,wallflower' • BRIDGERTON

chapter 16

"Who Wears The Crown?"

【16】

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The ton bustled with gossip as the news of Miss Katherine Buckingham and Benedict Bridgerton spread. Some couldn't believe that Hope's sister would come to London and get an immediate connection with the most prestigious family in town.

Benedict was not courting the girl just yet, he wanted to know her through and through before even muttering the word marriage.

He was walking with the woman in the streets of town as his siblings and mother were just a couple feet away, following nearly his every move. Sabrina was getting quite acquainted with Miss Eloise Bridgerton.

Benedict glanced behind himself at his family before looking at Katherine.

"They are incredibly nosey, the wild second born dances with a woman and the whole ton runs wild." He said. Katherine nodded her head. "It is all the same where me and sisters live, everyone thirsts for the next love match or the next scandal." She said with a slight roll of her eyes.

"You couldn't believe the shock I felt when I learned of a woman by the name of Whistledown was publishing about people's lives. I mean seriously, who does this woman think she is. And..."

The woman just rambled on. She had a lot of opinions she wasn't scared to speak of. Benedict was impressed, nearly every woman in the ton was afraid to speak her mind. "...I would never do such a thing." He finally listened in. He hummed before nodding his head.

"Do you have any hobbies...? Extra activities you engage in?" He asked. Katherine nodded her head. "I do a bit of hand-embroidery, I have a thrill for books and knowledge." She said. Benedict eyes widened before he chuckled. "Really? Then you would love my eldest brother." He said.

Katherine squinted her eyes. "But he is a rake through and through, I heard. You seem to be the only brother Lady Whistledown hasn't written about yet." She said, sighing. Benedict smirks cockily. "Is that why you joined me on this walk, Miss Buckingham?" He tilted his head in a teasing manner.

Katherine looked off to the side. "Well, of course not. I just happen to be looking for a suitor and here comes you, sideways smirk and all. And, I'll have you know, it is prevalent that the eldest should marry first." She said. Benedict looked at her with confusion, if those were societies rules his family broke them long ago.

"I have a... question..." Katherine said, seemingly keeping her head low. "My sister... Hope. My father was... a special man in and of itself and my little sister had to deal with him for sixteen years. Meanwhile me and Sabrina was cared for by our mother."

"Does my sister... hate us? I mean surely she does, I would be if my sisters did not even bother looking for me for years, being left in a household where your father does not love anyone but himself." She finished. Benedict thought for a moment. There was no indication that she hated them, she was just disappointed that her own mother and father hardly cared for her.

"She does not hate you. She merely hates how her parents treated her, but Hope is not one to hold grudges, I assure you. During these 5 years of living with her she would never blame her sisters for her upbringing." He said. Katherine looked up at him before smiling softly.

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Benedict returned to the bar of nearly drunken men as they boasted and bragged about their finances or how many women they have been intimate with. Benedict hardly found any reason as to why he was friends with these kind of men. But, he could not judge, last year he hung out with any gentleman and mistress when he was attending parties.