Oceans Apart ||Bridgerton|| (♡ Simon Basset)

xi.

RUMORS take a while to spread. It's the ton so it will spread fast, but it will take a bit before Lady Whistledown has put it in print. So I know the coming days will be hell and mentally preparing Daphne seems to be my duty. I am currently in her room sitting on her bed while she is pacing. "Look the only thing you need to do is not mention how disgusting he is and what you know about him and his child." I say. She stops pacing and turns to look at me. She raises her eyebrows and looks at me like I am crazy. "I know you are right, that would be impossible." I say. There is a knock on the door before we can continue. "Come in." Daphne says. Alice pops her head through the door. "The lord Berbrooke is here." she says. "Oh no." Daphne says. "Okay, you go sit down and I will take care of this." I say to her as I stand up from the bed. "Alice, where is he?" I ask. "He is in the entrance." she says. "As he should be. Thank you." I say and walk past Alice out the door. I walk towards the drawing room as quickly as possible, so that Berbrooke won't become impatient. I walk inside the drawing room and just like I thought Benedict and Colin are there, along with my mother and my little sisters and brother. Once I walk in they all look up at me. "You two, come with me." I say as I point to Benedict and Colin. "Wait what?" Colin asks. "Now." I say as I start to walk out of the room. I hear footsteps behind me and know that they are following. "Where are we going?" Benedict asks. "Berbrooke is here." I say. Their lack of answers says enough.

We walk into the entrance hall. "Lord Berbrooke." I say with a fake smile as I enter. "I requested a meeting with your sister, not with you." he says with a hint of disgust. "Now, now, no need to be rude. We can't allow you to see our sister, unfortunately." I say. "Why not, she is my bride and we have things to discuss." he says as he starts to move past us. My brothers step in his way before he can move any further. "Like I mentioned Lord Berbrooke, we can't allow you to see our sister. We have this ritual you see. When a Bridgerton woman marries she isn't allowed to see her betrothed for three days." I say and nudge Benedict and Colin in the side. "That is correct." Benedict says, catching up with the lie. "Yes, a Bridgerton woman needs at least three days to prepare her..." Colin says but lingers at the end of his sentence. "She needs to be blessed by all the other members of the Bridgerton family. Besides that, her skin also needs to be cleansed so she can shine on her big day for her entrance into a new chapter. Her hair needs to be brushed a thousand times so it may flow like never before." I finish Colin's sentence. Berbrooke mouth opens slightly. "U have given us very little time to prepare so please." I start as I point to the door. "We kindly ask you to leave." Benedict says. "I am sure our mothers will talk and arrange all of this." Colin says. "Good day Lord Berbrooke." I say as I motion to the footman to open the door. Berbrooke looks a bit taken aback, but he leaves the house without another word. The footman closes the door behind him. "So her hair may flow like never before?" Colin asks. "We just need to keep him away from Daphne and make him believe we are preparing for this wedding until the rumor hits the scandal sheets and we can be rid of that horrendous man." I say.

We walk back towards the drawing room. When I walk inside I immediately walk towards one of the benches and sprawl myself across it. "I can only assume that was Lord Berbrooke." my mother says. "You would be correct." Colin says as he pushes my right leg a bit aside and sits down on the bench. "How on earth did you get him to leave?" Eloise asks. "I told him we Birdgerton women have a three-day ritual in which we aren't allowed to see the fiancée." I say. "And he believed it?" she asks. "He is naïve sister. All he wants is to marry Daphne. As long as he thinks that is going to happen he'll believe and accept anything." I answer her. "You do know he and his mother will come over." my mother says. "I know. We have a wedding to plan after all." I say, sarcasm painting my voice. "Will you help me?" my mother asks. "Of course, I will." I say and I close my eyes. I feel a hand on the top of my leg and I know it is Colin. "Since we're not planning to have an actual wedding, let's mess with them." I say. "What do you mean?" Eloise asks. "If Berbrooke wants a wedding, he'll have to pay for it." I say. "Delia." my mother says. "For every last petal."'