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Eloise groaned for the fifth time in under half an hour which was followed by Penelope and Edwina’s synchronized sighs that followed and then Francesca’s pathetic little raspberry as she blew air upwards from her mouth to blow her hair out of her face.
“I’m so bored,” Philippa whined, loudly. Everything she did was loud. Daphne slapped a hand over her mouth to try and muffle the complaint.
“Daphne you’re the favorite,” Eloise grumbled. Daphne preened at the acknowledgment, only to deflate when Eloise followed it with, “You kind of have to be. You’re his twin.”
“I would be his favorite regardless.” Daphne turned her nose up haughtily.
“And yet he told you no when you asked him if he could take us to the 7-Eleven,” Francesca backed Eloise. They weren’t twins, but born on the exact day a year apart and if Daphne and Colin were each other’s favorites amongst their siblings, Francesca and Eloise were each other’s favorites.
“If only you had your license,” Eloise grumbled again, toeing the ground with her foot.
Daphne pouted, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Unlike Colin, she hadn’t passed her permit test on the first try. She had waited until the following month to retake her test after she memorized the whole booklet from the DMV. She wasn’t going to mess up her signs again.
But she did mess up during Behind The Wheel. So she was even further behind in getting her license.
“No offense to Robert, but his aunt’s garden party is a snorefest,” Philippa whined against Daphne’s hand. She had been much more prepared to censor her this time.
“Mrs. Brightbill didn’t really think about entertaining kids,” Penelope said, coming up with an excuse for the woman, much kinder than the rest of them.
“Right…” Edwina agreed sadly. Edwina was a new addition to their group, a transfer student who was the younger sister of the woman Anthony had become friends with.
Friends. Daphne was pretty sure that her older brother had more than friendly feelings with the woman he used to complain about all of the time when she was only an intern for the law firm that handled their family’s affairs.
“We could beg?” Francesca suggested. Eloise made a buzzer sound to reject her suggestion.
Daphne had considered fluttering her lashes at one of Colin’s friends and having them bend over backwards to please her just for a scrap of attention. With the addition of Philippa just standing there and smiling all pretty it would be easy.
Except they had done that before and Colin’s friends had already been warned off by him and Robert Kemble.
But perhaps a new face or two…that didn’t look so related to the Bridgertons.
“Edwina, do you know how to flirt?”
The younger girls all snapped their heads towards Daphne, eyes wide.
“Not really…no.” Edwina fidgeted in her seat uncomfortably. “I don’t really need to?”
Eloise snorted. “Understatement. Edwina gets compliments on her hair and gifts from strangers all of the time. One guy bought us extra fries at lunch.”
“He wasn’t a stranger,” Edwina huffed. “I just forgot he was in my class.”
“Perfect.” Daphne nodded, clapping her hands together. “Edwina and Penelope front and center.”
“For what?” Eloise asked, wrapping her arms protectively around her friends.
“Pip, your bag.” Daphne held her hand out while Philippa fumbled through her purse and pulled out her makeup bag. “Fix your sister.”
“Fix her what?” Penelope squeaked as Philippa grabbed her face.
“Sit still,” Philippa commanded, holding out her mascara. “It's about time you learned what this stuff is for.”
Minutes later, Philippa had framed Penelope’s brown eyes with inky black lashes and dabbed a coat of lip plumper on her lips. Daphne had less to work with as Edwina had already dolled herself up. She tamed some of her flyaways and nodded in approval and began to give her instructions.
“I’m so confused. What’s going—Philippa!” Penelope shrieked as her sister grabbed the top of her sundress and pulled up and adjusted her breasts so that her cleavage was more pronounced.
Francesca’s eyes widened and locked right on Penelope’s chest as if it was her first time seeing her breasts. Eloise looked close to tackling Philippa to get her hands off of Penelope.
“What?” Philippa shrugged as they all gaped at her. “If you have them you might as well use them and play Hello Titty.”
“She has a point.” Daphne turned to Edwina. “Don’t stand in front of Penelope.”
“What point!?” Eloise snapped at her.
“Go get ‘em!” Philippa smacked Penelope’s butt as Daphne pushed her and Edwina towards where the boys had congregated in the corner of the garden, pretending as if they weren’t sneaking the drinks meant for the adults.
“What the hell is going on, Daphne?” Eloise’s cheeks were flushed red as Daphne wrapped her arms around her shoulders to keep her from marching off after their friends.
“A lesson.” Eloise scoffed, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. “Men are simple creatures. Teenage boys are even simpler. Observe.”
Edwina was barely within a meter radius and Colin’s friends became more alert, perking up. Robert took one look at the two girls and instantly looked over at Daphne, eyes narrowed. Daphne waved her fingers at him innocently.
“Mother would never let me get into a car with them,” Francesca, the thirteen year old of the group, reminded her.
“Of course not. They are not the target.”
“Then why send Edwina over?”
“Decoy.”
As Edwina rocked back and forth on her heels, playing with her fingers in front of her, Penelope had easily swept past them to stand next to Colin. The boys hadn’t even noticed her causing Daphne to frown. Yes, Penelope was always stuffed into unflattering citrus colors, red, and white that did nothing for her complexion, but it wasn’t as if she wasn’t pretty.
Boys were stupid. Truly.
They continued to watch as Penelope approached Colin and Robert. Robert crossed his arms in front of his chest and rolled his eyes, exasperated as Colin choked on a finger sandwich.
“Our brother would steal a whole tray.” Eloise pursed her lips in annoyance. “We can’t take him anywhere.”
They couldn’t hear what they were saying, but they could see Penelope’s brows drawn down in concern as she reached out to touch Colin’s arm. Colin pounded a fist against his chest and swallowed heavily. Taking a few deep breaths, he finally relaxed and smiled crookedly down at her.
“I still don’t see why—wait.” Eloise frowned in confusion as Colin and Penelope walked towards them, Edwina speeding after them so she wouldn’t be left behind. “What just happened?”
“Big brown eyes, a pout, and a little bit of touching,” Daphne explained as Philippa nodded dazedly.
“You didn’t even tell Penelope to do anything.” Francesca tilted her head in confusion.
“Didn’t have to. She’s a natural when comfortable.”
“Oh, God. He’s one of them,” Eloise spat in disgust.
“You didn’t think your brother was a normal teenage boy?” Philippa asked, brow raised.
“We have lost him.” Eloise shook her head sadly, grabbing her cup of pink lemonade and pouring it on the ground. “Pour one out for Colin Bridgerton. He’s dead. Brain dead.”
Francesca copied her action with her own juice. Daphne rolled her eyes as she looked back at Colin whose eyes kept looking down as he trailed behind Penelope, not even noticing that Edwina had caught up to him and was walking beside him.
“Unfortunately, you may be right,” she murmured. And she had such high hopes for brother number three.