you are in love, BENEDICT BRIDGERTON

AN ARTIST'S ANSWER

later on the very next day, it was lady danbury's soiree to help edwina sort through her potential matches. alison was so nervous, she knew this event was all about the men displaying their 'talents' and such but she was still slightly recovering from being caught off-guard by anthony yesterday. though she was certain that anthony understood her boundaries and trusted him completely, she couldn't help but be on edge that her poetry would be read without her being consulted once again. but, that's not to say the driftwater girl wasn't still marvelling at her poetry being read aloud and praised for the first time.

she refused to show up to the event alone. meaning that she forced herself to wait outside of mr mondrich's new gentleman's club for benedict to accompany her. alison had allowed edith to go ahead of her to the event, being chaperoned by dianna - who was to keep lady danbury company.
the girl didn't care that she had to wait outside, she'd wait all night if she had to as she was very sure that she was not missing a thing. if anything, alison was greatful she had a lesser chance of feeling the second-hand embarassment of the men of the ton's lack of talent.

she waited by the wall close to the door, but was quick to hide behind a pillar - a suprisingly effective hiding place, she would come to note - once she saw anthony march into the club from the other direction. was he not reading poetry at the soiree already? she thought, recalling him coming to ask a favour the day before (and how strangely that had ended for her.)

alison wasn't hiding simply out of fear of being seen by all of the men coming and going, because truth be told she didn't care about her reputation as a lady or as the countess, she was hiding from anthony in order to avoid any further poetry quizzing as he was sure to have more questions. a second later, she witnesses benedict being practically dragged out of the club by his older brother, and looking profusely annoyed at him.

"i need you to teach me to read that out loud." anthony informs, passing benedict the book edith leant him.

"have you not bothered to ask alison?" benedict replies, then retrieving the book and pulling a sour expression at the poet's name. "byron? did i strike you much harder than i realised earlier?"

byron? alison was beyond confused, as she listens unintentionally. he must've helped himself to the bookcases because why on earth would edith lend anthony a book of byron's, of all poets, sonnets? she was sure to get to the bottom of this.

"there is a pleasure in the pathless woods-" anthony begins to recite, as alison tries to stifle a laugh behind the pillar as she watches the two. it was painfully obvious for anybody to see that anthony was not attuned with poetry as he read the, god-awful on it's own, poem aloud.

"there is a rapture on the lone-" he forces himself to stop. "how does one make that sound good?"

benedict sniggers at him, mindlessly flicking through the book of sonnets. "i'm afraid that's not possible. that poem is the opposite of good. that poem's nonsense." he then hands the book back to anthony.