Take My Hand [Bridgerton]

[12. Getting Things Done]

The plan was simple and straightforward.

Well, it was when Lady Bridgerton stepped in. Until then, Winnie had planned an elaborate scheme where-in she and Anna would dress like the help at the Berbrooke House in order to blend in, infiltrate the house, and catch Berbrooke doing something that would ruin him. Winnie was actually rather excited about her plan. She thought it genius, despite Anna's disapproving hums and clicking, and went to Lady Bridgerton with it written down, even going as far as to draw the house and the help's entrance, information courtesy of Anna's close friend Mary Alice, who used to work for the Berbrooke family numerous years before.

Violet humored her for a moment, listening intently to Winnie's plan and admiring the sketches that she had proudly presented to her. She liked the bare bones of Winnie's plan, the part where they caught Berbrooke doing something that would get him ostracized from the Ton, but sneaking into Berbrooke House would only get Winnie in trouble, and they didn't want that. Lady Bridgerton suggested an easier solution; she would invite Lady Berbrooke over for tea with her, Daphne, and Winnie, who would be invited under the pretense that she was helping Daphne plan the wedding. While they ate, Rose and Anna, along with Mrs. Wilson, would try to pry information from Lady Berbrooke's lady's maid in the kitchen. If all went well, they would have something to spread around the town. Once that information was picked up by Lady Whistledown, it'd be over for Nigel Berbrooke.

So, the invitation to tea was sent to Lady Berbrooke and Winnie was invited over by a desperate Daphne the very next day. Daphne was not very happy about having to spend time with Berbrooke's mother, near tears as she complained to Winnie. Winnie, herself, was trying not to spill the beans about the whole plot to Daphne, stuffing her mouth full of biscuit after biscuit to keep her busy, only a mere hour before tea was set to start.

She actually found that stress eating helped her lie way better than she ever had before. Now, she just had to be able to shove some more cake in her mouth during the actual meal. Thankfully, Daphne was too distracted to notice her overeating. Winnie had quite the sweet tooth, but she did not overindulge too much, thanks to Anna's strict interference.

"Nigel is my one and only child. A very special boy indeed," Lady Berbrooke bragged softly, picking out a cake from the serving tower that Violet held out to her. She went to bite into the cake but then paused to continue, "In fact, I often say God did not bless me with another because perfection had already been achieved."

Winnie hid her grimace by taking a bite of the cucumber and cheese sandwich she had picked up in order to take a break from the sweets.

"My goodness!" Violet hummed in agreement as Lady Berbrooke bit into her cake. She eyed Daphne, who sat across from Lady Berbrooke, and then glanced at Winnie. Winnie immediately hummed, too, knowing that was what Violet wanted from her.

"Mhm," Lady Berbrooke nodded. "Not every lady can be so blessed, I know."

Winnie raised a delicate eyebrow, knowing that Lady Berbrooke meant that as an insult to Lady Bridgerton. It was not unknown to anyone that the Bridgertons had an uncommonly large number of children, but to imply that Violet was not blessed...Why, the complete audacity that Lady Berbrooke had!