The Second Born Bridgerton's Wife // Benedict Bridgerton

Evil lady

"Benedict... Benedict. Stop that at once. You shall not leave this house under these circumstances." Anthony stands at the door of his bedroom, loitering, shaking his head a little. I stand by the side of him as Benedict crashes around in order to pull of his things into a bag so that we may leave in an instance. "I apologise, is that all you wish to hear? I apologise for what I said to you and I am very sorry that you have taken such great offence to such! I appreciate that you have tried for me. I do. You did not make the right decisions but I know you made them with the right heart. I was rude about it and I should not have been. Accept my apology so we all might go back downstairs and have some dinner with mama."

"Mama is out and she shall not be returning this evening. She told me so." Benedict scowls and puts the bag down on the bed, sighing with slightly hitched breath. "What do you wish for, anthony? That we shall all sit down for dinner and this feud we seem to have been in our entire lives will just disappear? Because it shall not. Every choice I have ever made, whether that has been with my art or Peaches or now Siena, you have stood by and judged me and I do not want you to any longer. I know when I have made a mistake, Anthony, I am not entirely stupid. I know when I must say I am sorry to Peaches without you prompting me!"

"Benedict, just... calm down, dear. Calm down. You are thinking too much and too fast and you are going to get yourself into such a state if you continue to do so." I push away from Anthony gently, moving over to my husband and stroking the top of his shoulder. "Sit down, Benedict."

"I... I feel like enough of an idiot without everyone telling me such, okay? I know I have been naive, and now Eloise knows and Penelope knows and soon I am sure they shall gossip and everyone shall know. What shall Lady Whistledown think of it, hm? And then what shall everyone think of it?" He does sit down, practically collapsing onto the bed and pushing his hands hard into his eyes, shaking his head and letting out a groan.

"You worry of what she shall say? Is that why you are so upset?" I have to repress a smile. If this is what shall upset him so then that is perfect. I can sort what Lady Whistledown shall say of him. So, I kiss the top of his head and look between the two of them. "I am going to go and make some tea. Do not begin any boxing matches whilst I am away."

"I shall not, it shall not be a fair fight on Benedict. For I am stronger and you simply cannot fight with a paintbrush!" Anthony attempts to make a joke, smiling, and I return such. Benedict does not react to it at all, and if he does then it is with distaste. "I shall see you in a moment, Peaches."

"In a moment." Of course I do not go to make tea, I go to see my sister. As I knock on the door, I hear rushing around and bits of paper crinkling and so I think she must be writing the latest. "Pen, it is only me."

She opens the door with a sigh of relief, allowing me to enter before closing it softly. "Is everything okay, Peaches?"

"Well... I suppose so. You know how you believed Siena to be pregnant? She is not. She was merely pretending so that she might swindle the Bridgertons out of money. Benedict has been giving her a fairly large allowance, or so I am led to believe, because he believed it was to help the baby. The real scandal is that there is no baby whatsoever." I watch her as her eyes widen and she grips onto her quill, beginning to make notes of what I have told her. "Pen... Benedict is heartbroken about it. He thinks that everyone shall think he is a fool when they find out what has happened. I wondered... if you might write of him in the kindest way possible. He did what he thought was right without a second thought for whether it was real or not. I... he is heartbroken, he wishes to leave London tonight for he feels so embarrassed of what Lady whistledown may write."

She glances down at her paper and then back up to me, nodding without hesitation. "I shall write of him as I wrote of Colin last season. A kind young man tricked by an evil lady of lies."

"You shall be doing me such a favour, Pen. Truly, he is... beside himself. Him and Anthony are arguing again, I thought we had bypassed that stage but alas, we seem to have regressed back there." I take a seat on the bed and yawn, smiling a little. "He is a kind young man. He is just... he does not think twice before he tries to help."

"That is a wonderful quality, Peaches. At least he did not sneer at her and attempt to make her raise the... fake baby all alone." She raises a gently eyebrow, looking back at me. "Make yourself at home. I shall write it and you can read it. It shall be as though we are working together!"

"As long as you write lovely things of my husband, I do not mind." I smile a little. Things shall work out alright, it seems. "He has been having some dress made for me. He shall not allow me to see it."

"Oh, for the ball?"

"Ball?"

"Oh... you did not know. I have ruined the surprise." She frowns a little as she turns to look at me. "Yes, you are having a ball at Aubrey hall. He came to ask me whether I would help him choose flowers. I met him at the modiste the other day so we might choose some... I believe it is because he feels so awful you never had a real wedding."

"It is a wedding dress then?"

"No, no. Not quite. It is... it is incredibly pretty, Peaches. And I believe he is putting such a large amount of effort into all of it and so you must never tell him that I have revealed all of this to you! Then he shall really be angry." She finishes her scribbles and hands it to me so that I might proofread it. "How is it?"

"Wonderful. Thank you, Lady Whistledown."