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It was good to be home, Colin thought as he disembarked from the hired hack he’d taken from the docks back to Bridgerton House. He’d been gone far longer than he planned after his broken engagement with Miss Thompson. Once he was on the road, he found that he rather liked it there and had no desire to return to London society where most people were pretentious, deceitful, and utterly boring. He much preferred foreign lands where he could just be Colin, a man just passing through. The Bridgerton name meant nothing other than exactly what it was - his surname.
Soon after embarking on his travels, he asked his family not to write to him because he was moving from destination to destination too quickly. It was easier if he simply wrote to them to let them know he was safe and share his planned itinerary, as well as tales of his past travels.
He would send a letter home about once a month - in between sightseeing and other things. The things about which he was not to ever discuss, but of which he was proud. He’d done his part for King and country and now Napoleon was defeated partially because of it.
Colin hoisted his travel bag over the shoulder of his brown leather traveling coat and advised the driver to wait while he found footmen to assist with his trunk. Then he walked up the path toward the house, feeling both excitement and trepidation.
The stately brick manor looked the same, but also different. It was home, but also not. He’d outgrown the man who lived in this house in so many ways. He was older, wiser, and far less green than when he’d left nearly two years ago. Colin smirked as he remembered the conversation he’d had with Anthony after announcing his engagement. Looking back, his brother had been correct. He hadn’t been in love with Miss Thompson. He’d simply been enamored and, well, horny.
Before leaving London, he thought the only way to satisfy that itch was to marry. He had no interest in brothels, nor in mistresses at the time. But, after, well that was a different story. He still craved intimacy and connection, but didn’t desire to be tied down in a marriage to get it. He’d had several mistresses who felt the same way. At the rate he was going, his mother would have to hogtie him to get him down the aisle because he wanted nothing more than to get back on the road and pick up where he left off with his latest paramour.
He missed her dearly, but she understood his need to return home and see his family, both because he missed them and because he had to tell them he had no plans of staying long-term. He was planning to move to America, where rules about classes and the sanctity of marriage were far less restrictive. Plus, he longed to make something of himself free of the Bridgerton name and influence.
Surprisingly, the door didn’t open before he arrived on the stoop. Where was Humboldt, Colin wondered? Though it was rather late, so perhaps he retired for the night? Thinking nothing of it and used to fending for himself, Colin tried the knob and found it unlocked, so he let himself in.
Unfortunately, he didn’t make it more than a step in the door before stopping in his tracks at the sight before him. His eyes widened and he blinked several times thinking that he was hallucinating. But, after ten blinks, he realized he wasn’t. A “What the…?” left his mouth before he could stop it as he tried and failed to comprehend what he was seeing.
His stoic, stodgy older brother was literally fucking a woman on the stairs in plain sight of anyone who might walk by.
In that moment, his brain registered that no one was walking by because the entire entryway was completely devoid of other people except for him and the two lovers.
At the sound of his voice, Colin saw Anthony startle and then go deathly still. Colin thanked God above that his brother was still mostly clothed when he abruptly launched himself off of the woman and squeaked out a shocked, “Colin?!”
Not wanting to embarrass whoever the woman was, as he couldn’t see her features in the darkness of the foyer, only the midnight blue dress she was wearing and her bare feet, Colin kept his eyes on Anthony, whose shirt was untucked and hanging loose. His pants were on (again: thank you Lord), but partially open and riding low on his hips.
Colin fought to maintain a straight face. “Hello, brother.”
Anthony didn’t manage one though. The shock was evident as he returned the greeting. He looked between the woman on the stairs and him and said, “This is a surprise. I was not expecting you.”
Colin couldn’t help it. He snorted a, “Clearly.”
Anthony growled and ordered him to turn around and face the door. As he stared at the paint and intricate wood carvings, he heard shuffling noises and whispered voices as his brother set the woman - who Colin hoped was his sister-in-law - to rights.
“Alright. We are decent. You can turn around,” Anthony stated after a minute or so.
Colin did so and got the shock of his life as he spied Pen, his Pen, standing next to him.
Her bodice was askew and her hair completely disheveled from his brother’s attentions. His jaw gaped as Anthony pulled Penelope into his side and rested a hand on her abdomen, which seemed to be slightly distended. “I’d introduce you to my wife, but you’ve already met,” Anthony, hair sticking up at all angles, announced.
That must have been Pen’s cue because she gave him a small wave and a smile.
“A lot has changed in your absence, brother. But, as you can see, I am a little busy right now. So, perhaps you could come back tomorrow and we can discuss it then?”
“But where will I go?” Colin asked, bewildered, still trying to process this development.
“Just around the corner,” Pen supplied helpfully. “Number 5 Bruton Street.”
Then she stepped away from Anthony and grasped his hand. She started up the steps, tugging him along with her, completely ignoring her discarded slippers. Halfway up the stairs she turned back around. “Do give your mother our regards,” she said politely.
Before he could gather words for a response, she turned around and raced up the stairs with his brother at her heels.
Colin could hear their laughter echoing through the house as he tried and failed to comprehend the two of them together.
Apparently, a lot had happened here at home while he was gone.