Aspire - Kanthony's continuation story

Chapter 8 - A Night at the Opera

Lady Whistledown's Society Papers – October 2nd, 1815

Dearest, gentle reader...

This author regrets to inform you that the social season of 1815 has come to its unfortunate end, as seasons always tend to do. But fret not, dear reader, there are still some of the juiciest autumn apples to pick from this season's end result. [...]

And when it comes to family with the perfectly beautiful daughters, perfectly handsome sons and now also perfectly beautiful wives and soon perfectly beautiful children, and I mean of course the Bridgertons, this author has to unwillingly admit that she was wrong about a certain matter she wrote last year. Viscount Anthony Bridgerton has in fact proved out to be a most dedicated husband, even to such an extent that the viscount and viscountess did not care to leave their love nest to make an appearance at the last ball of the season, and neither did Miss Eloise Bridgerton, who is already out in her second season. It truly seems like Viscountess Bridgerton has managed to turn this formerly lecherous hound into her meek little lapdog, which might be a triumph to her wits and beauty, but dreadfully boring to the rest of us. Much to this author's surprise, and surely yours as well, it seems now that Lady Violet Bridgerton is the most interesting member of this family at the moment. Brace yourself, dear reader... You read it here first; the dowager viscountess has apparently been frequently visiting Stanton Manor and a certain duke who lives there. Might there be a new blissful marriage on the horizon for the Bridgerton family?

Anthony threw the paper away like it was infected with cholera. Fantastic, now the entire ton knew about the courtship between the duke and her mother! And that he himself nowadays was a 'meek lapdog', although the author was perhaps not entirely wrong...

"She does write rather nicely about us nowadays, do you not think so, brother?" Daphne smirked at Anthony from where she sat with Kate opposite him on a sofa in the Bridgerton House drawing room. He simply glowered at her, both for her teasing comment and for having been caught reading the damned gossip paper.

"Nicely?" He snarled. "That awful woman insulted me and revealed mother's secret to everybody!"

"It is hardly a secret anymore, or at least it soon will not be. I believe the duke will probably propose before Christmas." Kate smiled knowingly.

"What?" Anthony spat out and Kate cast him one of her 'please count to ten before you continue'-looks. And so Anthony did, like the meek lapdog that he apparently was. Slowly he breathed in deeply and counted down from ten in his mind. "What have you heard?" He then continued in a slightly more collected manner.

"Nothing, I simply believe that would be the next logical course of action." Kate replied matter-of-factly.

"Oh, that would be wonderful!" Daphne giggled. "Imagine mother in a beautiful white gown!" She sighed in a dreamy voice. Anthony did not want to imagine his mother in a wedding gown.

"Can you two not go outside and do something else than drive me mad, I still need to get some work done and your constant giggling is giving me a headache..." He muttered and tossed the ladies the newspaper, filled with advertisements of events for the evening. Daphne and Kate quickly eyed through it together.

"Oh, we must go to the opera and see Romeo and Juliet! Everyone who has seen it cannot seem to stop singing their praise about it." Daphne exclaimed, realising much too late why it might be a bad idea to take Kate to the opera house.

"Wonderful! I love operas, but I have not been to one ever since my family and I left Bombay!" Kate rejoiced and Anthony cast a murderous accusatory look at Daphne, but she just glared back at him insolently. He should not have accused his sister of causing him a headache...