Bridgerton - His One True Love

Chapter Nine - Expect The Unexpected

As quickly as he fled the Hastings home he had arrived back to the Bridgerton's home. Rushing inside to the drawing room praying that it was not swarmed with suitors for Daphne at this early hour.

With the doors being opened for him and upon inspection of the room, he only saw his mother and his sisters inside, much to his pleasure and to Daphne's displeasure, for she had got her hopes up only for them to come crashing down upon seeing her eldest brother and not an eligible suitor walking through the doors.

"Anthony! I did not expect to see you here this morning" she angrily huffed at the fact he had graced them with this presence.

"It is terribly early for you, dearest" Violet replied, equally as displeased as her daughter, for he would only ruin Daphne's chances at finding a suitor and ruining her chances of ever being happy.

"I could not sleep for some reason. All the excitement, I presume. Am I the first gentleman to arrive? How wonderful!" he smirked, amused that he was the first there and could not wait to scare away those who did not belong, in his eyes at least.

Violet had her suspicions as to why Anthony could not sleep, not for the simple fact that his sister was to be expecting callers this morning but the fact that the girl he had loved for years had returned, or that he had chosen to spend the night with his mistress once more.

Pleased with himself he took a seat beside his sister ready for the day's festivities to commence.

Appearing to have arrived just on time suitors appeared one by one, seeming to come out of the woodwork thought Anthony. However, in reality it had only been a mere four or five callers, all arriving in intervals throughout the morning.

Daphne delighted at the sight of these men choosing to call to her over so many other beautiful ladies that they saw at the ball the previous night. Even with the Queens praise, she feared she was not good enough. With each suitor Daphne had multiple questions she wished to get through to see if they were truly the right one for her, but every time she began to converse with them Anthony would begin a conversation with them.

Once he was distracted in conversation Daphne finally thought she would be able to speak with Lord Williams, but as soon as she began Anthony approached the pair and bore holes in Lord Williams head.

"Is there a problem Lord Bridgerton?" he politely enquired.

"I should think so you are in my seat" he replied matter-of-factly and awaited the gentleman to stand so that he could sit beside his sibling, causing yet another suitor to leave the Bridgerton house much to Daphne's disappointment.

With each passing hour that afternoon, the Bridgerton house received less and less callers much to Anthony's satisfaction.

"Well, I must be off to my club then. Sisters. Mother." He bid them farewell and made his way not to the gentlemen's club, but to the Hastings estate. To see his beloved Jenifer so that they could both finally tell one another about the events that transpired that fateful evening five years ago.

Upon his arrival at the Hastings estate, he was in shock to see the number of men making their way in and out of the home. He had spent all morning fighting off suitors from his sister, he had not even considered he would need to do the same here.

Once he had stepped foot in the house he soon realised things were far graver then he feared, for there were many more suitors here than had called to see Daphne and that some were the same too.

Trying his best not to get angry by the events currently taking place he went to locate Simon, hoping he could put an end to all this nonsense, although he was confused as to why he had let it take place to begin with.

In his search for Simon it led him straight to Jenifer, who upon seeing Anthony visibly relaxed and looked as though she had finally let out a breath she had been holding in since his departure that morning. With a simple look that screamed 'Save me please!' Anthony approached Jenifer in attempts to rescue her from whatever boring and monotonous conversation Lord Berbrooke was trying to have with her.

"Your Grace, if you would be so kind as to a quick word about your brother" he questioned with an outstretched hand.

"Of course, Lord Bridgerton, if you would excuse me Lord Berbrooke" she replied with a fake smile gracing her lips while accepting Anthony's hand, thankful he was leading her away from that awful man, all the while Lord Berbrooke kept calling after her hoping she would return to his side to converse.

"Thank heavens you are here Anthony, I have spent the whole morning conversing with suitors I have no intention of marrying all because of Lady Danbury" she huffed, wishing for this nightmare to end.

"I tried to get Simon to stop all of this, but whatever Lady Danbury said to him this morning has made him decline my requests. You would think he would simply agree to my request in order for me to forgive him, but it was no use"

This caused great confusion not only for Jen but also for Anthony. Both Simon and Lady Danbury knew of their love for one another and were witness to their reunion the night prior, so what was the need for all of this when it was completely pointless.

"No need to worry my love, your knight in shining armour is here to save you from the likes of Lord Berbrooke" he said with a chuckle as they made their way outside, hoping one of the many suitors would not follow and ruin the moment.

However it was not the suitors they would need to watch out for, it was Lady Danbury. With Lady Whistledown writing of the Basset siblings return and of Jenifer's beauty she knew this would attract all of the attention of the ton towards her, even more so than the attention she would receive as a result of her lineage, or the attention she would receive from the mamas and fathers of the ton who thought her to have passed like her father.

Lady Danbury had nothing against Lord Bridgerton per say, in fact she rather liked him. She just believed Jenifer could do better, perhaps she could marry a prince. All she wanted was for Jenifer to have the best in life, for she knew her father did not have the same intentions for the girl when he was alive, and she did not think Anthony could provide her with that.

Simon had watched the pair escape and was happy to see a smile across Jen's face for the first time that day. He wished for nothing more than to grant her request and send all of these men away, for they did not love his sister, they simply wanted her for her looks and for her title, not for her intelligence or for who she is and he could not stand it. At least with Bridgerton he knew he loved her for who she is on the inside.

What both Anthony and Jenifer did not know was that during the conversation Lady Danbury had with the Duke that very morning she had informed him of the severity of Anthony's rake like ways.

Simon knew his friend to be a rake, but that was only because he believed Jen to be dead, Simon knew he would put a cease to this now she is back. However, upon hearing his mistress lived across town in a place Anthony paid for surprised him, for he did not see Bridgerton as the type to do such a thing.

With that he took the advice of Lady Danbury, to keep Jenifer's options open, should Anthony continue to see his mistress then he would not be allowed to marry Jen and disgrace her name.

Even though Bridgerton was his oldest friend, his sister has and always will come first. He will not let her be married to him should he prove to be unfaithful while courting her, that he would make sure of.