Since Cornelia Rhodes was a child, she has known the Bridgerton's. She has always had a fondness for the eldest of the children.
Anthony Bridgerton had never seen Cornelia as anything other than the girl without a mother. He never truly engaged in c...
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Grosvenor Square 1813
DEAREST READER, the time has come to place our bets for the upcoming social season. Consider the household of the Baron Featherington. Three misses foisted upon the marriage market like sorrowful sows by their tasteless... tactless mama.
Far better odds might exist in the household of the widowed Viscountess Bridgerton. A shockling prolific family, noted for its bounty of perfectly handsome sons and perfectly beautiful daughters. How very perfect, indeed!
Perhaps we may also take a look at the household of Lord Rhodes. It is little known fact that his late wife bore a child before her passing. Luckily for us, that child has come of age and decided to rejoin the ton. For the past eleven years, she has been living in the country with her fabulously wealthy Uncle, the Baron Hendricks, whom of which is rumored to be a direct descendent of an Austrian Prince!
"Cornelia!" The same old woman that had been present for the child's birth, was now her very own ladies' maid. Her hair now grey, her cheeks slightly sunken, and had grown quite a few more wrinkles. "Everyone is waiting!"
The 21-year-old debutante swiftly made her way down the large, curving staircase, careful as to not slip on her cream and white colored dress. Her dark curls struggled to break free of the pins that secured them to her head. "Sorry, Aggie." She placed a swift, loving kiss to her maid's cheek as she rushed past her. Aggie could only shake her head in return.
"There she is!" Lord Rhodes tucked his pocket watch away, then taking his daughter's hand to help her into the carriage. "You don't plan to be late for your debut, do you?" He climbed in after her, taking his seat beside his brother-in-law.
"Of course not, Papa." Cornelia sighed with a nervous smile. Her nerves showed in her fidgeting hands. Being late to debut before the Queen was out of the question.
Today is a most important day, and for some, a terrifying one, for today is the day London's marriage-minded misses are presented to Her Majesty the Queen.
May God have mercy on their souls.
It is only the queen's eye that matters today. A glimmer of displeasure... and a young lady's value plummets to unthinkable depths. But as we know, the brighter a lady shines, the faster she may burn.
Cornelia stood behind the large, white doors, that depressed her from her fate; her hands still fiddling with the lace trim of her long sleeves. Her mind raced with all the things that could go wrong. Perhaps she could trip and fall on the hem of her own dress, which was most definitely was not in fashion anymore. In fact, it had been her mother's dress; the same one she had worn to her very own debute. Cornelia had always known that she wanted to wear it and could only hope that it was to the Queen's liking.
