Chapter Text
T heo had never been so thoroughly embarrassed in his life. And it was all Aunt Kitty’s fault. Though Nicolás, he thought, through his choking fit could also share the blame. Him and his mouth that never stopped sputtering out ridicule and jokes and inappropriate things. Vaguely, he was aware of Sophie thumping him on the back. Bless her, she had all of the kindness and sweetness that were so lacking in her obtuse brother. Beside him, footman John had turned pallid, his kin nearly matching the wig atop his head. He had been mumbling something but Theo could only hear it now, I am going to be fired, I am going to be fired .
“No one in my family will tell me,” Eloise mumbled defensively.
“Oh dear,” his mother mumbled.
***Several Hours Earlier***
“I think I could commit a murder, perhaps even regicide, and Mr. Keegan would still not fire me. Hell I do not think he’d even summon the constable,” Theo was telling Eloise as he unpacked the bundle of newspapers. She sat atop a cart as she usually did, her eyes peeling away from his book to stare questioningly up at him, “he is still in high spirits over the Duke selecting his services,”
The rolling of the blue-gray eyes told him that it was a topic she still did not wish to broach. Discussion of her family, of whom he'd met nearly all of them was not what she liked to talk about. She would voice her frustrations with their chaperones or caretakers or nuisances as she termed them. In their company they had to monitor their words. Almost all of them were loyal to her mother. They’d been tailed by maids and valets and those in the know. The most favored and most liberal of them all were Benedict and Kate, now Viscountess Bridgerton.
“Where is Benedict?” He liked John, but it was rare that he was employed to be their watcher. Lady Bridgerton did not forgive him for allowing himself to be bribed into ferrying her daughter to unsavory parts of town. He must have been paid well for him to have brought Eloise today. Not that Theo was going to voice any kind of complaints. He savored these private moments. The ones where they could simply be as they were before.
Eloise heaved in a long breath, “I suspect he is recovering from a bender. He has been obsessed with discerning the identity of this person in silver that attended our masquerade ball. Most of the family think he has conjured this all up in his head but I saw them,”
“Did you say masquerade? As in a false pretense? Where everyone’s face is concealed?”
“Indeed,”
“Will your family be hosting another of that variety?”
Eloise tilted her head, closing the book, “why? Do you wish to attend?”
The answer must have been displayed on his expression for she began to shake her head at him. She still despaired of the pageantry of such affairs, and he thought them frivolous waste of resources, but part of him still longed to be involved in such an affair. He was certain she could procure some clothing, discarded from her brothers, for him. With his face covered and with some etiquette lessons, he felt semi confident that he could pull off the ruse.
“If I attended under disguise, we could dance,”
For a second, Eloise is charmed. Her smile grew at the notion of it, before she recovered, “you know how to dance a quadrille or a waltz?”
“Well no,” and he reached for her hand. Whatever they were, neither had ever spoken of it, they held hands now. He ran his thumb over the gentle stretch of skin between her forefinger and thumb, “but you could teach me,”
“Only if you desire to lose a toe or two,”
“Then I will ask Hyacinth,”
“You wouldn’t dare!”
Her giggling was muted by the shrill cry of Teddy over and over again. That voice belonged to Kathleen “Kitty” Beckett. But what was she doing in Bloomsbury? She should be home by now, arguing and cackling with his mum, cooking dinner. Eloise was mouthing Teddy at him. Her expression clearly asked, `` Do you know her ? How he wished he could say no. Aunt Kitty was never one to read signs or play along.
“Theodore Sharpe, you insolent boy,” Kitty growled out. Despite his childhood nickname being called out again and again, he had not turned, just gently removed his fingers from Eloise’s.
“Hello Aunt Kitty,” He prayed she would not force him to squat so that she could kiss his cheeks. She was most affectionate that way, the continental manner. His aunt ignored him, walking straight up to Eloise and offering her hand.
“You must be his lady love, Miss. Bridgerton,”
Theo clasped a hand over his mouth. How was it he had zero inkling that she was aware of Eloise? His mum had been vowed and swore to secrecy. She rarely interacted with Mr. Keegan. Must she have used the words lady love ?
“I suppose I am,” Eloise said, “it is a pleasure to met you-
“Kathleen Beckett but everyone calls me Kitty, not Kathleen or Miss. Beckett. I’m his most favorite Aunt,”
Theo wanted to add on, my only Aunt , but refrained. Aunt Kitty could tell Eloise a lot more embarrassing things, like his irrational fear of crows stemming from an unfortunate afternoon picnic when he was nearly four. Or that until the blanket was ruined, he still slept with the one his mother had knitted for him when she was pregnant. Those were the sorts of things he did not wish to be spoken of.
“Oh, then I must be Eloise.”
“Well must be Eloise, would you like to join us for dinner tonight? I have my niece and nephew uhm visiting and Nora is cooking-
“It is late Aunt Kitty and we live far,”
“Hogwash Teddy,” She swatted at him with a bit too much force to be playful “that’s your carriage ain’t it?” At Eloise’s nod, she continued, “the walk is not too far and your lady friend has a perfectly suitable carriage. We can even invite the footman to join us, he looks peckish,”
Eloise was beaming, “I’d be delighted too Teddy,” And at his horrified expression she added, “you have met nearly the entirety of my family. I have been desiring to meet yours for some time now,”
“But-but-
“Hush Teddy! Good sir, bring us to Kinhampton at once!”
***
Theo had his mother’s smile, that was the prevailing thought in her mind, as she was brought on a tour of their cramped cottage that was not in Kinhampton so much as it was just outside of the village limits. The tour was brief, there being only a few rooms and loft area, where Theo slept. She eyed the ladder that led to it. Was his room tidy? Or was it more like hers, scattered with papers and books.
“We ken it’s not much,” Nora said wiping her forehead with the back of her hand, “but it’s home,”
The abode was nothing like the grand halls of London or the countryside, but she could see what was meant by the sentiment. There was no distinction between the dining room or the sitting room or the kitchen. There was no room, no servants, no chandeliers. The space was probably smaller than her bedchamber.
In a quieter voice, she said, “thank you for coming and I hope Kitty did not make you feel pressured,” Eloise shook her head, there was no pressure at all, “I have desired to meet you for a long time. Theo speaks of you when we’re in private and you’re more lovely than his descriptions. My boy can write but he never had the mind for poetry or flowery language,”
He spoke of her to his mother? That jolted her head to beat rapidly. In her state, she barely realized that at the misshapen listing table, were a pair of near identical strangers. A man and a woman both in possession of high cheekbones, narrow Roman noses and most striking of all, mossy green eyes that seemed illuminated even in the dwindling sunlight. The one marked difference being the tint and style of their hair. The man’s hair lighter, boarding on silvery, and it fell in waves. Her hair fell in ringlets that many girls must be jealous of. Eloise had witnessed her sisters using hot tools and curling papers and braids in a vain attempt to replicate those curls.
“Who do we have here?” The man spoke first.
Eloie was suddenly rushed by the feeling that she had seen them before, but where?
“Oh just Teddy’s lady friend,” Kitty was all too pleased to supply. The man looked as if someone had informed him his birthday had come early. He grinned, his eyes falling to Theo, who sunk just a bit lower into his chair.
“Auntie perhaps introductions should be made?” this came from the woman.
“Oh! Oh! Right, right. This is my nephew, Nicolás,” with almost perfect precision, Nicolás took Eloise’s gloved hands and pressed a gentle kiss to the knuckles. He jerked suddenly. Had Theo kicked him underneath the table? She lowered her hand to the side as Kitty introduced, “and niece Sophia Beckett. They’re twins, if you did not guess,”
“She would have to blind or an imbecile not to patch that together Auntie,” Nicolás drawled out, smiling, “and we as know Teddy does not interact with idiots, we can assume she is above average intelligence,”
“Thank you I think?” Eloise sat in her chair. Unlike most dining rooms she’d be in, their chairs were not uniform. She was much lower than Sophie who she sat next to.
“Be polite, Nicky ,” Nora interjected, she bustled out towards the fireplace where a large pot was sat atop the fire. They had no stove, Eloise noted or freezer box. How did they preserve milk or meat?
Nicolás grinned a crooked grin. He batted his eyes at Kitty, “aren’t I always polite Auntie?”
“ Oh you,” Kitty said as Theo mumbled, “ only when it suits you ,”
The serving of stew silenced them. Eloise glared at the murky contents of the soup. It smelled good, but usually when served stew she knew exactly which meat was inside of it. She was partial to lamb stew but thought better of announcing it. Her first gulp of the substance told her that it was decidedly not lamb. As they ate, they fell into silence. Eloise could see the resemblance between Kitty and the twins. Kitty’s hair, though partially graying, still contained enough hair for Eloise to see that it had once been the same shade of honey blonde as Sophia’s. Her nose was similar, though their eyes differed. Kitty’s were a watery blue that always seemed to be moving. But there was nothing similar in appearance between Kitty and Nora, who she had assumed were sisters. Though, Eloise supposed, Kitty could be Theo’s father’s sister, but that had to be unlikely. Theo did not look like them either, and only some of his features, like his dimples, could be seen on his mother’s face.
As if reading her thoughts, Kitty explained, “there is only a blood relationship between the twins and I, and Nora and Theo,”
“So you are friends then?” the question was directed at Kitty and Nora.
“Yes,” Nora affirmed.
Kitty muelled around thinking before proclaiming, “of a sort,”
“What-
“We are kin,” Theo cut in loudly, “in all the ways that matter,”
“Well said Teddy,” Sophie added.
They fell to silence once more. Eloise found herself staring once more at the twins. Why were they so familiar? She must be going mad. Here she was meeting Theo’s family, and all she could think about was where had she seen those haunting eyes before? She was no longer able to bear it and blurted out, “I know you,” It was directed to the both of them.
Sophie blanched but Nicolás, who she suspected was very good at talking himself out of situations was calm, “I assure you Miss that our social circles would not intertwine,” There was mischief in his smile when he added on, “perhaps you have met our father, we inherited our eyes from him,”
She wrinkled her nose, “your father? Why would I know your father?”
If Nicolás was aware of the warnings he was receiving from the others, he did not care. He tapped his spoon along his chipped bowl, “oh why he was an Earl,”
“Nicolás!” was chorused out admonishingly by everyone else.
“Should you not be Lord and Lady?” Eloise was confused. Earls were even higher titles than Viscounts or Barons. Theo’s sort of Uncle was an Earl ? Why had he never said so before?
“I suppose we would be, had our parents done us the favor of being married before we came into the world,” Once again the calling of his name sounded out but it did not deter him. He seemed to be enjoying her continued confusion, “a darn shame I think I would be a wonderful addition to parties,”
“You must pay him no mind,” Theo said sharply, “if you ignore him, he’ll stop,”
“You’re no fun Teddy,”
Eloise took her first bite of the gamey meat. It was squishy and hard to chew. She spent a long while mushing it up with her molars, thinking would Sophia know how she came to be? When she finally swallowed, she turned to Sophie to ask the very question in a hushed whisper. Or at least she thought it was a whisper; how did your mother come to be with child ? The question brought the whole table to silence and as if one cue, Theo began to choke on his water and John, who had already finished his serving, began to choke on air instantaneously.
Nicolás hollered with laughter, his face reddening as his cackles echoed off the low ceiling, “well Auntie Nora, we can all be assured that little Teddy is not bringing forth any bastards of his own into the world,”
This only worsened the coughing fits around them. Sophia hit her brother in the upper arm.Kitty leaned over to Nora and uttered, “what a prude we’ve raised,”
This earned louder cackles.
“We raised a gentleman,” Nora argued.
In that moment, Theo would gladly welcome any sort of divine intervention, to send down a lightning bolt and smite him. For surely, he could not survive the aftermath of this conversation. Was Eloise really unaware of how babies were made?
“What?” she said.
Theo had never been so thoroughly embarrassed in his life. And it was all Aunt Kitty’s fault. Though Nicolás, he thought, through his choking fit could also share the blame. Him and his mouth that never stopped sputtering out ridicule and jokes and inappropriate things. Vaguely, he was aware of Sophie thumping him on the back. Bless her, she had all of the kindness and sweetness that were so lacking in her obtuse brother. Beside him, footman John had turned pallid, his kin nearly matching the wig atop his head. He had been mumbling something but Theo could only hear it now, I am going to be fired, I am going to be fired .
“No one in my family will tell me,” Eloise mumbled defensively.
“Oh dear,” his mother mumbled.