Loren sat on the edge of her bed, lost in her thoughts. Her mind was drifting to her encounter with the Viscount at Somerset House. 'Sienna' he had said. Which meant that during the entire interaction, he was thinking of Sienna, not her. Loren scolded herself at how stupid she was. She actually believed that there was a possibility that she was the objects of his desires, or the bane of his existence.
But no, he was simply a rake, just as society had declared him to be.
The woman sighed deeply, rising from her seated position, for she felt overwhelmed and decided a nice walk in the garden would do her good. She exited her bedroom, heading toward the stairs when she saw Daphne running up the staircase, Rose trailing behind her. Loren noticed that the young girl was crying, and this set off her motherly instincts. She followed her, "Daph! What has happened?" She asked, only to be ignored. Daphne ran into her room, slamming the door behind her. When Loren attempted to open it, she realized that the door had been locked.
Loren turned to Rose, "Do you know what has caused her distress?" Rose shook her head, "She was supposed to meet with the Duke. It seems as though their meeting was cut short, and then Miss Daphne requested to return home." Loren sighed, "Of course it had to do with Simon." She muttered before knocking on the door, "Daphne! Are you alright?" It was a stupid question, for it was quite obvious that the girl was distraught. "Leave me be!" The girl shouted in response.
Loren sighed, abandoning her thoughts of a walk, and deciding that she would wait at this door until Daphne was ready to talk. In these situations, no one deserved to be alone. And she would not be, because if it truly was the Duke who hurt Daphne, then he would surely be receiving hell from Loren Smith.
***
Sienna Rosso was seated at her vanity, preparing herself for the trip to Madame Delacroix, when a man who worked at the opera house entered, "A gentleman is here to see you." Sienna felt confused, but nodded. The man stepped back to reveal Anthony Bridgerton, in all his rakish glory. Sienna glared at him lightly before glancing back at her mirror, "To what do I owe this unexpected visit?"
"I wanted to see you." He said softly. Sienna scoffed, "What is it this time? A ball you wish not to attend? A family obligation you prefer to avoid? What, perchance, is the Viscount Bridgerton seeking to escape tonight? Surprising as it may be to you, I do not sit here merely waiting for your visits. I have plans of my own to attend."
"With the duke?" He asked, jealously and guilt gnawing at him. "My affairs are no longer your concern, sir, as you have already made abundantly clear." Sienna sassed. The man clenched his fists, sighing deeply, "If you are using Hastings in some scheme to vex me, Sienna..."
"Well, he is certainly a handsome man of great wealth and high rank, everything a woman in my position might want. Your vindictiveness is noted... The duke has not called on me." She said, "And I am not consorting with any friend of yours." The woman then paused, chuckling, "Though I must say, it is not surprising in the least to know that you are only here because you are jealous."
Anthony scoffed, "I am not here because I am jealous." He denied. Sienna simply rolled her eyes, rising from her seat before shoving past the man, "Goodbye, my lord," Before the woman could walk any further from him, Anthony grasped her wrist, "I am here because I miss you!"
He pulled her close, whispering into her ear, "I cannot think of anything else, Sienna. Come back to me." Without another word, Sienna ripped herself out of his embrace, disappointment and sadness gleaming in her eyes, "Your position in life remains unchanged. And so, too, does mine. You are the viscount. Your responsibility will always be to that title, above all else. You shall marry, sire an heir, and guard your family. And I... I shall always be the woman you may love in darkness, but never in the light of day. You have made me promises before, and I, like a fool, believed them. I cannot be your fool again."
Sienna then left, abandoning Anthony alone in the dressing room. Her words were a slap to the face. The soprano's words echoed in his head, and now it was he who felt like a fool.
***
Loren could not sleep.
And she could not pinpoint why. Perhaps it was that she was coming down with something. Earlier that evening, the woman hadn't been feeling her best, and so she decided to stay home from the ball. And apparently she had missed quite a bit. For now, the Prince of Prussia was interested in the eldest Bridgerton girl, instead of her, which was a relief.
And yet, Loren felt very off. Her head was pounding, her muscles ached, and she felt chilly. It was not a seasonal time where fevers would be spreading, but Loren couldn't think of anything else that would possibly be affecting her in this way.
A knock on the door drew her out of her thoughts. Loren cleared her throat, "Come in." The woman winced at the raspiness of her voice. The door was pushed open to reveal Anthony, a concerned look on his face, "Are you alright? It is quite late, you shouldn't be awake."
Loren sighed, not wanting to see the man, "I am alright, Anthony, now please leave." The stubborn man did not leave, he only entered the room, approaching her. "You most definitely are not. What is the matter?"
"I cannot sleep, that is all." Loren lied, wanting him to leave her be, but she knew Anthony, and he would not be swayed so easily. "I know you better than that, now what is the matter?" The woman sighed, "I am just not feeling well." Anthony nodded, lifting his hand to the woman's forehead. "Anthony, I am fine-"
"You are feeling warm, yet not warm enough to be a fever." Loren could tell that the man was concerned for her, but she waved him off, "I will be fine, Anthony-" "Should I summon for a doctor?" Loren shook her head, "Goodness, no. I am sure it is just a passing thing. In the morning, surely I will be perfectly perfect." Anthony sat beside her, the conversation shifting to a more serious tone, "I wish to apologize, for my behavior at Somerset House." Loren shook her head, sighing deeply, "I do not wish to talk about it."
"But I do." He reached for her hands, which were sweaty and clammy, yet he still grasped them firmly, glancing at her, a look of guilt in his eyes, "I did a terrible thing to you, and I find that I cannot forgive myself for it. Not just Somerset, but I have been lying to you for months now, and it has been tearing me apart. And I now wish to explain... if you will allow me."
Loren nodded without hesitation. With everything that had happened between them, she found it hard to forgive him. She that she would forgive him eventually, but it wouldn't be some instant apology that did the trick. But, she did want an explanation, and she was happy that he was giving it to her. "It started a few months ago. And to be honest, I was quite drunk, and don't remember much from how it all started with Miss Rosso. But since then, I have been meeting with her in the nights and we've been having relations-"
"Just say it Anthony, you were having sex."
Anthony glanced at the woman with a disgusted look, "Relations sounds better than flat out saying 'sex' and makes me feel better about myself." They both chuckled softly before Anthony continued, "We started having sex, and it continued for a while. Then, Mother found out. She gave me a talking too, for I was more interested in my nightly rituals than doing my duty as the Viscount." Loren nodded as Anthony paused, she understood that this was a lot to unpack for him. With a deep breath, Anthony continued, "And I ended it. I told her we could not see one another anymore. And then tonight, I-I went to see her. What I said to you-what I did to you-was all because I missed her. I missed being with her. And so I went to her and explained that I wanted her back, which was a stupid move on my part. And... she said that she could not be my fool anymore."
There was silence for a few moments before Anthony spoke again, "Go on, chastise me. Scold me for my stupidity. I know you want too." Loren shook her head, "I will not scold you." Anthony groaned, "Then at least say something!"
"Anthony... do you love her?"
Anthony stared at the woman before him, "What?"
"Do you love her? I understand you had a purely sexual relationship with one another, but, maybe some feelings stemmed from that." The man shook his head, "No, that cannot possibly be the reason."
"Maybe it is, Anthony. And that is what you need to figure out. For if you truly wish for something special with Miss Rosso, you must first know your true intentions. Do you love her? Or do you just want someone to sleep with?"
Anthony sighed, "Even if I wanted too, we could never work. It would be the biggest scandal, the family would be ruined and I would have failed them all." Loren squeezed his hand, "Then we'd figure it out. We always do. You deserve to be happy, Anthony."
Anthony smiled at Loren, before pulling her into an embrace, "You deserve happiness just as much as I do, you know that right?"
Loren nodded into his shoulder, doing her best to conceal the tears that were threatening to spill as his words about Miss Rosso whirled in her head, "I know, Anthony, I know."
SOoooo its been awhile!
I was working a lot on a song for my school's talent show, and I sang it yesterday and it was a lot of fun.
Anywaysss just a nice chapter. I am so excited to write for episode four! I have so many plans and I can't wait!
Thank you for reading and comment your thoughts!
-Av-