Work Text:
The witches of Charles Street
«People in the ton stopped whispering and started to share that information as the truth.
So, in fear of these rumours getting to the King and Queen's ears, not wanting to face any reprisal, their cousin, the Duke of Queensberry, declared them as witches, officially.
Mr. Thomas, who was the Bishop in charge at the time, decided they should take action and went to hunt the witches.
The Freeloves heard the news, so they tried to run, but by the time they were ready to escape, the crowd was already at Berkeley Square.
One of the witches and her brother, who was never confirmed to be a wizard, were killed there, but the other witch, the one they called "the original" managed to sneak back to the house.
The Bishop ordered then to burn down the house. Everything was on fire, but before the flames could take her life away, the witch threatened those who dared hurt her and her family.
All five men responsible for the deaths of the witches and Mr. Freelove all died of mysterious illness.
Until this day, there are people who claim Number 2 is haunted, and that anyone who dare approach the witches' house will perish»
The girls were too scared to move. It wasn't until he heard young Franchesca silently sob while trembling out of fear that Colin decided to hug her.
"It's ok, it is not a real story. Well I guess it is a real story, but it is not based on true events. Right Benedict?" he said, looking at his brother.
Benedict hadn't expected his sisters to be so easily scared, especially not Eloise, but she was the most quiet of them all.
"O-Of course not! At least I don't think so"
Then, the door opened and three kids screamed.
"Why do you have to be so loud?" said Anthony, coming in. "No, actually, why was everything so silent before I came in. What are you lot up to?"
"Ben was telling us a horrific story about some witches, but they do not exist, right Ant?" replied Daphne.
"The one about the witches of Charles Street?" he asked Benedict, who nodded. "Well, I do not believe witches exist, although that is a real story, at least the part where they hunted them down because they thought them to be witches. Grandpa's dad was friends with Mr. Freelove, though. So I do not think the assumptions were correct, they were just an odd family. Much like us, I would say"
"You mean people could claim we are some kind of magical family and they'd try to hunt us down too?" asked a very teary eyed Franchesca.
"Anthony! Shut up!" said a clearly scared Colin, trying to stay calm for his sisters' sake.
"I'm sorry Fran. I didn't mean that at all. Sometimes people can be stupid enough to be carried away with a mere rumour, that's all I meant, I promise. But don't worry, nothing like that will happen to us" Anthony amended.
"Ok" was all Franchesca could say.
"I just came in to inform you all that Miss. Nelson will be in charge for tonight. Mom and dad are already on their way to Lady Danbury's ball and Ben and I have other things to do" said Anthony, directing a pointed look at his brother.
"So we will be here all alone with just Miss Anne for protection?" That was the first noise Eloise had made since the beginning of the story. A very rare occurrence indeed, she hadn't shut up for about 6 years, after she learnt how to speak at 1 year of age. Even weirder was the fact that she looked, if not precisely sacred, then very close to it.
"Well, you'll have Colin, if not much, at least he knows the principles of fencing" said Benedict trying to ease the mood.
"Thank you for that", said Colin, rolling his eyes. "But I will protect you if needed, El, you know that. Although I do not see why it would be necessary" he finished.
"Colin is right, there will be no need to be protected, El. You can go on, brothers. Have a pleasing night" Daphne declared.
"That's about right, we really should be going, Ant" And with that both Benedict and Anthony left the nursery.
Colin and Daphne tried to distract 6 years old Franchesca and 7 years old Eloise with silly games until the younger girls fell asleep.
"Do you really think there is nothing to worry about with those witches? I mean Berkeley Square isn't that far away from here" Whispered Daphne to her brother.
"I do not know. Not after what Anthony said about Granpa's dad and them being real people. But I cannot imagine it would make any difference to be alone or not against witches, so I say we shouldn't concern ourselves with any of that. Let's go ask for some hot milk so we can sleep. I can even stay with you girls tonight if you'd like it" said Colin trying not not wake their little sisters up.
"I would actually like that, Col. It would make me feel safer. Thank you" replied Daphne.
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It was Halloween 1811, since almost 18 years old Daphne was to debut the following year, she was allowed to attend the Rokeby annual Halloween ball, her three older brothers all had their own business to attend, Anthony and Benedict were probably be found at some gentleman's club and 19 years old Colin had mentioned meeting with those Scottish friends of his. That meant, this was the year. Eloise had planned this since she was 7 years old, right after listening to the story of the two witches of Charles Street.
Eloise hadn't wasted a second to tell her dearest friend, Penelope what she had learnt about the house that was rumoured to be haunted. Neither of them was totally convinced by the story, but they wanted to see for themselves if the house was in fact haunted, so together they had planned to enter the house. The only problem was, no one in their right minds would allow two kids to go see if a house is haunted or not. So they waited patiently for the right moment to follow the plan. They decided it would be best if it was on a night not a single adult would take notice, and in Eloise's case one non of her siblings would care about not seeing her around. That was why they chose Halloween night.
"Try this one, I think Colin's old clothes would suit you better than they do me" Said Eloise, passing some of Colin's old clothes to Penelope.
"I still do not understand why we should use men's clothing to go to the haunted house. Everyone will be at the Rokeby ball, or too occupied eating pumpkin cake to pay attention to two girls walking down the street" said Penelope
"Because it is funnier this way, Pen" replied Eloise, simply.
"I suppose you're right. I do feel like I'm a secret agent for the Queen" said Penelope, smiling. "And it is kind of poetic, is it not? Going to a haunted house on Halloween night! Sounds like quite the adventure!"
"I knew I didn't make a mistake choosing you as my best friend, who else would ever agree to do this with me?" expressed Eloise, going to hug Penelope.
It was true, Penelope thought, they really were meant to be. She would never admit it to anyone, no one would understand anyway, but she had always been sure Eloise was her one and only soulmate. But people had always told her her soulmate would be the one to become her husband, so she had never shared that feeling with Eloise. It would break her if her dearest friend decided to cut all ties with her, and she feared that could happen if the truth was known.
What Penelope didn't realise was that her friend felt the exact same way about her, well not exactly the same, Eloise was sure she would never find a soulmate that was not Penelope, she knew that, had she or Penelope be a man, they would for sure marry in the future, but things being as they were, Eloise could only hope for a love match with someone who was not her soulmate, but her better half. She would never settle for less, she would be happy being a spinster if that meant she got to spend the rest of her life side by side with Pen. And she talked about how amazing it would be to be spinsters together all the time.
When the two of them were finally ready, they made their way out of the house, they didn't even use the principal entry to the house as they normally would, but the servants one. They were being really quite and careful, everything was going according to plan, until...
"Auch!" Pen yelled. She had just fall face first to the ground.
"Be careful! Are you ok?" Eloise said, trying not to make so much noise.
"Yes, I think so. It's just, I could've sworn there was someone watching us behind that three" she told Eloise, pointing to the aforementioned three.
"I do not see anyone, maybe it was just an animal that scared you. Now let's go before someone really sees us" Eloise took her friend's hand and guided her out of the house.
But Penelope had been right, there was someone watching them behind that three.
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Colin had been on his way to the Halloween party Fife was throwing for all those who were their classmates at Eton. John, his best friend from Eton and his cousin Michael picked him up since they didn't know how to go to the Fife residence, them being from Scotland and all. They were just getting out of the house when they heard the servants door cracking. Maybe the carriages were brought home for some reason and they didn't have to go on foot after all, he thought and made his way to see if he was correct.
But he had been surprised, he didn't see any servant, at first he didn't even recognise the two figures running on his garden, but on closer examination it was clear who those figures were, none other than his sister Eloise and their friend Penelope. If the fact that they were sneaking out of the house alone at night wasn't enough, surely the fact that they felt the need to dress in gentleman's clothes was an indication that nothing good could come out of this. He saw Penelope hit the ground, and taking advantage of the distraction he decided to go apologise to his friends for not being able to take the to the party, after all, but he had a duty, of what, he wasn't yet sure, but he concluded it started by following his stupid sister and their trouble attracting friend, especially because whenever the two of them were together chaos always seems to follow.
"Stirlings! I must apologise. I cannot go with you after all" The cousins heard Colin before they saw him.
"Is something the matter? Anything we can help you with?" John quickly asked, always the kind hearted man, always willing to help.
"I - No. I do not suppose there is. I just - hmm" Colin tried to come up with a convincing reason to not go, that would not make them worry.
"There's clearly something going on. I can see it in your face Col" Michael retorted. "Whatever it is you don't have to hide it from us, you know that" he noted in a serious tone, "we are known to be trustworthy" he finished with a grin, much more like Michael.
He had never been able to hide things from Michael, not even those he so deeply hoped to hide. Ever since they met, when he and John started attending Eaton. Michael was a bit older than them so he made sure to show them everything they had to know about school. He and John had become friends so easily that he hadn't been worried at all to meet the boy John described to be his older brother in all but blood. And it had been easy, making friends with him as well. But after a few years of friendship, things had become complicated.
It was on their graduation night, the students were supposed to leave the following morning, and of course all the graduates had a secret party planned. Anthony and Benedict had already told them a few stories about their graduation nights, it sounded like fun. But Michael, whose favourite person in the whole world was his cousin (who he regarded as a brother) couldn't simply not be there on his special night. So he had sneaked to the school and spent the night with his cousin and their friend. It may have been the alcohol. Colin hadn't tasted more than a bit with his brothers during spring break that very same year, so he hadn't known how to manage it. Or it may have been those bisquets one of their mates made everyone taste that seemed to make everyone go wild. Whatever it was he had not expected what happened as the night was ending. When wasn't even sure if it had happened or if he had just fantasised about it and by god he didn't dare mention it to him, nor anyone, really because what would people think? It didn't really matter if it happened, if Michael and he actually kissed, it didn't matter, what mattered, what terrified him, was that whether it was real or a mere fantasy, he had loved it.
It was impossible to hide his feelings from Michael, ever since that night, it was like he saw directly to his soul, he felt like he could see directly into Michael's soul too, so between them there were no secrets even if there were unspoken matters in between. So he decided not to lie and just informed his friends what he had just witnessed.
Michael could see Colin was genuinely concerned about the whole thing. They could always read each other so easily, it may be the fact that they were so alike, they were like two sides of the same coin. He had come to accept a while ago that Colin was his soulmate. Of course people would never accept it, maybe not even Colin himself would accept it, but it was true. And because of that, he couldn't stand seeing him in so much distress.
"I believe if we hurry up we can still catch them and make sure those ladies don't get in any trouble" he said, making his way out of the house.
John was seemingly confused, but followed right away and the three men made haste in the direction the young misses had gone.
It didn't take much to catch sight of them, but the three young gentlemen decided to let them get to their destination first.
But neither of them was ready for what the ladies' destination was, for they had arrived at the very same house from that horror story, the one that scared the hell out of children, and credulous ladies of the ton, the one even men avoided for fear it could be haunted.
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"Hurry up, we're almost in. All we have to do now is get over the fence and follow the path down the stairs. The story says the original witch died just behind that door" An excited Eloise was all but yelling at Penelope
"Yes, I apologise, I just can't shake the feeling that someone is watching us. But it must be because I'm nervous. I've never done anything as scandalous as this. I must admit I can get used to the feeling" replied Penelope. Already trying to help her friend get over the fence.
"I'm sure you could. What a pity that we don't really have any chances for that. Now come on it's your turn to get over here" she said.
Penelope managed to get to the other side of the fence with a lot of help from Eloise and the two of them held hands before starting to go down the stairs "Are you scared?" she asked her friend.
"To be honest, I am, but I would never admit it to anyone else but you, Pen" Eloise replied. "Are you ready to go in?" Penelope only nodded and the two of them slowly opened the door and got in.
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"ARE THEY MAD? WHAT ON HEART COULD THE TWO OF THEM HAD BEEN THINKING? T-TH-THAT'S NUMBER 2 CHARLES STREET IS IT NOT? I MAY BE SCOTTISH BUT EVEN I KNOW THE STORY OF THAT HOUSE. NO ONE ON THEIR RIGHT MINDS WOULD EVER APPROACH THAT PLACE!" John was frantic. He knew by listening to his best friend talk about his family for years that the Bridgertons were one of a kind family. But judging by Colin and what he knew of the young Lord Bridgerton (the oldest of the siblings) he had always assumed the whole family was smarter than most people. Apparently, he had misjudged them.
Michael and Colin both lost their focus on the girls at John's frantic discourse. And they were both trying to make him focus on the task at hand.
"Well that's the thing, my sister has never been right on the head. I am surprised Penelope decided to join in, the whole Bridgerton clan have always trusted her to be "la voix de la raison". I wonder how Eloise managed to convince her" Michael couldn't help but chuckled at Colin's comment.
"Well gentlemen, let's focus on what we're currently doing and we'll save the questions for later. I think we should go get them now or else..." Michael paused, looking at the direction the two girls had been just seconds ago, "I don't want to alarm anyone, but, I believe the girls went in '' he waited for them to react.
Colin felt his blood get out of his body. He didn't have time to think, not anymore, so he made his way to the witches' house and, having not seen how the girls went in, decided it would be best to force the principal door.
Michael didn't hesitate either, the moment he saw Colin walking through the house he knew what he would try to do next, and he was going to help him. "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND? YOU CANNOT BE THINKING OF ENTERING THAT HOUSE!" both heard John's screams behind them.
"You don't have to go in if you don't want to, but I definitely will, that's my sister and my friend in there! I can't - " Said an exasperated Colin.
"By shit will I let you go in alone!" interrupted Michael. Helping Colin until the door finally opened. Colin didn't waste a second and went right in, Michael followed giving John a reassuring look that said he could stay outside if he wanted to.
"Holy crap! If a witch kills me I'll haunt them for the rest of my existence, I swear" John was talking to himself while he was getting into the house "Jesus Christ why did I have to go and make them my best friends?"
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"I must admit, this place looked a lot more terrifying in my imagination" Penelope admitted "but it just seems like a house that has been slightly consumed by fire. There's nothing too terrifying about that"
"Well, maybe we should go see the rooms of the ladies that lived here. This was the staff entry, so this one staircase must lead us there" As Eloise was concluding the last sentence they heard a door open.
In the middle of their panic they started to run in different directions of the stairs.
"WHAT ON HEAVEN ARE YOU DOING, PENELOPE!" Eloise questioned "WHAT DO YOU THINK I'M DOING! I'M TRYING TO RUN AWAY FROM WHATEVER MADE THAT NOISE!" shot back Penelope.
"Only you are doing the exact opposite by going in that direction the noise clearly came from there" retorted Eloise, pointing to the origin of the sound.
She was right, so Penelope decided to follow her lead.
They arrived at the floor where the principal chambers would be located and realising the noise still came from downstairs they decided to inspect one of the rooms.
That was a peculiar bed chamber. There were portraits of a couple of ladies. They seemed very happy together, as if they were ready to spend the rest of their lives together. But it was odd, how they looked so clearly like a couple.
"These portraits... I... Do you..." Eloise muttered "They look as if they were a couple, don't they?" Penelpe helped her friend finish her idea.
"Yes, and they look so happy together... I assumed they were as great of friends as you and I!" commented Eloise, feeling uneasy, maybe even anxious. She didn't know why but she craved an answer. She wast jut about to ask her something directly when Pen sigh "Yes... Friends... Like us" Pen could only swallow, she wasn't sure if that comment had meant to Eloise the same it had meant to her.
But in that moment an almighty noise alerted them the door had been closed, apparently by their new companion.
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They heard a noise coming from upstairs, they didn't know what exactly the noise meant, but Colin reasoned they girl could be in danger so he followed the direction of the noise, Michael close behind and John near enough not to be left alone, but visibly questioning all of his life decisions.
"It sounded as if someone had slammed the door shut, we should try inspect the bed chambers" Michael decided as Colin started doing so, John was wide eyed regretting every single decision that had put him in this situation.
"The girls are not here, but I think I may have found something weird" Michael declared.
The other two made their way to that room. There was something odd in the room, but Colin couldn't say exactly what it was exactly.
"That portrait is quite funny, don't you think?" exclaimed John, not sounding scared for the first time on the night "It looks just like our family, Mike, wouldn't you agree? Except of course there are two ladies posing like a married couple instead of our two sets of parents.
That was what felt odd, the entire bed chamber seemed to be adorned with portraits and different kinds of items about two couples, when everyone knew only one couple had ever inhabited the house.
Colin couldn't help but look at Michael, he was surprised to catch him looking at him as well. "Do you think they were a couple?" Colin whispered in Michael's ear.
Michael looked at the portraits and the fournitures' arrangement "I do. Do you think that was the reason they hunt them? I never believed they would burn a beautiful house like this for a mere suspicion" he replied, in a tone Colin could barely hear. That was when the door shut and they turned to see the new arrival. John fainted.
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"W-Wh-Who are you?" Eloise managed to say, swallowing and using all of her courage, for in front of her there was the spirit of a beautiful woman.
"I think it should be me making that question, don't you think so Miss Eloise? Seeing as this is my home and I was not aware we would be receiving any visitors" the ghostly woman replied in a calming tone.
"How come you know her name Miss... Ghost?" Penelope asked curiously.
"Mrs. Freelove, in fact. And in answer to your question Miss Penelope, it is a power that comes with ghostly life" the woman answered.
"You are Mrs. Freelove?" Eloise's tone sounded a mix of incredulity and excitement "The. Original. Witch. Of. Charles. Street"
"People keep calling me that? I had hoped they would realise their stupidity by now" the woman stated, to no one in particular.
"Assuming that is a yes I must confess Mrs. Freelove, you don't look very terrifying" confessed Penelope
"Please, girls, do call me Amabel" she said
"Only if you call me Penelope"
"And me Eloise"
"Very well, we have a deal"
"Pen is right, tho, you do not look even scary at all, Amabel"
"Oh, that. Well being a ghost I get to choose how I present to people, I felt something between you two, something that made me decide to present as friendly as possible" Amabel explained
"What did you see?" Penelope couldn't help but ask.
"That you are indeed like my beloved Phoebe and I were" She said, as if remembering the past. "Another thing us ghost can do is see the soul, talk to the human soul,and yours is telling me things I'm not sure you've realised yet" Amabel told them
"Like what?" Eloise could stop the words for coming out of her mouth
"About the love that the two of you share" Amabel said as a matter of explanation.
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"You seem to be smarter than most", a ghostly female figure said. "I do apologise for your friend here, it wasn't my intention to scare him".
"Well, I suppose he would have fainted even if you weren't a ghost Miss, he was already way too scared" replied Michael with a grin.
"And we do like to consider ourselves smarter than some" Colin completed what Michael was about to say.
The spirit chuckled and said "And why is it that I have the pleasure of your visit?"
"To be honest, to my sister and friend"
"You were following the" she stated "that explains why you didn't arrive together with Miss Eloise and Miss Penelope".
"You know them?" Michel asked.
"Not exactly. Us ghosts can see and feel everyone in our presence, we can read your souls Mr. Stirling" she explained. "As a matter of fact I only chose to make myself visible before you because of what I felt in the two of you".
"What is your name Miss? It doesn't seem fair that you appear to know so much about us while we don't even know your name" Colin said, as charming as ever.
"I am Miss Freelove, but please call me Phoebe. And for the rest. It is a lie. You know more about me than most people did when I was alive". Phoebe replied
"So you were a couple", Michael said. It wasn't a question but it sounded close to being one.
"And you deduced that by simply looking at this portrait" Phoebe looked at the two standing men. "Which made me curious enough to look into your souls. And I must say that led me to believe that there's some kind of not friendly feelings between the two of you"
"We are friends, and I do not think Michael hates me" Colin sounded defensive, but then hesitated "Or do you?" The thought made him nauseous.
"Of course not, Col. I -'' he took a breath "I do not believe she meant it that way" Michael fixed his eyes on Colin's then and Colin understood the meaning.
"I see I was not mistaken" declared Phoebe staring at the two of them.
"Did they hunt you down because of you loving her?" Colin asked, pointing at the other woman in the portrait.
"Yes, and no '' the men were confused so she continued "They did believe we were witches because we didn't follow the every word of the church. But it was until my cousin the Duke of Queensberry found out about the nature of our relationship and the agreement we had with Nathaniel - my brother - and his marriage to my dear Amabel that he decided we should burn in hell for the rest of eternity, and not satisfied with that, he convinced everyone in the ton that we were witches planning to steal children and drink their blood in order to stay young. Since he was family, that was all the confirmation people needed to hunt us".
"There's a lot to unpack there" stated Michael, "but first I want to know, wouldn't people assume the Duke was a wizard as well? With you being related and all that" Michael wondered out loud.
"The story was that my dear Amabel was the only witch in London and she needed more people to form some kind of clan. So Nathaniel and I only became sorcerers after Nat and Mab married".
"Why did your brother marry your lover? Didn't he know you loved her? I don't understand" it was Colin who questioned Phoebe this time.
"He did know. That is why he agreed to help us be together forever, and be family even in the eyes of the ton".
"And what was the agreement?" ask Michael
"Well, when my -" but she didn't get to finish her sentence because, at that moment, John woke up and interrupted with a loud "Bloody hell. She's real".
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"When Nathaniel found out he didn't look angry, just surprised. We had been friends since we were babies, and, in his own words «what was surprising was that I took us that long to admit it»” she chuckle at the memory “He knew how it felt to love someone with you hole being and yet being unable to let the world know of the love you share"
Eloise and Penelope looked at each other. It was pretty clear now, to both of them that they shared those feelings. But what Amabel said was true, they couldn't share that love with anyone else.
"So you settled for the best next thing, your friendship" deduced Penelope.
"No, at least not exactly. Nathaniel was in love with a servant of the house, but his social status and being the only male son, the heir to the dukedom, since his cousin was unable to produce an heir, all of it made it impossible for him to just marry Miss Birdwell'' Amabel explained to the young girls "And he could have done what most men do, choose a wife and keep Miss Birdwell as his mistress. But he was pure at heart. He would have never kept a mistress even if he didn't love his wife, not of she was agreeable to it"
"And you would be agreeable to it, because you wanted that same freedom" said Eloise, her excited tone easy to recognise.
"Exactly, so he proposed to marry me. That way I would be able to love my darling Phoebe, be her family, for the rest of my life. And in reward, he would be able to be with the love of his live" Amabel said. "No one questioned our marriage, me being a descendent from the second Duchess of Marlborough and him being the heir of the dukedom of Queensberry. So we did it."
"Didn't it change things? Your marriage I mean". Asked Penelope.
"Of course it changed. I did become a wife, only not to the man I should call my husband when in public. Phoebe and I were as well as married. And the same was true for him. Miss. Birdwell became the mistress of one of the states he possessed, and where he spent most of the time while I remained here with Phoebs. They too were as well as husband and wife" she finished the story with a smile.
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"But you had to keep up the facade I suppose, was that why he was here that night?" asked John, he had awakened to a spirit apparently telling his companions a story and he was surprisingly interested in it.
"It was. We had to pretend to be real husband and wife to the ton, especially during the seasons, when I would pretend to help Mab to find a husband and he would find an excuse to deny permission to propose to all those gentlemen". Phoebe said.
"And when the Duke decided to hunt you, he saw the perfect opportunity to kill him so the title would continue on his side of the family" Said Michael, connecting the dots.
"I suppose that was the reason" she admitted
"But you didn't appear in front of us to tell us a story, did you?" commented Colin
"No, as I said, we can read and talk to the human soul. I came to reassure you, let you know that there's nothing wrong with who you are and what you feel". She was staring at Michael and Colin.
"What does it mean?" wondered John, oblivious to the unspoken conversation that was taking place between the other three.
"I - hmmm - she" stuttered Michael
"Ease, Michael, I can see he is one of a kind, his heart is made for love unconditionally once you make your way in. And you are the one he loves the most at the moment" Phoebe comforted him.
Michael looked at Colin, who nodded.
"She is trying to say that there is nothing wrong with me or Colin, for..." he paused to summon his courage once more but he looked hesitant so Colin finished for him.
“For the way we feel about each other. The way people have always told us we should only feel about a woman". He waited for him to react. John made no sign that he had listened to what he had just said.
"John?" whisper Michael
"I'm sorry you didn't feel like you could tell me before" he said sincerely "and I promise I would never betray your trust with anyone" he finally said.
The other two men couldn't help but cry at the words their best friend said.
"The two of you would be happy together. But you shall remember to be open to all kinds of love. I can see in your souls it is possible for you to find a love you wouldn't have to hide and run with" Phoebe told the pair. "But in the meantime, I assure you, you will be happy being together and you will always love each other, no matter what" she looked at John then "And remember that whatever happens between two lovers. Everyone deserves a second chance to find love".
And with that she disappeared and the door opened. But the three of them stayed there for a while, processing everything that happened.
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"I will never understand why people are so intolerant towards love. Sure we wouldn't be able to have children but I don't see any real reason there" said Eloise after listening to the complete love story of Amabel and Phoebe.
"If we so desired, to be mother together I mean, we could take in some orphans, wouldn't that be a good thing to do? Wouldn't it make the lives of those kids better?" Said Penelope in a tone that indicated anger and indignation on her voice.
"It would, but people hate differences. That is why we classified each other by similarities and left out those who are different. I hope one day people will start to accept it. But I fear it won't be any time soon" Phoebe told them. And the three of them knew it was true.
"But by what I have seen, I believe that, even tho you will always have a part of each other's hearts, you have the option, you can find a love match that would be accepted by society, and if you don't, that idea of yours to become spinsters together does sound appealing" A grin crossed Phoebe's lips as she let out what she was saying to the girls "But for know, do not worry, you can alway run when you cannot hide. And maybe in another life you won't have to do either" she finished.
"Thank you, for everything" Penelope told her.
"We won't forget you" Eloise added, taking Pen's hand on hers as Amabel's spirit faded and the door opened again.
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The girls left the room and to their surprise standing in front of them was Colin holding one of the other gentlemen's hand while the other walked behind them.
The siblings only stared at each other, at the way they were holding their friends hands.
"You too?" they both said in unison, a tone of fear on Colin's voice but one of excitement on Eloise's.
"We won't tell anyone else, for both of our sakes" Colin stated.
"Agreed. But I am so happy I have someone to talk to who will understand exactly how I feel" Eloise replied and Colin smiled.
"This is Michael, by the way" he said
"A pleasure to meet you misses" Michael bowed politely.
"And his cousin John, my best friend" Colin pointed at John who repeated. Michael's action.
"We are Eloise, that idiot's sister, and she is my Penelope" Eloise introduced herself and Penelope, both bowing at the gentlemen.
"I think it is time to leave our guests to rest, don't you believe it proper?" John announced to the others.
"Of course"
"Right"
"You are correct"
"Let's go"
The others answered John.
And so, the four of them left the house. That night never was spoken of again, but both Eloise and Colin made an unique connection that day that could never be broken, not by anything.