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It’s obvious to everyone that Miss Penelope Featherington and Miss Eloise Bridgerton are in the middle of some kind of spat. What isn’t obvious is the reason for it. The other young eligible bachelorettes come to Cressida as though she knows the answer, and normally she would preen because she does usually know these things. Or at the very least, she can lie convincingly. But this particular issue she has no idea. The two of them have simply and suddenly gone from inseparable friends to completely ignoring each other in public, and the Bridgerton half isn't even trying to hide it. Yet neither will say a word about it to anyone.
“Whatever bee it is that’s gotten in their bonnets, I’m sure it’s nothing we need worry about. They’ve always been an odd little pair anyway,” Cressida says with a laugh. The girls titter and the conversation moves on, nothing more to be said.
Still, it rankles her. Penelope sticks to the heels of her mama in ways she never had before, and Eloise can barely be bothered to respond to any of Cressida’s jabs. It’s disrupting the natural order of events, and with the social season almost over, she has little time to discover the source of the conflict.
—
When Cressida spots Eloise standing an arm’s length away from the rest of her family one day at the park, she marches up to her and grabs her arm without breaking pace. “What happened with you and Miss Featherington? Did you finally realize it would never work out between you two?”
Caught off guard, Eloise is dragged along before she digs her heels in and yanks her arm out of Cressida’s hand. “And what is it to you, Cressida?”
The heated glare on Eloise’s face would have made a lesser woman flinch, but Cowpers do not cower. Cressida raises her chin higher and says, “Can I not be concerned for the welfare of my peers?”
Eloise scoffs and stalks back to her family without a glance back. Cressida does her best to glower after her, but the effect is lost when no one is witness to it.
—
The next time they cross paths, Eloise gives her a suspicious look but does not pull away immediately when Cressida speaks to her. She considers this a victory, small though it may be. “Did one of your many brothers ask for her hand in marriage only to be viciously spurned?”
Eloise laughs outright at that, though with an amount of bitterness that it does not feel entirely genuine. “No, that would never happen.”
“Hmm. Just as well. I imagine they all see her as yet another sister, and that would just be too…” She glances around, lowering her voice. “... incestuous.”
One of Eloise's eyebrows quirks up, though she says nothing.
Abandoning hope of her taking the bait for now, Cressida attempts some small talk about the people around them, and finds that Eloise has rather more wit than she'd given her credit for. The conversation doesn't last long before the young Bridgerton returns once again to her family, leaving Cressida alone with her thoughts.
—
“Did I miss an issue of Lady Whistledown that claimed the two of you were unsuited for marriage so long as you remained inseparable?”
Cressida knows this cannot possibly be true, as she has read every issue of Whistledown multiple times from first to last sentence. After all, it would not do for her to be uninformed.
Eloise scoffs, shaking her head. “I think it is more so that Lady Whistledown is unsuited for marriage, with all the horrible gossip writing she does.”
This surprises Cressida, as it is rare for the young ladies to be so outspoken against the rag writers, especially Whistledown. And especially Eloise—she had spent the better part of two social seasons loudly praising Lady Whistledown as a champion for women all over the ton—though it did seem as though she'd been uncharacteristically mum on the subject as of late. Although with the gouging of Eloise’s reputation following her supposed dalliances with that paper boy, perhaps that was the kick she needed to forgo the hero worship.
Thinking it a bit too uncouth to bring that up, Cressida merely hums and turns to face the park. She makes a few comments on fashion, and Eloise lingers rather longer than Cressida expects her to.
—
“What is it you spend all your time reading?”
Eloise startles at the question, then says, “I like to read about powerful women” like she's expecting Cressida to make fun of her for it.
Instead, she just asks, “Like who?” and listens as Eloise launches into a tirade.
Her words are practiced, clearly not the first time Eloise has said these things, but it is the first time Cressida has heard them. She listens carefully, and though she disagrees with some of Eloise's opinions, their debates are not barbed for once.
—
“The chill in the air today is frankly unbearable,” Cressida sighs, settling herself next to Eloise in the secluded space she’s tucked away in to read.
Eloise glances over at her wryly, placing a finger in her book to mark her page. “It is that time. Happens every year, you know.”
A brief glare is sent her way, but there’s little heat to it. “I much prefer the warm months. Not least because they are when the most interesting events happen.”
“You don’t like being at home, curled up in front of the fireplace with a good book? Or,” Eloise grimaces, “Some… embroidery?”
Cressida lets her stew in her sentence for a moment, then smiles softly. “No. It’s rather quiet at home. I would rather have the company of others, with good conversation. It’s important to be well-read, of course, and I am, but there’s only so much I can take before I begin to feel a bit batty.”
Eloise laughs and says she couldn’t agree less.
—
The first time Eloise approaches her first, Cressida smiles with genuine warmth.