget all about your time with me," Maria said as quickly as she could, not leaving a moment for the tears to get the better of her.

She wandered over to Eloise who clutched to the blue box in her hands, as if she let go, she would actually have to mean her words and never see Maria again. The brunette ignored that though and placed the pile of newsletters in her hands into the box, frowning to herself.

"I am sorry that I failed you, Miss Bridgerton," Maria muttered and then turned, walking swiftly to the front of the store.

Eloise's lip trembled and she felt the tears falling faster as the girl she loved walked away. "Maria, I lo--"

But the girl was already gone and Eloise could hear the door close behind her with a slam. She had never felt such sorrow, and she could only blame herself for it.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*