Ace of Spades//Anthony Bridgerton

❧one

The Featherington girls are first. "Miss Prudence Featherington, Miss Philipa Featherington, and Miss Penelope Featherington... all presented by their mother, the Right Honorable Lady Featherington."

Prudence, Philipa, and Penelope all try to get through the small door at the same time. After they force their way through Lady Featherington follows after them. They walk down the hall stopping in front of Her Majesty the Queen. Lady Featherington hits Penelope as she looks at the ceiling instead of Her Majesty. They all courtesy with each of them varying in posture which is not very good.

Her Majesty does not brother to stand. Instead she gestures with her hand for the Featheringtons to move along. It is only the Queen's eye that matters today. A glimmer of displeasure and a young lady's value plummets to unthinkable depths.

Then with a great thud Prudence falls on her face. After picking Prudence up off the floor the debuts continue.

"Miss Georgiana Gillingham, presented by her sister, the Right Honorable, the Dowager Marchioness Downing."

My sister and I smile as we walk down the hall. We stop in front of her Majesty and curtsy.

Her Majesty walks over towards Georgie showing no expression. She cracks a small smile. "Beautiful, my dear."

I can not help but smile.

"Did that truly just happen?" Georgie asks.

"Keep smiling," I tell her.

We curtsy once more before heading off.

"Miss Daphne Bridgerton, presented by her mother, the Right Honorable, the Dowager Viscountess Bridgerton."

I watch as Daphne confidently walks down the aisle towards Her Majesty. She curtsies and Her Majesty stands up once more. She places her hand under Daphne's chin and lifts it up to meet her gaze.

"Flawless, my dear."

I sit in the parlor with my brother. I rock Betty in her crib. Tilly, Jo, and Alice are on the floor playing with various toys.

This morning copies of Lady Whistledown's Society Papers were left on the steps. It is gossip, but a good read nonetheless. Lady Whistledown has gone a step farther than any scandal sheet ever has, she lists subjects by name, in full. She wrote all about Mary Edgecombe who last season had three offers after one day, even one from an earl. She accepted and is now the Countess of Fulton but lives a rather unhappy life living in a cottage hundreds of miles away from her husband.

Lady Whistledown seems fond of Daphne. She named Daphne as the season's Incomparable. She called her a "diamond of the first water." The Featheringtons were not so lucky. It talked in length about Prudence fainting in front of Her Majesty.

Georgie walks into the room paper in hand. "Have you read this?"

I smile. "I have. Lady Whistledown? Do we know a Lady Whistledown?"

"Surely Lady Whistledown cannot be her true name," Georgie insists.

"The papers were distributed across town today without charge," Campbell tells us.

"Without charge? What kind of author would just hand out their work for free?" I question.

"One that wants to influence large groups of people," Campbell states.

"Well she certainly has," I admit.

The season's opening ball at Danbury House is a most highly sought-after invitation, indeed, for every darling debutante from Park Lane to Regent Street will be on display. Titled, chaste, and innocent, this is what they have been raised and trained for since birth. Tonight, we shall discover which young ladies might succeed at securing a match, thereby avoiding the dreadful, dismal condition known as "the spinster."