Lies of fencing and lemonade

The ball rolls to a close and it is time for me to return upstairs. But I feel I must have a conversation with my brother beforehand, and it seems he should be thinking the same thing. "Delilah. Perhaps we should take a moment to catch up. Accompany me to the drawing room."

"Is that a question or an order?" I place my shawl in the hands of one of the help as I follow my brother to sit down in the drawing room. He takes a moment to pour himself a glass of whiskey but does not offer me one. I suppose he does not deem it responsible or he deems I am too young, or at least they shall be the excuses he uses. "What is it you wish to talk of?"

"How old are you, Delilah?"

"I am five years younger than yourself. You are aware of that. I do not know why you are asking me questions when you are well aware of the answer." I roll my eyes slightly as I rise from my relaxed seated position to pour myself a glass of whiskey since it becomes apparent that he shall not be doing so. "What? You wish to know why father had not pushed me into the marriage market? That seems to be all anyone should like to talk to me about this evening. He did not because he was on his death bed and now it is too late. Do you wish to?"

"No. I do not. I do not wish for you to marry nor have children, nor continue the Hastings line."

I pause for a moment. This is not at all what I expected him to say. I thought he should tell me to go to the modiste tomorrow since I should need new dresses for all the balls he shall force me to attend. But he does not, and so I do not have a reaction. "What?"

"I swore that the Hastings line shall die with me. After... the way... that he treated me, and undoubtedly you too. He was so obsessed with an heir, I was not good enough and neither were you, and neither were our mothers. Do you not agree that the best thing we shall do to spite him is to ensure that there shall be no heirs after us?" He narrows his eyes a little, tilting his head to properly gauge my reaction. "I shall not push you into the marriage market. I shall never marry myself and it should be unfair to ask you to do such. You appear happy enough, Delilah."

"So you are asking me to never marry and never produce children so that you may spite our father who is already dead and rotting six foot under?" I cannot help myself but laugh a little, even though I am aware that he is deadly serious from the stern look on his face. He does not appreciate my laughter, I can tell that. "I am happy enough for now. You are correct, but I will not make the decision to never marry to entertain this strange whim."

He takes a sharp breath in. "Our father discarded both of us. I want the line to die with us. With me and you. To prove to him-"

"To prove to him what, exactly? You forget that your solo life shall be quite different to mine. You may gamble and bet and sleep with endless women and prostitutes and visit bars and clubs and wherever else it is you spend your days, brother, but I shall be a lonely and unloved spinster who does nothing other than promenade on her own and spend her days inside. I do not wish that life for myself and I know you do not know me incredibly well but I should like to think you do not wish it for me either." I do not understand his little vendetta and I shall not be following it. I do not wish to marry nor have children, no. Not right at this moment, but I cannot guarantee it will not be different in the future. "You may do whatever it is you wish to do but I shall not be following your lead. I am a woman, it is not as though I impact the power you have anyway."

"It is not about that. If you have a child and I do not then they shall become the heir of Hastings. It shall pass down. I do not want that."

"You are unreasonable to ask this of me and I shall deny your request, thank you." I stand up, finishing my drink and placing it on the desk in front of me, shaking my head a little. "Thank you for the whiskey, brother." I do not speak another word to him, only leaving the room and returning to my own room where Lady Danbury is allowing me to stay whilst I am in London. I much prefer Clyvedon, but I am glad I shall not have to travel there now since I should have to travel with my brother. Everyone has left already and so there is not much for me to do other than to remove my dress and climb into bed. I only recall I must take my hair pins when one of them sticks into my scalp and causes me to hiss slightly in pain. Once I have removed all of the nasty little things, I fall asleep.

Waking up, I am greeted with a letter from my newest friend: Daphne.

I am surprised that I have managed to make such an impression on someone  for them to write me a letter only the next morning. I suppose it bodes well for my future in London, and so I dress and follow the directions to the Bridgerton house. It is a far stretch away, I should have probably taken a carriage but I did not wish to. The fresh air is good for me. I arrive, and the door is already open. A man walks past me, with a bunch of flowers in his hands which he quite violently throws down as he leaves. I find that quite odd, but since the door is already inviting me in, I walk through to find many suitors who seem to be having similar reactions.

"Is that a Lady Delilah Basset that I see before me?" Colin approaches me and takes my hand in an instant to kiss the back of it, holding it for a moment too long. "Do you too wish to ask for Daphne's hand?"

"I presume these are all her callers, how lucky she is." I chuckle as one walks past me, who is rather old and dumpy with the wildest hair I have ever seen on man or beast. "And why is it they all seem so angry?"

"Anthony is being a nightmare. He is standing over them as they talk and sending them away if he deems they are not good enough. Sweet?" Benedict stands the other side of me with a handful of small candies, of which I take one and pop it into my mouth. "Anthony is always a nightmare though."

"You do not have to tell me such. I have met him only once and I could make such a judgement." I take another from his hand and chew on it. "Daphne asked me over. She said you would be fencing and drinking lemonade."

"Oh, no. I wrote that letter. Presumed you would not respond if it were from us." Colin admits quickly, shrugging. "We thought it should be funny to hear more of your commentary on Anthony and this travesty."

"You lured me here with lies of fencing and drinks? Oh, you are bad." I find myself smirking a little, covering my mouth to laugh as I see Lord Rutledge cursing under his breath as he leaves. "I should have known that Daphne's penmanship would be much neater."

"My penmanship is wondeful." Colin rebuffs, shaking his head. "Come, we shall get you some lemonade anyway. And then we shall take a seat in the living room and we shall see exactly what it is that Anthony is saying that is causing reactions such as... well, that one." He indicates to another man, one that I do not recognise this time though, who seems to have tears rolling down his face, desperately clearing them with his sleeve.

"That sounds as though it shall be fun."