Bridgerton - A Girl To Remember

Chapter Thirty-two

Lady Whistledown's point of view

Dear readers,

Last night was a night that will not soon be forgotten, I even doubt if I ever will forget. The ball did not seem interesting at first, of course, the prince of England was present which made it tempting to attend but it was nothing more than that until she came around.

All guests had already arrived and it was quiet, the first round of dancing had ended and there was a little break. There was some chattering and gossiping but not much to stay awake for. Then, entirely out of the blue, all heads turned upwards, towards the stairs leading to the crowd. I followed the gazes of the attendants with my eyes and understood why I heard the many gasps and why most eyes widened.

On the middle of the staircase was standing no one less than our own miss Olivia Bridgerton, who had been revealed to be disguising herself as William Williams during the Horseriding competition last week. Although it was a little odd for her to attend after the scandal, which I found amusing as well as brave, it was not only her face that made people whisper. The clothes she wore were completely obvious not meant for a woman to wear, they were meant for a man.

The suit was neat and blue, fitting her eyes, making her look fierce and not to be messed with. It suited her, it did not appear unnatural, as I would have expected when seeing a young woman in a man's suit. I believe she lend this suit from her cousin Colin, who has just the same length and most likely would not mind teasing his brother Anthony, whose face nearly turned red when he saw Olivia.

It was Miss. Featherington, who had the ability not to show any kind of emotions nor respect towards the girl, who spoke first once miss Bridgerton had come downstairs. She had been stared at down, her head up and her hands loosely next to her body, she must have been afraid, deep down, but she did not show. Once the whispering had stopped and you could hear a needle fall, miss Featherinton opened her mouth,

"miss Bridgerton, what a... lovely... outfit you have chosen today. I must disappoint you though, my daughters are more looking for an actual gentleman..."

"I believe your daughters are looking for a man who takes them so far away they will never have to deal with you again..." the air in the room changed, miss Bridgerton was biting back today, as she should. I agree with her, if I would have been miss Featherington's child, I would have ran off too. It stayed silent at first, but few people could not hold their laughter, and I even spotted a grin on the prince's face.

Miss Featherington did not appreciate the comment and her eyes spit fire,

"at least they have a mother" it was simply mean, but miss Bridgerton did not seem to bother,

"my mother never chose to leave, your daughters have been trying to run away from you all their lives"

"your mother would have been so disappointed to see you like this..."

"How would you know?"

"No mother would ever want to find their daughters in a suit, acting as rudely as you are right now"

"my mother wished for me to be independent and strong... I believe I achieved her goal, did I not?" miss Bridgerton stepped closer, overtowering miss F. it only now came to our attention how tall Olivia was, now that her back was straightened and the look in her eyes could kill anyone. She could overpower anyone, as long as she wanted to. Olivia looked around and breathed in deeply, preparing to give the speech of her life,

"hate on me the much you want, talk about me behind my back and point at me when I walk by. you can do whatever you want, pretend to disgust my actions, act as if you disagree, and shove aside your actual opinion. But we all know that something is wrong. We all know that it is unfair towards us women to be shoved aside, merely because we were born different. Even the men in this room should feel it, the guilt running around deep inside of your heart, screaming that you have a privilege you did not earn. Something you did not work for, something that has been handed to you since the moment you were born. Does it not feel wrong?"

The room fell silent again, people were looking around, some of them started to nod and she continued,

"if I were to decide, things would be different. If I were to decide, we would create a horseriding competition for women as well. If I were to decide, women would be treated equally to men and there would be no exceptions. Then women could make money and have it be their own even if they are married. Then we women would have a voice" Olivia cleared her throat and looked me, and all the other women in the room right in the eyes, "but I am not to decide because I am not a man."

And with that she sighed, looked into our souls one more time, and then turned around, ready to walk up the stairs and leave the city for god knows how long. The whispers began and she took her first step towards the exit when in the corner of my eyes someone emerged from the crown,

"You can decide" a loud but gentle voice, striking across the room, Olivia stopped and by the way her shoulder tightened, I knew she had recognized his voice. She turned her head and saw him, the prince of England, or as she got to know him, Louis,

"I cannot make you a man, but, if you agree to take my hand and allow me to be your future husband, I could make you our queen" his words flew through the air and were caught with utter surprise, this time it was more than only whispering, it was chattering, loudly. Which all transformed into silence when the prince took a few more steps forward. Olivia had turned to him entirely and she was struck by speechlessness.

He came closer and there he did it, the deed to give his words true value, he got down to the ground on one knee and looked at up at her,

"Olivia Borough, will you marry me?" there was a slight fear in his voice, they had known each other for a bit, but this was a highly unusual situation. Because her facial expression was still a bit numb, he had no clue what she was going to say. But then, when they caught each other's gaze, her shoulders dropped and she could not hide a smile creeping up to her face. Her eyes started to twinkle and her heart had just melted, she took his hand and with absolute passion, she answered,

"yes. I would love to marry you" I had never seen that much relief on a man's face, the prince stood up and for a few seconds, they remained still. They could not take their eyes off of each other and then he kissed her forehead, gentle as he is. she fell into his arms and we, the audience, got to see the vulnerable side of Olivia Borough, not showing any sign of weakness, just the fact that she is only 17 years old and also has feelings that can be hurt.

I cannot predict the future, my dear readers, but yet, this author is entirely assured that this young woman will make the best queen England has ever had.

Yours truly,

Lady Whistledown

The End

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PS: There are four more chapters after this one :)

PPS: I just published the first chapter of a new story I'm working on. It's slightly similar to this, but I've given it a mordern twist. Please feel free to check it out :)

Synopsis: Both Cecilia and Orion have one goal in their final year at the Royal Institute; enjoy their freedom. For Cecilia, finding her freedom becomes a rather hard task, when her parents have found her a suitable husband. Orion on the other hand, has yet to tell anyone about his issues with anxiety, and it is only getting worse. Faith has it, that this gorgeous It-Girl and notorious captain of the soccer team help each other out in difficult times, and may find freedom in each other, at last.

Link: https://www.wattpad.com/story/363179130-royal-youth-no-damsel-no-distress