In the middle of the night Emmeline woke to Daphne in her room. She was quite tired, so her attitude was quite grumpy.
"Can you come? I need some company right now." Daphne urged.
Their hair were both big and curly from all the styles they do. Together they crept down the hallway together.
"Sisters, what are you doing?" Anthony asked.
"I could not sleep. I thought some warm milk might help matters." Daphne answered.
"Should I ring for a servent?" Anthony suggested.
"No, no, don't wake them. Perhaps, you could join us?" Daphne asked. The siblings had not spent time together in a while. Maybe it was the season being in full swing that prevented it.
"Warm milk wouldn't hurt." He said.
They traveled down the stairs to the lower levels, where most of the family did not usually try to go. In the kitchen, they looked down at a pot on the stove a little unaware of how to work things.
"Well, we should light it." Daphne stated.
"Excellent idea." Anthony said in agreement.
"Go on." Emmeline said looking at her brother.
"Me?" He retorted.
"Yes you, you are the oldest and the man. Why would you want a future countess to have burnt figures? Besides, my sister and I have no experience in this at all." Emmeline laughed.
"And you expect me to?"
"I'm sorry, I forgot you grew up not even knowing how to chop wood."
"Cold milk, then." Daphne then said. It was probably for the best. They wouldn't want the Bridgerton house to burn to the ground.
"Most refreshing, given the heat." Anthony agreed.
Daphne poured milk into three glasses as they drank. It was deadly silent. Awkward, but not as bad as it was making conversations with her suiters.
"Can I ask you a question, brother?" Daphne asked.
"As long at it doesn't have anything to do with the inner workings of that thing." He chucked, however, he was serious.
"It is about the Duke." She said. Everyone wanted to know more about their relationship. It was so private, yet so open. Even her family knew so little. "Well—do you know the reason he is so opposed to marriage?"
"Daph." Anthony started.
"He is your closest friend. Surely you must know a things." Daphne went on.
"The things I know are certainly not for your ears." Anthony said. How could one have had such bad experiences grown women wouldn't hear?
"How foolish of me to even wonder about such things." Daphne said as she took a sip from her cup.
"He barely knew his father." Anthony started, "Never knew his mother. Not one sibling. The duke grew up...quite differently from us. In all the twenty years I've known him he has not mentioned his so-called family even once. He has spent his entire life alone."
"How very sad." Daph muttered.
While Emmeline overheard this, she thought about why would her sister still enchant the idea of her and the duke. Not that him having no family was the issue, it's just that he did not want to marry her.
"You must not concern yourself with his troubles." Anthony instructed to Daphne. "You must simply know some people aren't meant to be together. No matter how much we might wish otherwise."
"Referencing the opera singer you visit, are you?" Emmeline asked, amused.
"How do you know about her?" Anthony was taken aback by his sister's comment.
"Brother, in a world of men, women hold onto the one thing they can still truly do, talk." Emmeline continued. "Your lady friend does do some of that, yes?"
"She is no longer a friend."