The Traveling Bridgerton

Tea with the Bridgerton Ladies

Penelope Featherington sat uncomfortably in the sitting room of the Bridgerton home, awaiting the arrival of the two women who invited her for tea. She was alone for all of one minute and thirty-four seconds before someone finally entered. She counted. "Pen?" The voice asked, and Penelope quickly turned to them, immediately registering who it was.

"El!" Penelope remembered that they were no longer friends and hadn't been for many months, so she should become accustomed with using her full name. "Eloise," She corrected herself. "Mrs. Bridgerton and Lady Bridgerton invited me for tea. They were rather difficult to refuse. Seeing as they are your mother and new sister, you understand that better than anyone." Eloise nodded, mumbling her agreement.

Eloise stood hesitantly in the doorway for a moment before plopping down across from Penelope. They sat in silence, finding interest in all the things in the room that were not each other. The floor, the ceiling, an imaginary piece of lint on Penelope's dress. Penelope, surprisingly, was the first to speak. "I am sorry." Eloise opened her mouth to object, but Penelope stopped her. "Let me finish. I am sorry for the words I exchanged with you, but I am not sorry for the actions that caused them. Whether or not you believe me, I never meant to hurt you. My only intention was to protect you in the best way I knew how. I was in over my head, Eloise, when you discovered me. Whistledown has become far bigger than even I can handle, and I was scared. Of being discovered, yes, but also of losing you. It seems that did not matter in the end since I lost you anyway. That is possibly the greatest pain I have ever known, Eloise. Please know above anything how sorry I am and how much I miss you."

They sat in a painful silence again. This time, Eloise was the one to break it. "You did not lose me," she mumbled.

"W-what?" Penelope almost gasped, full of hope but prepared that at any moment, it could be taken away.

Eloise replaced her meek expression with a sterner on, as if what she was about to say were simple facts expected to be known by everyone. "You could never lose me, Pen. I love you dearly. You are my best and only friend." Eloise and Penelope smiled at one another. It was brief, but enough to melt the outer layers of the icy walls built between them. "I am sorry too, for the words I said. They were cruel and came from a place of anger. I was angry that you made me feel a fool in search of Whistledown for months."

"You were not a fool." Penelope suddenly remembered when she had said those words to Colin before he left for Greece. The thought was replaced by the last words he said to her before he left for Italy. Penelope blinked them away, refocusing on the conversation with Eloise and the fragile state of their friendship.

"I was more angry that you did not tell me, that you did not trust me with your secrets. Why, Pen?" Eloise's eyes were filled with hurt, brimming with unshed tears. In all their years of friendship, Penelope had witnessed Eloise cry three times. Once during a night terror after her father, Edmund, died. Once because of nerves the day before her debut. And now. Never before had Penelope expected to be the reason for Eloise's tears. It was humbling.

"There were so many times when I wanted to, El. I had many reasons, but I am afraid you will find they are all selfish and cowardly. Whistledown was mine. I worked hard to build that column, and people were listening to what I had to say. Along the way, Whistledown became a part of me. She made me feel powerful, invincible, seen, adored. I never felt those things outside of your home, and I couldn't bear to part with her."

Eloise's brows crumpled together. Not in anger, but genuine curiosity. "Do you truly believe I would have made you stop?"

"Well, no, but you knowing would have changed everything. You would have influenced my opinions, my voice. I would feel that I was betraying not only my work but myself."