Bridgerton - The Lost Royal

Chapter Twenty-Five

Benedict

"Benedict! Brother!" Hyacinth yells as she rushes down the stairs, "You must see this!"

I sigh, "Hyacinth, I am about to visit Anthony." I say.

"Liar" she places her hands on her hips as she arrives downstairs, "You are off to one of your regular clubs to get drunk and try to forget about Sophia."

Okay she got me there. That was exactly what I was about to do.

"What is it, Hyacinth?" I ask, avoiding the subject of 'Sophia'.

"We have been invited to the queen's birthday dinner on saturday evening, all of us. As a thank you because we took care of Sophia." Hyacinth squeaks, jumping up and down, "I get to see Sophia again! I wonder what she has been doing all this time, and what the queen is like and-.."

"Yes, Hyacinth, I get the gist. Now if you will excuse me..." I say, slipping out the door, my mind whirring.

There are two options here.

Option A: The queen decided to invite us, because she felt obliged to do so after we took care of Sophia.

Option B: Sophia asked the queen to invite us because she wants to see us.

My heart sinks a little, knowing that after our last interaction Sophia must be more excited to speak to Hyacinth than to me. I should have never told Hyacinth about the 'brother' accident. According to her it was all my fault, because I mentioned the word first.

She should not have, because now I am actually under the impression that I have a chance... with her. The future queen of England, and the most beautiful woman I have ever laid my eyes on. I sigh, loudly, unsure where it is that I am walking to. The dinner is in just a few days, I realise, turning right around, I must buy a new suit.

....

Sophia and I have been seated as far away from each other as humanly possible. Next to her sits a man. I despise him. He chews with his mouth half open and when he is not eating like a toddler he is talking. Yapping. Chatting. All of it at once. And for some reason Sophia keeps listening to him. Or at least she is looking his way, and not mine.

Since the dinner is hosted by the queen, there are over te different courses. Thankfully there is a tiny break after course five, and I push my chair backwards to explain to Sophia that my 'brother' comment was misplaced. By the time I have stood up however, Sophia is gone, as has my little sister.

I excuse myself to my mother and make my way over to the exit, determined to find the both of them and interrupt whatever woman-to-woman conversation they are having, Hyacinth and her questions can wait.

"Ah, the new boy!" I get a hard pat on my back and I turn to see the smug face of the man sitting in the seat I had hoped to be mine tonight. Clearly, he has had a little more alcohol than is good for him and he sways slightly as he gives me another pat. Which I do not appreciate.

"Can I help you?" I ask patiently, my eyes moving towards the door.

"Have you seen the princess? I meant to speak to her tonight." He laughs.

"Why?" I ask, my curiosity getting the better of me. The man shrugs and takes a little red box out of his pocket, taking forever to open it, revealing an engagement ring.

All the air leaves my body. HE is going to marry HER?

In a moment of panic I leave the dude with the rind behind and I dash into the hallway, looking around frantically. Where are they? If he gets there before me, I may never talk to her again.

I move up the stairs, listening closely, Hyacinth is not exactly the quiet type. I pass room after room, stopping near each one to put my ear against it. Then I move up another flight of stairs, followed by another. I hear the bells ring, announcing the start of the dinners' second half, and a door at the end of the hallway opens, revealing Hyacinth and Sophia exiting.

Quickly, I hide behind a pillar and listen closely, suddenly hearing my own name,

"But this Benedict, I swear he is the worst. I know you are not supposed to say these kind of things but honestly, I think I would rather die than marry him. But here I am, stuck with him at a dinner table, only because my grandmother figured it would be a nice companion for me." Sophia says, sounding tired.

I await for Hyacinth to jump in and tell her she cannot talk about her brother like that, or for one of them to laugh because she was joking, but neither do.

"I shall try and keep you away from him when I can, promise." Hyacinth says, sounding more serious than she has ever done before.

They pass me and descend the stairs, chatting on about me, apparently. I on the other hand do not move at all, it is a miracle I remain standing at all. The entire time I convinced myself I was not in love with Sophia, that she was simply there in my house and that she was good-looking, so I liked her. I know better now, because my heart would not feel this broken if she was only a crush...