𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 | anthony bridgerton

𝐢𝐯. high expectations

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

Catherine was sat beside Francesca in the Bridgerton drawing room as the young girl practiced her pianoforte with help from the golden haired girl beside her at times. Catherine couldn't help the small smile that seemed cemented onto her face at the constant deja vu she had been experiencing ever since she had once again began avoiding the Cowper's for the Bridgerton's.

"That's ritard, darling, ritard into energico." Catherine said gently, so as not to disturb the flow of the piece. Francesca nodded, gradually slowing her playing of the passage before playing the next with zest to the appeasement of the older girl who clapped lightly. "Perfect! I was never able to get that transition."

Francesca blushed slightly with a smile as she continued the piece with Catherine closing her eyes for a moment to hum along quietly.

She was not aware, however, of a certain Viscount watching from the door of the drawing room. Anthony had only arrived a few moments earlier to take his afternoon tea with the family when his eyes landed on Catherine Cowper, sitting beside his sister at the pianoforte. She was ethereal in the morning light after only seeing her the night before by the light of the moon.

In a pale pink dress, accented by white flowers along the bust, and her long golden hair pinned just so so parts of it fell in waves down her back, she looked the picture of elegance and yet still joyfulness as she smiled beside his sister, guiding her hands from key to key every so often. He wondered why on earth she had not caught his eye earlier.

"Good afternoon all." Anthony announced as he entered the drawing room, paper in hand. "Good afternoon, Catherine."

"Good afternoon Anthony, it's good to see you again." Catherine said, opening her eyes to meet Anthony's, ignoring the fluttering feeling in her chest at his sudden appearance after the night before.

"Anthony you did not tell us you saw Catherine?" Violet stated, sorting through the fabrics madame Delacroix had handed to her for a new dress for Eloise.

"He kept me company last night after your daughter and Pen abandoned me to the bachelors of the ton." Catherine explained, sending a look to Eloise who slumped further into her chair.

"We were trying to find you." The brunette grumbled. "If I had known you were in his company I would've made a search warrant."

"Delightful as ever, Eloise." Anthony said, rolling his eyes much to the amusement of Catherine, a fact he caught as he noticed her slight grin as she returned to Francesca and the pianoforte. He found he liked making her smile.

With a breath, he took his seat by the window beside the pianoforte and opened his paper. He wasn't reading, he was thinking. He was not sure how courtships should go truly. He was not sure what even the instant attraction meant for him or for Catherine. He wasn't afraid of actually falling in love but he could admit he was terribly afraid of being the only one to fall. But that wasn't what was happening, surely not.

"Lady Goring was quite taken with Eloise's dress last night, Madame Delacroix." Violet said as the music began once more. "She would keep saying how well it complimented her complexion. She said you reminded her of Daphne, dearest."

"I am not Daphne." Eloise said, turning a page in her book. "If you are looking for a Daphne in this room, the closest you will possibly get is Catherine but even she has a brain-"

"Don't call your sister brainless, she had the brains to become a Duchess while you sit on my couch and eat my food." Violet said, making a tense face at Eloise who huffed. But then, Violet found the perfect silk. "This is the one."