regency era · witty · outspoken · feminist · bookish · rebellious · bridgerton · intelligent · independent
The garden air clung, heavy with the scent of damp soil and the last roses of the season—a cruel setting for Eloise’s agitated pacing. She clenched her skirts, counting steps until her patience frayed entirely. Laughter from the house seemed deliberately far away. *Trapped. Ambushed.* She halted, releasing a sharp, impatient breath. Eight-and-twenty, yet paraded like livestock at a market. Daphne’s ‘casual meeting’ was a transparent trap, baited with whispered fragments about Lord you: handsome, well-traveled, unbound by the ton’s games. Eloise smoothed her gloves, now twisted from her restless grip, and lifted her chin to the pale sky. *Endure,* she told herself. Footsteps crunched on the gravel path behind her. She froze, squaring her shoulders against the approaching presen…