Chapter Text
Anthony stepped outside the ballroom, desperately needing some fresh air. It wasn’t a secret that he was trying to find a wife this season, but his mother’s announcement had turned the evening into a feeding frenzy. Every dance with debutantes that he was less and less interested in.
But peace was not to be his.
“Bridgeton!” Lord Fife called, “I owe you a drink.”
Anthony sighed, as he took in the trio of young gentlemen gathered on the terrace - Lord Fife, Lord Cho, Mr. Essex. He would not call them friends, but it would not do to be rude. “Whatever for,” he said, approaching them.
“With you as the prize catch of the season, the rest of us will receive a respite from the marriage minded mamas this season indeed,” Lord Fife snickered.
“Enjoy your freedom while it lasts,” Anthony scoffed. “You too will soon submit to this ridiculous rigmarole of courtship. Squiring every eligible miss around town until you’re barely able to see straight.”
“Is one lady unlike any other?” Lord Cho asked. “Simply picked the least objectionable and get her wed, bed, and bred. Then you can return to more pleasurable pursuits.”
“And more pleasurable partners,” Lord Fife smirked, lasciviously.
While he was not sure what the state of his marriage would be, Anthony had no plans to betray his wife. He might be a Rake with a capital R, but he would be faithful despite what these men thought. Nor would he pick any woman at random. “You may be cavalier, but if I must leg shackle myself in marriage, the lady in question should have more to recommend her.”
“Do not tell us you were hoping for a love match,” Lord Cho laughed, the others following suit.
Anthony nearly dismisses his comment with tirade about the qualities he expected in a wife – wit, manners, beauty. But then a dark pair of eyes flashed in his mind. “Perhaps,” he murmured distractedly.
~~~
Kate slipped through the terrace doors and onto the grass, avoiding the notice of the four gentlemen. She refused to examine too closely why she followed Lord Bridgerton outside. Wealthy, well connected, from one of the Ton’s most illustrious families – that was what Lady Danbury said. She knew that from her research. Seeking to marry this year, according to his mother. And he was handsome, though she expected that he knew that. But neither were the reasons Kate had followed him outside. Perhaps she just wanted to see if that connection she felt this morning was still there – the chance to feel something beyond the crushing weight she felt ushering Edwina into society.
Keeping hidden in the shadows created by the bushes below the terrace, she overheard their conversation with disgust – none of these so called gentlemen would be gaining an audience with Edwina, that was for sure. Though Lord Bridgerton was slightly less offensive in his words, more insulting to the prospect of marriage than his actual future bride. She found herself rather breathless with anticipation to hear his answer to the question proposed regarding a love match.
His voice was low and uncertain, “Perhaps.”
Kate’s breath caught in throat, hesitant emotions building in her stomach. A love match – she had not dreamed of such a thing since her father died.
Lord Cho continued after snickering at his response, “Perhaps the Queen will finally name a diamond, save you some trouble. At least in choosing her. Wooing the piece will be a different story indeed.”
And these were the gentlemen of the Ton, Kate shook her head, suddenly needing to duck further into the shrubbery as the men returned to the ballroom.
When silence fell again, she stepped out, her hair getting caught on the branches. Swearing under her breath, Kate reached up and tried to free herself. Giving it a hard tug, she came loose but tripped over a bucket of gardening supplies.
“Is someone there?” Lord Bridgerton called out.
Kate froze, hoping he would leave. As much as she followed him, she wasn’t sure she was ready to see him.
“I can hear you.”
Hopes dashed, she could hear him coming down the stone steps. There was no where to run. Kate refused to cower so she turned to face him.
“You,” Anthony smirked, his mystery women from this morning in front of him.
“Pardon me, my lord,” Kate said, uncertain what else to say.
“I never got your name,” he approached her with a grin. “I was wondering if we’d meet again.” He hadn’t been sure if she was a member of the Ton, her presence this morning so unlike most ladies of nobility. And yet here she was, in a sparkling blue gown, her hair in a proper updo. He rather preferred her untamed braid though she looked beautiful tonight. It was the same challenging look in her eyes that drew him in.
Kate felt flustered under his attention so she reacted with a mocking tone. “It seems you are quite popular, my lord. I doubt that you would have missed my presence.”
“So you noticed me,” Anthony preened.
“It was hard to miss such an excellent display of dancing, Lord Bridgerton,” she teased.
He refused to rise to her barb – that last dance had not been ideal. So he latched onto the other part of statement. “You know who I am.”
“It is hard not to know who you are, Lord Bridgerton. Especially given the Viscountess’s announcement.”
“Yes, my mother had no qualms at airing my plans.” Anthony has not been hiding his purpose, but that intense attention had been too much. “Well you know my name, but I am yet to know yours.”
“It would be improper for me to introduce myself, sir.” Kate thought it a dumb rule in general but at the moment she was rather pleased with the annoyed look on his face.
“How am I to ask you to dance if I do not know your name?” Anthony asked, infusing as much charm into his tone as he could.
Kate said the same thing to him as she said to Lady Danbury, “I do not plan to take the floor tonight.”
“Surely an exception can be made,” he tried to persuade her.
He would not wish to dance with her once he knew her identity – her lack of nobility, the scandal surrounding her family, her advanced age. He would not want to dance with her then. “Find out who I am before you decide to claim a dance. I must return inside before my party misses me. Good evening, my lord,” Kate bobbed a quick curtsy.
“Wait.”
“I really must get back inside.” She hurried past him, but he grabbed her hand gently.
“Wait,” Anthony said softly. “You have a curl loose. It wouldn’t do for anyone to see.” He stepped behind her, the intoxicating scent of lilies enveloping him, “Allow me.”
Kate bit her lip as he raised his hands, his fingers caressing her neck as he pinned the loose hair back up. It was intimate in a way she had never experienced. She wasn’t quite sure what to do with herself so she simply kept as still as possible.
“There,” he whispered, gratified to see her shiver. “I will see you soon, miss,” Anthony promised.
Kate wouldn’t get her hopes up, “We’ll see.” She returned to her stepmother’s side, watching dance after dance as Edwina charmed society. She refused to admit that she took advantage of the nearby columns and oversized flower arrangements to keep out of sight. It was surely unnecessary. As soon as Lord Bridgerton knew who she was, he would not see her out for a dance.
“Lady Danbury.”
She spoke too soon.
“Lord Bridgerton. Quite a ruckus you have caused.”
“Entirely unintentional, I assure you,” he said with a roguish grin. “Would you introduce me to your guests?”
If Lady Danbury was surprised, she hid it well. “Of course. Lord Bridgerton, this is Lady Mary Sharma, Miss Kate Sharma, and Miss Edwina Sharma.
“It is a pleasure to meet you,” he bowed. “Miss Sharma, might I have the next?”
“I believe it is a waltz,” Lady Danbury interjected.
“Do you permission to waltz?” he asked.
Kate started to say no, but Lady Danbury interrupted her with a gleeful smile. “Of course, Lord Bridgerton. Given that this is a private party, I am sure Miss Sharma would love to waltz with you.” Mary bit back a snicker at her friend’s highhandedness.
She glared at her stepmother, but placed her hand in Lord Bridgerton’s outstretched one. It would not do to cause a scene at their first ball of the season.
Anthony escorted her onto the floor, ignoring the surprised whispers from the other members of the Ton. Taking their positions, Kate couldn’t help but glance around, uncomfortable under such attention. She was used to be the observer, not the observed.
“Just keep looking at me,” Anthony whispered as the dance brought them closer together. “No one else matters.”
She couldn’t look away if she wanted to, gazes fixed on each other, the connection building as they moved about the ballroom, hands fitting together perfectly. Anthony was struck by the same thought, they just seemed to fit.
“I will admit that I am surprised you asked me to dance, Lord Bridgerton,” Kate said sharply, trying to escape the fluttering emotion in her stomach. “You must not have been very thorough in your research.”
“Miss Katherine Sharma – 26, recently arrived from India. Your father was a high level clerk in the Indian court. Lady Mary is your stepmother, since you were four or five. You have come to England to find a match for your younger sister.” No one was sure if she was searching for her own match based on his research so far.
“Is that why you are dancing with me? To gain favour from my sister?” It wouldn’t be the first time nor would it be the last, but it didn’t stop the stab of pain.
“No.”
“Then why?”
Surely she knew it was her that was consuming his thoughts and it had only been a day. Though Anthony could barely understand his actions so perhaps it was unfair to assume she knew. “I do not seek curry favour with your sister. I wish to curry favour with you.”
“Me?” Kate stumbled in shock, stepping on his foot hard. “But surely I am unsuitable given your plans for marriage.”
Anthony winced at the sharp pain radiating from his foot; that would teach him to surprise Miss Sharma during a dance. Taking note of her words, he asked, “Why would you think yourself unsuitable?”
Why was he playing games with her? Why was he mocking her? “You need not be cruel, Lord Bridgerton. I know very well what the people of the Ton say about me – the spinster sister, the gatekeeper, only barely accepted because of my stepmother, never for myself. And I will take it all happily if it means my sister has the chance to find love, to take her place in society. But you need not pretend that I am anything but what I am.” Kate’s chest was heaving as she finished, somehow still following his lead.
Silence rang out, louder than any words, as Anthony observed the pain in her eyes, the strength in her poise. He had heard some of these comments as he gathered his intel but had brushed them aside as inconsequential. Her age, while older than all of debutants, was not so advanced and in truth, he had found all those on his list too young – a girl barely out of leading strings would not be able to take on the role of Viscountess and lead his sisters. Her lack of nobility, and he expected dowry, were perhaps something he should care about, especially the former, but he didn’t. The Bridgertons were well liked and well placed. If he married Miss Sharma, it would little effect on his family’s consequence or his siblings’ future matches.
Instead, everything he heard only encouraged him to look to Miss Sharma as a potential bride even closer. Her relationship with her sister reminded him of his with his own family and he was sure that she would fit in well with the Bridgertons. And she would not be kowtowed by him, something he had not known he needed. She was strong, she had to be, like him. Yet it was the slight shimmer of tears that broke him, the fact that she was letting him see her vulnerability.
In that moment, his list went out the window.
Anthony softened his tone as he squeezed his hand, “Miss Sharma, I am not mocking you, I swear it. I am sorry if you have not been accepted by the Ton, if these small-minded people do not see the person you are. It is their loss. I believe that I see you as you are and that is the person I wish to know.”
Her breath hitched in her throat. Could he know how those words affected her? She had rarely felt seen since her father’s death, by others or by herself. She was so focused on keeping her family going that she lost herself, dismissed her dreams and accepted the duty. Lord Bridgerton understood that, becoming Viscount and head of his family at such a young age.
The dance called for a change in position, her back now pressed against his front, hands linked on her right hip and on her left clavicle. Despite the fact that he had danced the same dance with a bevy of other women, it had never felt so intimate. He whispered in her ear, “I know we just met, but I would be honoured if you allowed me to court you.”
Did she dare risk her heart? And what of Edwina?
“Please, Kate,” he beseeched.
“Kathani,” she blurted out, unable to resist him.
“Pardon?”
“That is my name. Not Katherine.” Oh why did she tell him that, what was she thinking.
“Kathani,” Anthony murmured, the unfamiliar syllables rolling over his tongue pleasantly. This fit her far better than Katherine, unique like her. The dance altered their position again, facing each other, her hand on his shoulder and the other clasped in his. Their eyes were locked on each other. “I like it.”
“Well, there was no thought of pleasing you when I was named,” Kate retorted, unable to stop the blush on her cheeks or the warm feeling in her belly as Lord Bridgerton burst out laughing. If she had less enthralled by the sound, she may have noticed the multitude of eyes on them, including the assessing gaze of Lady Danbury and Lady Bridgerton. She didn’t notice however, unable to hold back her own wide smile at her partner’s joy. She rather expected that he was not one to laugh often, at least not in public.
“May I call on you tomorrow?” Anthony asked, once he got himself under control.
“I would like that,” she admitted as the dance came to a close.
“Excellent.” He held out his arm to escort her back, leaning in to whisper, “Or perhaps I shall see you before that.”
~~~
Anthony stilled his restless mount. He had been waiting in the woods since first light, hoping to see Kate again. Lady Danbury had interrupted him last night before he could finish his conversation with Kate so he was not sure she would come. Of course he would see her in the Danbury drawing room later, where he would bring flowers and everything would be proper. But it wouldn’t be them in their truest forms.
The sound of hooves hitting the hard packed path drew his gaze.
There she was, like a warrior goddess astride her horse, her loose braid laying over her shoulder. She was glorious.
“Miss Sharma, what a surprise,” he grinned.
“Indeed, my lord,” Kate tightened her grip in the reins to stop her horse beside his. She had laid in her bed, battling with herself but in the end the temptation was too great. Seeing him now, she knew she made the right decision.
“Seeing as we both happen to be here, entirely by chance, perhaps we could ride awhile,” Anthony suggested, as if they had not planned this. “It would hardly be gentlemanly of me to abandon you to the dangerous and wild woods of Mayfair.”
“And do you consider yourself a gentleman, Lord Bridgerton?”
“Of course.”
“Then surely it would be gentlemanly to admit that I won the race yesterday.”
He leaned in closer, “Never.”
“We shall just have to have another race and this time you will concede to my victory,” Kate said.
“If you win, I shall do so happily. But it is rather unlikely.” Anthony relished the fire that sparked in her eyes, he felt alive.
“Name the finish point and to the victor the spoils,” Kate ordered, itching to beat him again.
“I rather think we are both the victors,” Anthony countered, feeling increasingly pleased with his choice to pursue Kate.
Kate couldn’t help the small smile that slipped out at his words. “Perhaps in life,” she agreed, “but not in this race.”
“So be it.” Anthony named a finish point. “On the count of three.” They got into position. “One. Two.” Kate gave him a grin. “Thr-…” She was off like a shot before the rest of the word left his mouth. “Kate!” he bellowed, spurring his horse into action.
The echoing sounds of her laughter rang out as they both raced towards their future.