Holy Ground // Benedict Bridgerton

"𝒲𝒽𝒾𝓁𝑒 𝒻𝒾𝓇𝓈𝓉 𝒷𝑜𝓇𝓃𝓈 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓅𝑜𝓃𝓈𝒾𝒷𝒾𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓎, 𝒾𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝑒𝒸𝑜𝓃𝒹 𝒷𝑜𝓇𝓃 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒻𝓊𝓃."

That's the motto, is it not? The second-born child in a family is set to live life unencumbered by the responsibilities. Parties, vices, lust. That was the life they were supposed to live, never dreading what lurked around the corner or when they'd have to wed. It was supposed to be fun, to be a second child-free of burdens and debts.

Perhaps for men, that is the reality.

It is for Benedict Bridgerton. The second-born son and child in the esteemed Bridgerton family. Benedict was free to play into the parable of second-born sons, and he was happy to do so. No one would fault him for pursuing art and divulging in lustful encounters in smoke-filled rooms, wine flowing with various hallucinogens plaguing the bitter spirits.

For Lady Dorothea Dowding, it was quite the opposite. She had to fight tooth and nail to live the life she pleased. Along with that fight came a bargain, one struck in desperation and fervour. An artist herself, Lady Dowding longed to spend time among the greats in Florence. She was granted this wish as long as when she returned; she would enter society and marry who her parents imposed upon her.

Friends since birth, Benedict and Dorothea, were similar. Both sprouted from esteemed families with an eye for the arts. Only when they came of age did the two grow separate and apart. They became the very things one swore never to be, and one both longed to be. So when the two finally reconnect after years apart, growing into new beasts, what could transpire?

With Dorothea set to marry and Benedict realizing where he caused error, delve into the story of the two nobility and watch as they navigate all that was unsaid and what never should have been.