#kathrani

she did mean what she said, though. edmund has been quite pleasant to be around for the past few minutes. "seems to be a curious one as well. i don't think he's blinked much since he was brought in." eloise lets out a chuckle, giving him a reluctant, split-second pat on the head before drawing her hand back. "what do you think he'd say if he could speak?"

" well, it is decided! " he enters their bedroom without ceremony, voice tight with an unmistakable irritation. in his hand is the ledger he'd intended to spend the evening perusing. the book that had nearly given him a heart attack when he'd begun flipping through the pages. " we can never leave for so long again! "

in some ways, he'd expected to return to a far worse state of affairs. there were nights he had lain awake imagining accounts in disarray, stewards and servants with contradicting orders and little guidance... but when they'd arrived, he breathed a sigh of relief, grateful to learn that the correspondence from his family and solicitors had not painted an unduly rosy picture. it meant he could rest easily in india, wrapped up in kate and their son with little guilt. indeed, that would have been an impossibility only a few years before... but that relief had vanished when he saw the sketches. his brother should be eternally grateful that he was staying in his own lodgings or he might not have seen the next sunrise...

he drops the book on kate's dressing table with a thud and flips to an especially artistic page. one covered in a familiar - if new - face... " would the authorities consider it fratricide if my reasons were unimpeachable? "

" you look reseted, " he says, a knowing smile on his lips as he sinks down onto the sofa beside his sister-in-law. it is not technically a lie - she does look rested. or at least as rested as he imagines the mother of a young child, fresh off a long sea journey could look. but he wisely keeps that thought to himself. after all, he has missed them - and not least because their return means he is at last free of tending to his brother's duties. if he never sees another account book for as long as he lives, it will be too soon...

but it would be a lie to say kate has his full attention. even as his family bustles about the parlor, he has one eye on the door, desperate for even a flash of dark hair in the passageway. but after an hour, the disappoint has settled heavily in his chest. he had promised to stay away. told himself he could live with her rejection of his offer. but not even the welcome return of anthony and his family has been able to push sophie from his mind.

get ahold of yourself, for god's sake...

he clears his throat and flashes kate another deliberate smile. he's carefree, after all! everything is the same! he is the same as when they left! perhaps if he tells himself that long enough, it will become true. " are you absolutely sure you wished to return? were i in your shoes, you could not drag me back... "

@kathrani said: it’s more about confidence than anything else.

" that i do not doubt for a moment, ma'am, " he replies, lips quirking in amusement. " though, in this case, i believe it is precisely the thing i shall always lack. "

no, the ton had never been a comfortable place for him - on those rare occasions he should be amongst it at all. from a good family, but one with no money to speak of. a respectable profession, but a preference for needy patients rather than rich ones... it all made him wholly unqualified to even be at such a gathering as this... he had no doubt her assessment was correct - that confidence could carry one far in this world. but for as little as he understood high society's rules and ways, he was not certain he cared to learn them at all...

eloise manages a smile with the acknowledging nod she gives to kate's words, although it doesn't quite reach her eyes. normally she would have loved their summers at aubrey hall. the whole family together, seeing the staff they only get to see when they're there, being far away from the bustle of london... partnered with the fresh air of the countryside, it was usually one of the only places eloise felt she could breathe properly. but now with four of her siblings married and three of them with at least one child, aubrey hall felt stifling.

of course she was happy to see her brothers and sisters be so happy; she would never wish them otherwise. but she didn't like feeling left behind while everyone was steadily moving on with their lives.

would she truly be content with never falling in love as her siblings have, or was she afraid of how much would change once she did? "it's less displeased and more... pensive, i'd say." she lets out a slow exhale as she turns to her sister-in-law. nobody else seems to have noticed how quiet she's been lately ( they were thankful for the lack of snide side comments surely ), but nothing could quite get past kate. "our family seems to have tripled in size in such a short amount of time."

❝   correct me if I'm wrong, miss sharma— and I dearly hope I am wrong but,   ❞ nikolai leans towards her conspiratorially, though audacious nonetheless. tonight he was a prince amongst an unmarried audience, escaping a flock of eager mamas and daughters queueing up, with only the excuse of seeking fresh air in his armoury. but tonight, he also is a detective, an unraveler of mysteries as he'd call himself: and he's taken up the case of the elder sharma sibling & her decided ignorance of him. ❝   have I offended you in any way? you seem to have been avoiding me.   ❞

if kilmartin was to welcome any more bridgerton relatives in the next week, they might as well invite the whole family over for a visit. not a likely thing for her sister to do since she was so excited to get away from their big, loud family, though. in any case, having daphne and then kate over seemed necessary; who better to give advice to a new wife than someone who was relatively new to wifehood as well?

"please do not tell me my brother has come with you on this visit. francesca is far too nice to say it, but the invite was really only intended for you."

@kathrani  :         ❝       you are unlike many people.      ❞      °

                                       she had been overjoyed about the prospect of presenting her sheet music .      she had so much knowledge to share about her overflowing love about the pianoforte and just music in general , that perhaps she had gotten too excited when kate had started a conversation about the said topic . francesca was quite the quiet person , whom truly showed her excitement when the topic was something she liked or when someone else had initiated the said subject matter . all that to say , it didn't register to her that she tended to become overjoyed , something quite unbecoming of her usual self .        ❝         oh ─── well ..         ❞