With All My Love, Angel _ Anthony Bridgerton

Prologue

Angel had been searching all day. She had sworn that she had woken up that morning and seen them on her bed. What could have possibly happened to them? She looked in her dresser, under the bed, in the drawing room, and the yard. She had spent half the day searching.... well If one was to be precise she had only spent two hours truly looking but if you were to ask her, that would've been her response.

 As she was shuffling through some toys in her bed chambers, a noise caught her attention. It was coming from the field a few yards away from the house. As she sat there pondering what it could be, she wondered where Anthony was. She curiously hadn't seen Anthony all morning, not even on her perilous search through the estate or the grounds. Her thoughts were interrupted by that blasted noise again. Yet a feeling of foreboding rushed through her. 

A nervous thought erupted through her mind. 'He wouldn't dare, would he?'. As she straightened up from her position on the floor she headed toward the noise, only assuming that is where he would be. He had gone on and on about how his skills at shooting had improved exponentially. Boasting about his excellent marksmanship. She had only rolled her eyes as he droned on. 

Now that she thought of it he had to know. As she got closer and closer her thoughts started to race and to anyone that knew her that was never a good thing. She had grown quite angry by the time she had reached Anthony Bridgerton standing in the middle of the field, as he loaded his gun once again to take another shot.

"Anthony!" Angel screamed as she ran toward the boy. Her angry little face had appeared right beside him as he continued to practice his marksmanship. His shots had been loud but not as loud as her voice. "What Angel," he said quite irritatedly as he lined his gun for the shot. She had put her hands on her hips, very annoyed at his complete disinterest. "Where have you put my dolls!" She screamed. Bang! The gun went off. She placed her hands over her ears to stop the ringing. 'He is such a git.' She thought to herself if her mother ever caught wind of her choice of words she would surely have lost her mind.

 Anthony had an amused smile, which in turn only made the little girl angrier. "Anthony Bridgerton tell me this instant where you have put my dolls! I know you have done something to them, now tell me!" She could not help herself. She was fuming. Anthony gave her a lopsided smile only turning toward his target and gesturing for her to look. It could not be helped. As the quiet country air was filled with Angel's scream. The piercing sound had reached the ears of the entire household.

Marcus, Veronica, Edmond, Violet, and even Benedict and little Colin had run out of the house to see what the commotion was all about. Veronica was the first to reach her daughter. She lifted her little arms, turning her around to see if she was injured. Yet once she realized that Anthony was with her daughter, she knew it was not a physical injury she should be looking for. "Angel darling, what has happened?" 

As the rest of the party arrived all out of breath from the jog. "What happened?" Marcus asked as he looked at his daughter and then toward his godson. Angel had tears running down her face, her lips quivering not able to get a word out, she could only point. Right at her doll that was strapped to a pole in the middle of the field with a hole through its head. All the adults had looked astounded for it was not just one doll that was out there but three. All with the same hole right through their heads.

Marcus and Edmond had to hold back a laugh as they looked on. The first thing that they felt once they realized what they were looking at was pride. "Father, Uncle Marcus I was finally able to practice that trick that you showed me!" Anthony looked elated, pleased with his work. What granted him even more pleasure was the sheer fact that he had upset Angel. How he reveled at the thought of her misery, and that she would not be able to ask him to play dolls with her for at the very least till the next season when they would, unfortunately, meet again.