The downfall of Viscount Bridgerton

chapter forty seven - falling asleep in the arms of a Bridgerton

Once the majority of the guests had arrived and it was only the immediate members of the Grey and Bridgerton families remaining, they retreated into the dining room for dinner.

Eleanor had since returned to them all in a lovely white dress that Julius ‘could have sworn he’d seen before’ and declared that she must be off to dine with her parents. No one paid too much heed to the girl’s excuse - it seemed entirely reliable. But Benedict could not help but think that something was amiss.

The formal dining room was extraordinarily grand and stood out from the rest of the house. Unlike the neutral colours seen elsewhere, the dining room was a deep red colour which created an aura of grandeur that was impressive to say the least. Aurora particularly liked the room because of its similarity to the dining room at Chillingham. It reminded her of home, which was very much welcome within this unchartered section of her life.

Dinner proved to be a relatively typical affair, Aurora enjoyed hearing about the escapades her siblings had been up to during their time abroad, and spent a great deal of time trying the elicit information about the princess from Alexander - although this proved to be entirely fruitless for he would not tell her anything of the young woman.

And so it was with great tiredness that the two hosts bid their families good-night and were finally given the opportunity to explore their new house for themselves.

“Is there a particular room you’d like to begin with,” Anthony asked, holding out his arm graciously.

Aurora pondered over his suggestion as she interlaced her arm in his, “perhaps we should simply begin closest to the entrance and work our way up. Do you think we’ll finish to-night? It is nearly ten o’clock already.”

“We shall be quick, I promise. Only I should like to see the place in its entirety.”

They two headed off down the corridor and began their analysis of the house. As lovely as it was, Aurora became quickly bored of sitting rooms and bedrooms that all looked near identical. In truth, she merely wished to go to bed, but if the viscount wanted them to see the house, then see the house they would.

It was with this firmly resolute idea in her head that Aurora sat down on one of the beds to study yet another bedroom.

It would only be for a moment, she told herself. Then she would stand up again and-

Anthony, who had long since exited the room and wandered down the hallway - presuming Aurora to be following - was most surprised upon turning around to discover that she was, indeed, not present.

This was all the more embarrassing considering he had spent the past five minutes telling ‘her’ all about the architecture of the house.

It would appear he had been talking to thin air.

Sighing, Anthony made his way back to the last bedroom that they had visited together. Upon arriving, he was ready to make some comment about her falling behind when he discovered his new wife lying curled up in the sheets of the bed.

“Aurora,” he whispered, uncertain of what to do next. “Aurora, wake up!”

When she showed absolutely no signs of waking, the viscount decided to take matters into his own hands and make his way to the side of the bed, gently sliding his arms under her knees and arms.

Picking her up, he was surprised at her weight. Clearly she was more muscular than he had anticipated for she was nothing like the feathery lightness he had felt when up his sisters.

Regardless, Anthony was still more than able to carry her through the corridors towards their own room. Indeed, they had not even managed to reach that section of the house yet so Aurora was bound for a surprise when she woke up the next morning in a completely foreign place.

Placing her down onto what he had previously designed as her side of the bed, Anthony pulled off her shoes and threw the bed’s sheets over her, making certain that they were fully tucked in to ensure her warmth.

‘It was lucky,’ he thought, ‘that I made her change into her nightdress before we started the tour.’

Once he had made certain Aurora would be comfortable in his sleep, the young viscount set about getting himself ready to sleep. He was finished in no more than one minute - efficiency had always been Anthony’s strong point - and hopped into bed beside his wife.

His wife.

He never got tired of hearing that phrase.

Leaning over to where she was sleeping, Anthony pressed a light kiss on her forehead before turning away to finally succumb to the world of sleep.

Only he could not.

Having her beside him seemed to cause some kind of chemical reaction, thus preventing him from falling into any kind of slumber - no matter how hard he tried.

After what felt like an eternity (but was probably only fifteen minutes), Anthony relented and snuck closer to his wife.

Taking care not to wake her, he slowly slid one arm underneath her neck and pulled her closer to him so that she was now lying on his chest.

Subconsciously, she reached out at the new form of comfort and hugged it tightly. An action she would feel most embarrassed about the next morning when Anthony told her of it.

With his new Viscountess now tightly in his own embrace, Anthony Bridgerton slipped easily into the world of dreams. Into a world where he and Aurora were happily playing with their three children in the gardens of the Bridgerton estate.

****

My dear readers,

This chapter is slightly shorter - sorry about that! I’ve been busy and am also working on a screenplay at the moment so you can imagine I am quite run off my feet.

Today is Monday so I’m back to school - oh what joy! No, but really, I’m studying Roman history in Latin, and revising the Tudors in history so this week should be relatively light. No translations at least!

Hope you all have a good week.

Yours truly,

Valentina R