Aspire - Kanthony's continuation story

Chapter 9 - The Persuasion of a Prince

"I know..." Anthony exhaled, where he sat on his bed staring unbelievingly at his father.

"But why on earth are you being so hard on your mother?" Edmund asked suddenly. "Violet has grieved for me all these years, surely she is allowed to find happiness with someone else by now." He uttered in his stern scolding voice that instantly made Anthony feel like a schoolboy who had misbehaved. Which had happened quite often, especially after Benedict and Colin had arrived and the three of them had constantly been up to something.

"I..." Anthony started. "I just wished that you were here with us, no other man..."

"But I am here." Edmund claimed, looking at Anthony like he was less clever than he had expected. "My blood runs in your veins, Anthony. And in that child's veins." He pointed at Kate. "And in the veins of all your brothers and sisters. I am always around, I have never left you completely, son." He declared calmly. Anthony just stared at him with tears painfully burning in his eyes. "Do not be so harsh to your mother, she has suffered the same pain as you, if not worse. It truly gladdens me that she is finally moving on with her life. And you should be glad for her as well." Edmund finished, like a judge casting his sentence.

"But... How, what should I do...?" Anthony asked hopelessly.

"You will carry on. Like you have always done and always will. Simply carry on, even when life gives you its worst." Edmund said with a reassuring smile, but his words started to boom and bounce around in Anthony's head like he had stuck it inside a large marching drum.

"No –" Anthony gasped just as his father disappeared in front of him and he once again jerked up from his bed, this time for real. He stared at the now empty chair in the corner, jolted up on his feet and searched through every closet and crevice in the room to make sure his father was truly gone and that he was truly awake. He splashed some cold water on his sweaty face from the porcelain basin on the nightstand and stared at his reflection in the mirror for a while, even slapped his cheek to make sure this was not a dream anymore. But clearly it was not, because here he was, almost in his thirties, while his father lay in the cold ground outside Aubrey Hall. He took a deep sigh, trying to shake the vivid dream away from his mind and crawled back underneath the duvet next to Kate. He pressed his body tightly against her back, breathed in the calming scent of lilies from her hair and wrapped his arms around her roundish belly.

"I will carry on..." He whispered, like a promise, before falling asleep again.

***

The next morning Anthony Bridgerton was in a much more cheerful mood than he had been ever since they had arrived in London, much to the relief of his wife, siblings and staff. He had immediately told Kate about his dream when she had woken up. Kate had listened politely, but inside her mind she heaved a sigh. Obviously Anthony would listen to the ghost of his dead father, rather than take to heart the words of his very living wife and mother, who had been trying to make him accept the situation with the duke for weeks... Nevertheless, now he had written to Violet that he wished to see her the next day, right after he had ordered the cook to start preparing a dinner suitable enough for a prince and a princess for tonight. The family had gathered in the drawing room after breaking fast together, not even Anthony had yet left for his study.

"No, Kate, you have to be absolutely still...!" Benedict complained, as he was trying to paint a portrait of the viscountess. "The light was just so beautiful on your face and now it is gone."

"If you are not capable of painting a beautiful portrait of a woman as gorgeous as my wife, surely you are a worse artist than we have given you credit for..." Anthony sneered at his brother over his newspaper from the sofa. Colin snickered and Kate sighed where she sat propped up on a chair.