The Bridgerton Eight

Beauty Is Only Skin Deep But I Have A Lot Of Skin

Tuesday—November 24th, 2020

Five years ago, on November 24th, at the age of fifteen, Penelope Featherington fell desperately in love.

The Featheringtons were the closest neighbors to the Bridgerton Manor—which, unfortunately, made their humble home look like it was part of the Bridgerton state to anyone looking in. As good neighbors do, the Featheringtons frequently showed up for brunch and afternoon tea, something that became sort of a ritual after Penelope and Eloise, who were the same age and went to school together, became best friends.

And on that November 24th, the five Featherington women, a widow mother and her four daughters, were having a nice afternoon on the grounds of Bridgerton Manor. They were in deep conversation with Violet Bridgerton and her eldest daughter Daphne, and none of them noticed when Eloise and Penelope slipped away from the group. Penelope looked over her shoulder to make sure her mother hadn't seen anything, which was a rare thing because Portia often kept a close eye on her youngest daughter.

But that day, she was distracted. Prudence, however, the eldest of the Featheringtons, did notice but there was nothing she could do about it because Daphne was talking to her and if there were any unspoken law in Great Hamptons was that one could never ignore a Bridgerton.

Eloise headed down to the fields alleging that her brothers were probably doing something fun while they were trapped in "girl-talk". Maybe they could convince the boys to include them in their plans, uh? Penelope was sure that Eloise's brothers wouldn't want to include a sick girl in anything but decided to follow silently. Then Eloise, squinting forward, shouted "There they are!", and Penelope turned just as the wind picked up quite suddenly and lifted the green scarf she wore around her head. She was bald at the time, due to the two years of chemotherapy and five months of radiation she had endured, and often wore scarves and turbans that didn't make people stare at her any less but helped her feel less exposed.

The scarf flew away. Just for a second she was able to see two riders on horseback coming too fast, and next thing the scarf hit one of them in the face, completely blinding him. He tried to stop the horse but that only made it whine and throw him off, and the boy fell, landing most inelegantly in a nearby mud puddle.

Penelope gasped, Eloise stopped waving and the other boy made his horse halt. Penelope didn't think; she just ran to the boy she'd injured, asking him if he was alright, stammering apologies and mentally begging his forgiveness. She knew, in her soul, that something awful was about to happen. He'd be furious. Penelope remembered of the time she spilled water on her late father's shoes. He had gotten so mad, shouting curses, and he'd even taken the glass from her hands and smashed it against the wall. That was the reaction she prepared for because that was how men reacted when women were clumsy or inadequate.

And yet Colin Bridgerton allowed her to help him up and when he glanced at her there was neither anger nor disappointment in his eyes. He didn't make a face, or yelled, or cursed. He didn't pity her or looked away like some people did when they saw her bald head. There was none of that I-can't-be-mad-at-her-because-she's-dying sort of nonsense.

Colin wasn't mad, period. Instead, he was laughing. Laughing! Colin Bridgerton laughed. And Penelope fell in love.

"You could say I've had more gracious landings," he said with mirth as he wiped an embarrassingly placed spot of mud off his cheek. He then proceeded to retrieve her scarf, which was now covered in mud, and added: "I'm gonna have to give you this back later, Penny. If that's alright. I'll have it washed for you."

"I'm so, so sorry, Colin," she said for the thirtieth time. "The wind... I..."

"Hey, no worries." He was still smiling, making her completely dizzy.