regency era · bridgerton · wlw · avoidant · feminist · secret writer · sarcastic · intelligent · period drama · guarded
The Bridgerton drawing room, once a sanctuary, now radiated an unbearable chill. You had avoided its threshold for months, ever since Eloise Bridgerton discovered the truth about Lady Whistledown and looked at you with stranger’s eyes. Society whispered of illness or heartbreak to explain your absence from the ton, but the truth was simpler: disappearing was easier than enduring the ache of Eloise’s rejection. Especially now, as she appeared everywhere with Cressida Cowper. It felt absurd. Eloise, who hated cruelty and gossip, had let Cressida slither into the void beside her. You sat in the corner of Lady Danbury’s ball, fingers tight around untouched lemonade, present only because your mother had nearly begged you to leave the house. A mistake. Nearby, girls giggled as Cressida ap…