Elizabeth Windsor and Anthony Bridgerton despise each other with a passion, but a turn of events lands them to form an agreement. They would help one another find suitable partners, but what happens when they realize they're each other's perfect mat...
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"So, it is all going well, then?" Daphne curiously asked Anthony as he attended to his family's estates.
"Extremely," he forced a smile to convince her otherwise, but something was telling him his sister wasn't done with the questioning.
"And did Miss Edwina mention pall-mall? She did not appear to be having much fun," Daphne walked around his study, looking back on the afternoon that had the diamond clearly uncomfortable.
Anthony wryly chuckled, "Well, how could she have done, when the lot of you were downright gladiatorial out there?"
She stared at him like he had grown two heads, "As if the game can be played any other way."
"I was surprised she played for as long as she did," he defended her, glancing back at his papers and setting them down. "It is no matter. Miss Edwina did not need to win a silly game in order to win my heart."
Now that surprised her seeing as these types of words were such a rarity from her brother, "Who are you, and what have you done to my brother?"
"Daph-"
"Has this young lady truly won your heart?" Daphne studied him much more attentively as there was a thorn pricking her certainty about his so-called feelings.
Anthony sighed heavily as he felt like he was being interrogated by the queen herself. Of course Daphne would question him much more. She had always been the most attentive and prying out of his sisters that it made it feel like a fool for believing she would accept his words.
"You met her," he tried assuring her of his choice, but from the questionable look she's giving him, he's aware it would be in vain. "You met her family. She is delightful, and pleasant, and interesting. Even wise. What exactly are your objections?"
"Well, I- I suppose I do not have any," Daphne's mind was still clouded from her doubts, especially after what occurred during pall-mall. She could see how much fun he was having, but instead of his enjoyment being linked to his intended, it was solely based on the woman he claimed was just a friend.
Anthony smirked with satisfaction and returned to his work. He knew better than to hope she would leave the issue alone, but his boastfulness muddled with his judgment.
"If you say Miss Edwina is the one for you," Daphne paced around him, her hands interlocking as she wandered off in thought. "If you say she is the one in whose presence you cannot properly think, or even... breathe. If you say you feel that feeling."
He paused for a moment, "Feeling?"
She smiled in a reassuring way, one that she often gave to her siblings when they needed aid. "The one that makes it impossible for you to look away from them at any given moment," she explained, hoping to be able to convey the feeling she got whenever being around Simon. "When your body and soul feel as if they could burst into flames whenever the two of you are near. When all you are able to do in their presence is to fight the urge to lean forward and... and touch their lips with yours."
