Society dictates that a young debutante must join the marriage mart in order to obtain a suitable husband. Beatrice Sinclair would disagree, instead proclaiming that women should be able to gain an education and experience the wider world before bei...
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Season 1 Episode 6 - Swish
Despite claiming that Anthony Bridgerton was dead to her, Beatrice had done nothing but think of him since Daphne's wedding reception. Every waking moment she found her mind wandering towards the man. She had even spent the night tossing and turning in her bed, her thoughts denying her rest. It was not just him that she pondered though; it was what he had done, the anger that had caused. Maybe she was being irrational in hating him but she had given him her trust and he had carelessly broken it. Not only that but he almost killed Simon in the process.
It seemed quite fitting that Simon and Anthony's duel had only just occurred when today was the anniversary of her father's death. Seven years ago, when Beatrice was all but sixteen, a man aged nine and twenty was desperate to be betrothed to her. Gifts, flowers, money – Edwin Scott took any path one can imagine to gain someone's favour. Yet the Sinclair family were unflinching in their stance that they would not allow Beatrice to be betrothed to this man.
However, he was not easily deterred and one day he had appeared in their garden's, waiting for Beatrice. Fortunately for the Sinclair's, Percival was the one to find him. He had planted multiple facers before sending the man away with not only his face, but also his pride bruised. It seemed that the latter bruise healed quickly as mere hours later he returned, challenging Percival to a duel. Being a gentleman, he had tried to decline but the man threatened to falsely proclaim to high society that he had taken Beatrice's virtue.
Hearing of the news, William Sinclair would not allow his only son to partake in the event. So instead, he challenged Edwin Scott to a duel, refusing to allow his daughter's reputation to be tarnished. The next morning, he and Percival rode out to a clearing, meeting the man and his father there. A mere hour later, Percival had returned home with their father's body and news that both men had perished in the dispute that day.
The family had deeply mourned William's death for weeks. They barely slept, bathed, ate – all they could do was blame themselves for their father's and husband's death. None of them knew how they would overcome such loss until one day Percival awoke and put on a brave face. That day he managed to get both his mother and sister to eat a full meal at the dining table and to bathe. Then the next day, the same occurred. Finally, months later the family felt able to continue on with their lives again. Every day they still found a themselves mourning William, but they had to continue on living, for him. He would not want them all to lock themselves away forever.
Once they eventually returned to London, they had falsified the nature of his death. Consumption – that is what had stolen his life away from him. No one could know that he had died partaking in an illegal duel. William's legacy would not be that he was a criminal.
This was why Beatrice could not forgive Anthony for what he had done. She had almost had to watch someone she considered to be family die in the same traumatic way her father had departed the world. If it was to have been anyone else who broke her trust, perhaps she would not have felt so betrayed. But for some strange reason, she felt heartbroken.
