To Paint With Shadows | Benedict Bridgerton

The Changing of the Tide

The night seemed to never end; Benedict and Violet sat watching the door of his room, hoping to see the knob turn: as time passed they were soon joined by the other members of their family (except for Hyacinth and Gregory, who despite their pleading, had been all but forced to go to bed).
'Is there news?' Elouise asked, making her way over to stand with Anthony, who placed a comforting arm on her shoulders.
'No.' Kate said quietly, looking to the floor.
They all seemed to avoid looking to their brother, who had not moved from his seat on the floor; his eyes blood-curled and tear-stained, his hair now a mess after the amount of times his fingers had run through it.

'Click.' Everybody's eyes darted to the door, as it opened slowly. Upon seeing Doctor Nichols make his way out of it, Benedict quickly stood rushing over to the man.
Nobody need say a word, for Doctor Nichols soon spoke: 'She is awake, I believe given some time and rest, she will make a recovery.'
A chorus of deep exhalations filled the air, relief washing over the family's faces; except for Violet who could tell by the look in the man's eyes, that he had more to say.
Doctor Nichols focused his eyes on Benedict now, his gaze direct and unwavering. 'But her heart is very weak. Her condition can be managed at present.' He spoke so softly, his voice completely vanishing as he hesitated. 'Yet, I cannot guarantee the longevity of your wife's lifetime.' His words fell from his mouth as if they weighed a ton; crushing the chests of all those who heard them. 'I am so sorry, Mr Bridgerton.' He delivered empathetically, taking the astonished faces in the room as his queue to leave.
'I will see you out.' Anthony quickly spoke up, his dutiful nature acting without need of thought.

Benedict could not breathe: he wanted nothing more than to hold her in his arms, yet his body would not let him enter that room: he could not see her. Twice the doctor had mistakenly referred to Sophie as his wife; nobody had bothered to correct him, as it was hardly relevant; they were all much too focused on her. Howbeit, to Benedict the title felt entirely right. He felt guilty for being the cause of her stress tonight, but he would not lie to himself, if he could only have one wish in his life, one need to be met, it would be to be her husband.

'Frances.' He spat from his daze.
The eyebrows of his spectators contorted.
'I must inform Frances.' He stated, quickly making his way towards the stairs.
'Benedict, do you not wish to see her!' Violet called after him, worry filling her mind.
He halted, spinning on his heels to face her.
'She would want her here, Mother.' He explained rather curtly, avoiding her question not so subtly.
Before Violet could say anything in objection, he was already out the door.

Sophie's body seemed to scald itself, inevitably she had caught a fever from the rain too; Doctor Nichols had delivered the bad news not even an our ago, yet at present her brain seemed unable to digest it: fear seemed to pale when overshadowed by the weakness of her limbs. Violet had been the first to enter, telling her that she was glad she was awake, and that if she should need anything, just to let her know; the rest of the family lingered too, but nobody seemed to want to overstay their welcome, Sophie could not help but notice the absence of one face in particular.
'Sophie!' Frances ran into the room, almost removing the door from its hinges.
Sophie was overjoyed to see her, even if it took a lot of effort to express this; Frances was quick to kneel at Sophie's bedside, not seeming to mind the clamminess of her hands as she took them.
'I'm alright.' Sophie croaked hoarsely, hoping to reassure her friend.
Noticing the pain talking seemed to bring her, Frances quickly instructed her not to talk.
'The doctor believes you will be well enough to travel.' She stated, 'If that is what you still wish to do?' Frances queried genuinely.
Sophie nodded, her eyes closing as she focused her breathing.
'What is that?' Frances high pitched voice spoke in the darkness; Sophie's eyes fluttered open to see Frances retrieving something hidden in the corner of the room, as she turned Sophie realised what is was she was holding.
'He knows?' Frances asked, as she gazed down at the painting in her hands; the one of the woman in silver, who finally had a face. That face being Sophie's.
Sophie had not known Benedict knew it was her, although she assumed her may put it together eventually.
A pain began to pinch at her throat, water lining her glazed eyes: 'He refuses to see me?' She asked shakily.
Frances' lips pulled together in a partial frown, as she came to sit on the bed.
'I believe he feels guilty.' She said sympathetically, she took a breath then, seeming to greatly consider what she was going to stay, 'You know I love you more than anything.' She smiled, 'And I would love nothing more than to share a simple life together in the country, growing old beside eachother, without the need to marry and bear children, a life away from this society.' She began toying with her fingers, 'But I do not believe that plan will ever sit comfortably with me... you are far to good a woman to be hidden away.' Her words were ever so soft.
'Frances.' Sophie muttered in warning.
'You love him Sophie, and whether you wish to believe it or not, he is in love with you. You lie in his bed, his family stand outside that door plagued by the fear of losing you... Do you know the first thing he did upon hearing you had awoken? He ran across London, in the pouring rain, because he knew that you would want to see me.'
Sophie felt the tears line her cheeks, Frances' eyes seemed to water also.
Frances continued: 'That is the love we have always dreamed of, and you have found it in the kindest of men... Don't throw that away, Sophie.'
Perhaps Frances' words carried truth: after all that she had learned today, did she really have time to keep the things she desired at bay?

[Author's Note: This was supposed to be the penultimate chapter, however I thought there was a lot of emotion in this chapter, and I wanted it to have the focus it deserves. Therefore there will be another chapter with the rest of the events that were meant to happen in this one and then the big finale, probably with a few short fluffy chapters to follow. I really hope you have enjoyed this story].