Kate Pov - Tumblr Posts
Day 7: Kate and her future (Nothing but sweetness and light)
Kate was not an early riser by nature but every once in a while her eyes would pop open after the first light of morning when everything was quiet and fresh and new. When the future felt endlessly full of possibilities. When she could have or be or want and no one would know. The stillness held all her secrets.
Sometimes she would think of Edwina, of her prospects and future, both so bright. Before they'd come to London there were no specifics but as suitors made themselves known, Kate would imagine living her spinster years on their generosity, helping Edwina with her children.
It never felt quite right. None of these men were for Edwina, she was certain (especially not Lord Bridgerton). Her sister would make a wonderful match, a love match if possible. Kate would make sure of it.
More often on these quiet mornings, Kate would imagine her own future life. Not the one she was confident would come to pass (her spinsterhood and continued poverty) but the one she could scarcely allow herself to hope for. A future where she had a family of her very own.
There was always a husband but he was a faceless, nebulous sort of creature that surely existed but had very little impact. It was the children she felt fill her heart. Perhaps a boy with her sharp features but lighter hair and eyes or a girl with her wild curls and chubby cheeks.
She sometimes rested a hand on her flat stomach and thought about all the ways they would change her. Mary's confinement had been fascinating to Kate, watching as her belly grew and grew until one day a squalling Edwina emerged as if by magic.
It was magic, Kate decided, and one of the few powers men did not hold. Only women could bring life into the world.
Eventually, she would sigh and put her fantasies away. It might be a woman's power to create life but it was one Kate knew she would never hold. She would not be a mother no matter how she wished for it because that faceless, nebulous husband did not exist, not for her. (And if there was a face that had begun to appear in her mind's eye, well, no one needed to know but her.)
The bright light of day held no space for impossible dreams. Kate saw the future with clarity-- in a few months, she would return to Somerset with Mary after ensuring Edwina made an exceptional match. She would be the best aunt her sister's children could hope for and it would be enough. Her family, small and full of so much love, was enough.
Day 1: Riding before dawn
She couldn't keep him. Kate knew that.
or
Kate and Anthony have morning sex with a side of angst.
Day 6: Viscountess
"I was going to ask you to marry me."
Kate stopped breathing. "What?"
"I was going to ask for your hand. I even picked out a ring– it's in my quarters but I can get it if you–"
Kate shook her head. "Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why were you going to propose?"
Anthony frowned. "Because it makes sense, I suppose. You need money for Edwina's season, I need a wife. We have good conversation, shared values, undeniable chemistry. And I have every confidence you will be an excellent Viscountess."
"What about love?"
"I never planned on marrying for love and neither did you."
Kate felt her heart shatter into a million pieces. The straightforward manner in which he spoke told her everything she needed to know. While she had been falling in love with him, he had felt none of those feelings.
Day 7: Aubrey Hall
Seeing Aubrey Hall brings into sharp relief what a lady author meant in her descriptions of another great estate.
Day 5 (super late): Do you want me to reconsider?
"When all's said and done, all roads lead to the same end. So it's not so much which road you take, as how you take it." - Charles de Lint
or
Four conversations Kate and Anthony did not have and one they might've.
Day 1: "You have no idea who I am, do you?" (Enemies to Lovers)
When famous actor Anthony Bridgerton makes a terrible impression on human rights lawyer Kate Sharma at a party celebrating her model sister it shouldn't matter. It doesn't matter. Until he expresses an interest in her barely legal model sister, that is.
or
Anthony Bridgerton and Kate Sharma definitely aren't George and Amal Clooney.
Day 2: "Want to find out what we can get away with before someone comes looking for us?" (Trusty Sidekick)
Anthony manages to make a second impression without even being present. It's not much better than the first.