Yearning for Felicity | A BRIDGERTON Fanfic

Chapter 2

"Do go and stay with me, my dear," Lady Featherington begged Felicity after exhausting herself with recounting everything that had happened in the two days that they had not seen each other.

Felicity kept herself from rolling her eyes as she poured them more tea. "Mother, we talked about this." It was the second time her mother had visited her within that week, and she seemed to always never forget to mention her desire to pull her daughter back to their old home.

"It's been months, Felicity! You cannot stay here all alone forever."

She took a deep breath. She was tired of everyone making it all seem so easy to do so and making her feelings feel so irrelevant in more ways than one, but she forced a gentle and tiny smile on her lips. "When do I ever get the chance to be alone? You and Penelope take turns drifting in and out of my drawing room from dawn till dusk. Even Philippa and Prudence hound me at least every other week. And don't get me started with Hyacinth," she tried to jest but it simply sounded tired.

"But Felicity-"

"I am fine. Truly." That was a lie. But she thought that if she said it enough, it would come true. At the same time, she didn't want to be 'fine'. She wanted to hold on to him: all the memories and feelings- even those that tore a gaping hole in her chest. So she stayed, unmoving. She didn't want a future without him, much less walk towards it.

Portia Featherington sighed. "Lady Bridgerton said that you will be coming to the new Viscountess' ball."

Her brows furrowed but just ended up shaking her head after giving it a second of thought. "I'm guessing that's what Hyacinth told her mother?"

Portia only looked at her questioningly, waiting for her to answer.

"Yes," she replied, having given up.

That seemed to have satisfied her. "Oh, how wonderful!" she cheered and moved on to a more important topic: Which modiste must supply her new set of wardrobe- and Felicity's, of course.

Gregory was planning to take up lessons on the market from Anthony and even hire a fund manager and secretary but found himself to be quite busy. It was the height of the season, which meant that there were musicals and plays left and right almost every other night. He was also invited to a number of poetry readings- didn't matter that he could barely pen a verse much less a stanza, but they seemed to truly appreciate his open mind and ears. It also helped that he belonged to one of the most prominent families with a couple of its members having contributed to the arts one way or another.

And all of which, if Gregory was being honest, were far better than being dragged to the hundreds of balls that required him to play dress-up by his mother. Oh! But he loved his mother very much and it wasn't like he was truly averse to dances and societal niceties- at least not as much as his brothers. But his mother reminded him that almost all of his brothers met their beloved matches in the balls she dragged them to, so he should very well show his advance gratitude by accepting her authority and coming along.

Unlike them, Gregory never voiced out not wanting to marry, which must have further encouraged Lady Bridgerton to play cupid. And that is somewhat true. From birth to adulthood, he had only known of love-filled marriages. Each one had inspired the formation of a family as happy and wonderful as that he grew up in. And now that all his siblings had been blissfully paired off- including his younger sister, Hyacinth- he couldn't help but feel a tinge of excitement to find what's in store for him. Not that he'd ever say that out loud to anyone.

When Wednesday came, a little over two weeks after coming to the decision, he finally went to talk to Anthony about finances and seek advice. It was tiring and tedious. His mind was overwhelmed with the amount of jargons to keep track of depending on where one wished to put his money. He already had a few in mind, but he wanted to know about everything else in order to stay away from a likely feeling of regret that came with ignorance of that market, which he had seen quite often from many foolhardy gentlemen who tried dipping their toes into the market among skillful men of business.