Work Text:
Fife Around And Find Out
Penelope wiped the sweat off her brow as discreetly as possible with the back of her glove.
It was sweltering in the ballroom at Aubrey Hall, which was not helped by the fact that she also happened to be heavily pregnant.
Still, she did not want to miss out on Kate’s first major ball she would host as Viscountess. Even if it meant enduring her husband’s constant fretting and anxious looks as she strolled around the room.
At some point in the evening, Penelope had lost sight of Colin and was beginning to feel rather too hot. She stopped to talk to a few people here and there, her popularity having soared with the reveal of her Lady Whistledown identity. Eventually, she was able to slip away into the gardens for some fresh air. The light spring breeze gently brushed her skin, bringing her some relief from the stifling heat of the bodies mingling inside the ballroom.
“Bridgerton!” Penelope jumped at the sound of her married name being called. Then she recognised the voice as Lord Fife’s and knew that there was no way that he was referring to her.
She stayed still not wanting to bring attention to herself and rubbed her large belly as if to reassure herself that everything had turned out fine. Fife was a shameless rake with all the charm of a slug. She need not concern herself with him anymore.
“Fife”, her husband’s cool voice returned, and her ears perked up against her will. Old habits die hard after all.
“Not with your wife?” the lord asked mockingly. “You’re usually glued to her side these days like a good little lap dog”.
Penelope twitched at the blatant insult to Colin.
“There is no company I’d rather keep than that of my wife’s. She is far wittier and more interesting to converse with than most people”, Colin returned calmly.
“I’m sure all the walls she spent years stuck to would agree with you”, Fife snickered. “Come now, Bridgerton, it’s just us two. What did Lady Whistledown have on you to get you to marry her?”
Penelope quietly gasped. She may have grown in confidence and learnt to love herself, but it did not mean that the jabs did not still sting somewhat. And the topic of Colin being forced to marry her in any way was still somewhat sensitive for her.
“Excuse me?” her husband’s voice went cold. “What exactly are you implying about my wife, Lord Fife?”
“Most of us with eyes can understand giving into temptation. Your wife does possess the loveliest pair of-“
Whatever Fife was about to end his sentence with no one would ever know as the sound of a fist contacting flesh and bone cut through the quiet of the gardens.
Penelope rushed from her spot, unable to sit back and allow her husband to get into a scandal over her.
“Perhaps next time you will think to keep my wife’s name out of your mouth”, Colin scowled down at the pathetic lord, blood gushing from his broken nose.
“Have you gone mad, Bridgerton? All this trouble over that chit?!” Fife spat viciously.
“Colin!” Penelope waddled over to him as fast as she could considering she was in a ball gown and extremely pregnant. Instantly Colin’s attention turned away from Fife and he rushed to her side, worriedly.
“Pen, are you okay? You ought not to be running in your condition, you could have-“
“What is going on out here?” The hosts themselves, the Viscount and Viscountess had stepped outside to see what was happening. Anthony looked infuriated while Kate was calm but annoyed.
“Lord Fife attempted to besmirch my wife’s good name”, Colin retorted before Fife could get a word in.
“Is that so?” Kate’s eyes fell coldly on the now cowering man on the floor.
“Perhaps you ought to take your leave now, Fife”, Anthony suggested in a tone that was more of a command than a request.
“Gladly”, the man sneered, stomping off to his carriage.
“Are you alright, Penelope?” Kate turned her attention to Penelope who was unable to hide her distress. “It was not too long ago I was as pregnant as you are now. I remember the discomforts”.
“It is not the pregnancy that upsets me”, Penelope answered. “Physically, I am well”.
“Perhaps you should take a seat”, Colin advised and began nudging her to the nearest bench. “You have been standing for far too long this evening”.
“We shall go and make sure that Fife has left without inciting any further chaos”, Anthony said, taking his wife’s arm in his own and heading towards the front of the estate.
When they were out of sight, Penelope immediately turned her ire onto Colin. “Colin, what were you thinking assaulting a Lord like that?”
Colin’s worried frown immediately turned into an angered scowl. “I was thinking that I did not like hearing him disparage you so. I foolishly allowed him to do so in the past but never again, not when he’s not even fit to lick your shoes”.
At once, she softened.
“It is nothing that I am not used to, Colin”.
Her husband’s eyes flashed to her, pained.
“I find that I suddenly believe you were quite merciful in your writings as Whistledown”, he clenched his jaw. “I do not believe I could hold the same restraint”.
“I no longer care of the thoughts of men like Fife. Not when I am married to the kindest, most loving man in the world”, Penelope assured him, her smile lighting up her whole face. “No one else’s opinions matter, the only opinion I care for is that of you and our families”.
“Maybe so but I will never sit idly by and let anyone speak of you so disgustingly. I told you once I would always stand up for you because I love you and that has not changed, Whistledown or not. You may be able to defend yourself, Pen, but you must know that you are not alone anymore”, he kissed her hand softly.
Penelope found her vision was beginning to get quite blurry. “I love you, Colin Bridgerton”.
“And I love you, Mrs Bridgerton”, Colin smiled, gently leaning in for a kiss as one hand sat gently on her belly as if to shield their unborn child from any more of the ton's stupidity.