#legitimate Sophie Beckett

[sxphiebeckettt]

The Lady Sophia Maria Beckett, daughter of the Earl of Penwood.

POV: if Sophie was legitimate

[apinchofm]

She was a you-know-what.

A bastard. Sophie had never been afraid of the word, because her father loved her. That is what mattered.

But Benedict, from such a prestigious family, loved her when he should not. They were utterly u n s u i t a b l e

[silverhallow]

writing the lines "you are a friend not a suitor" and “I am looking for someone to be my husband… I did not think you wanted to be considered for that position…"

and giggling to myself because Sophie's not taking any of Benedict's shit and she's done with him hurting her by being his usual oblivious self...

[eleanor-bradstreet]

Let Me Be Your Anchor

Chapter 3: Repercussions

Benedict Bridgerton x Sophie Beckett An Offer From a Gentleman reimagined Chapter rating: T - nasty insults and insinuations Word count: 3.3k

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Author's Note: This is a fully original chapter with no AOFAG quotes or references.

Sophie’s sobs had managed to die down by the time she reached Gen’s shop. She didn’t have the breath to cry and run simultaneously. Now she was stricken with confusion and what felt like a bottomless well of anguish. In one way she had gotten what she wanted from her night of adventure. It had been an evening of near-realized dreams, an escape from her reality of scorn and servitude where she had felt beautiful, welcomed and worthy. It would be one of her most cherished memories, something to bolster her through the drudgery that would inevitably dominate the rest of her life.

But what she had not expected was that the memory would grip her heart the way it did. That the longing she always had to change her circumstances would be magnified into longing for a person. For a man. She hadn’t intended to speak with anyone at the masquerade to any significant degree, nor did she think she would have anything in common with them, seeing as they lived worlds apart. But Benedict had appeared in the garden almost as if he were fated for her. And he was…he was nothing she could have anticipated. Their connection had been undeniable. The magnetic heat between them, irresistible. Something wondrous may have lain in store for them if she were legitimate, if she hadn’t needed to lie to gain access to the ball. Now her actions had only left them both in pain. She was torn between censuring herself for her stupidity and admitting that though it would break her heart hereafter to hear his name or see him in the city, she was grateful to have known Benedict Bridgerton for one night rather than to never have known him at all.

Repressing her feelings as best she could under hiccuping gasps, she retrieved the key Gen had tucked into her cloak and let herself into the darkened display room. Her friend was still at her own party and had told her to return the dress at her leisure. Sophie certainly couldn’t bring it back to the Cowpers and so she changed quickly, hanging the silver treasure neatly in the back room and silently thanking the modiste for wrapping her in magic. She removed the borrowed jewels from her hair and ears. She peeled off one glove, then her heart nearly stopped. She had left the other one behind. Benedict had it when she dashed off. Her mind began to whir. He could use it to trace her if he thought to ask Gen about its origins.

Scrambling back into her servant’s clothes and slipping Araminta’s shoes into her bag, she found a quill behind the desk and dashed off a note.

Dearest Gen,

I haven’t words to thank you for all you gave me tonight. I am sorry to say that a glove was misplaced. Please forgive me. I know I can trust in your discretion should it be returned to you. I owe you more than this.

Yours in friendship, S

She needed to return to Cowper House before anything else went amiss. With the unmasking over she didn’t have long before the family returned. Locking the shop and slipping the key through the letterplate, Sophie took off once again into the night.

She slowed her pace as she approached the house, entering silently through the back servants’ door. She made for the staircase, eager to return the shoes to their place and then hide away in her room for the night, washing off the last remnants of the debutante she feigned to be. But when she rounded the corner she stopped dead, finding herself face to face with Araminta. The lady of the house was already dressed down in her evening robe and had a wicked gleam in her eyes.

“Good evening Sophie.” Her voice was cold as always.

Sophie swallowed hard, barely able to breathe for shock. “Ara…Lady Cowper.”

“You’ve been out quite late.” A sinister grin tugged at the corner of her tight lips.

“You are home early.” Sophie stammered. “Where is Miss Cressida?”

She touched a finger to her temple with a grimace. “I had a headache. I took a carriage home an hour ago. Cressida and Lord Cowper should be home shortly. But I was surprised to find upon my arrival that you had gone out for the evening.” 

Sophie’s thoughts raced. Surely she could talk her way out of this. Keeping her composure, she nodded. “Yes, to visit a friend.”

“A friend?” Dropping her pained expression, Araminta lapsed back into her affected, sickly sweet tone of voice. “Pray tell what friend do you have in the city?” She looked the young woman up and down with bemusement, then stepped closer. “What is that on your face?”

Sophie jerked back as a bony thumb swiped across her cheek. Araminta’s expression grew dark. “Little Sophie, what on earth have you gotten into? Are you meeting up with men in the wee hours of the night?”

Sophie balked. “No, my lady.”

“Then who are you looking to impress with your hair done up that way?”

Her heart began to pound. Another misstep. She shouldn’t have left the modiste shop until every trace of her disguise was removed. But she hadn’t expected anyone to be home… 

“My friend and I were only playing at…”

“This friend again!” Araminta clucked. “What did you bring to meet them?” Eyes narrowing on the bag Sophie held behind her skirts she clawed at it, the two of them tousling as Sophie fought to keep it out of reach.

“Let me see!” The older woman shrieked, finally ripping the bundle from Sophie’s grasp and peering inside. Her jaw fell open. “These are my shoes…”

“I was working on cleaning them!” Sophie exclaimed, knowing her story was hopelessly unraveling.

Her employer glared back at her. “Cleaning shoes in the middle of the night, dolled up like a harlot while you went to meet your ‘friend’? I suppose that is my rouge too that you’ve stolen?”

The allegation caused Sophie’s spine to stiffen. She may have transgressed social rules but would not be accused of thievery. “I haven’t stolen anything.”

“Shut your lying mouth and listen to me.” Araminta snapped, her deadly cool demeanor returning. Setting down the bag she began to stalk a circle around her maid, flinty eyes never blinking. Sophie held still, feeling like cornered prey. 

“Sophia Beckett. I knew you were no good from the moment you became my family’s burden. Lord Cowper spared an ounce of pity for you and so I agreed to keep you on. You have been useful but I always suspected you were rotten at your core. I always knew someday it would come to light. I only hope your bad influence hasn’t rubbed off on my dear Cressida.”

“I have done nothing wrong!”

Sophie’s protest was silenced with a sharp slap to the face. She bit her tongue, tears welling in her eyes but she forbid them from falling.

Araminta leaned in, hissing like a snake. “Sneaking off in the middle of the night with my things and coming back looking like a common whore. Perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised. What would a bastard know about propriety? How would she know to keep her legs closed until she was married? That is if any man would stoop to claim her. Like mother like daughter.”

Something jagged cut into Sophie’s stomach. She clenched her fists and closed her eyes, trying to tamp the fire rising within. The urge to lash out, fight back, hurl all the bitter insults she could at this cruel and horrid woman. But she schooled herself. Such actions would only prove her right, that she was a classless, impertinent, good-for-nothing who deserved her low rung in society. She wouldn’t dishonor herself or her mother in that way. 

But she also wouldn’t subject herself to such abuse any longer. This was the final straw. Perhaps it was her recent taste of freedom which made her bold, or perhaps it was that she already felt such pain and confusion at losing Benedict that she hardly cared if she lost everything else. All she knew for certain was that she needed to get away. Perhaps her carelessness had already set her free.

“Are you going to release me?” She ground out, opening her eyes.

Araminta paused then stepped back with a vicious smile. “No. I’m sure that’s precisely what you want isn’t it?”

Sophie’s heart sank but she remained steely.

“You will no longer serve my Cressida as her lady’s maid. It will be scullery work for you now. But since you are so committed to ensuring my shoes are cleaned, that will be your final task upstairs. You will clean them. You will clean all of them. And you will remain in my dressing room until the task is complete.”

Sophie understood this was her employer’s version of imprisonment. Araminta owned dozens of pairs of shoes. To clean them all would take nearly an entire day and there was a lock on the dressing room door. It was where she liked to stash Sophie when she longed to forget about or punish her. 

Signaling for a footman to collect the bag and escort Sophie upstairs, Araminta shot her a final glare. “Perhaps with that level of discipline you can learn to make something of your sorry life.”

Sophie said nothing, only kept her jaw locked and marched behind the footman to the dressing room. She was given a single candle, ushered inside and then heard the key turn behind her. She looked about the room, recalling the many hours she had worn her fingers raw scrubbing shoes and the many nights she had cried herself to sleep in a corner. This would not be one of those nights. She was well and truly done.

It had been fear of the unknown that had kept her from running away before. Fear about her employment prospects knowing she couldn’t get a letter of reference for another position as a lady’s maid. But what did it matter anyway if she was now a scullery maid for the Cowpers? Surely someone somewhere needed help scrubbing floors and tending fires. Her chances would improve in the countryside where households cared less about employment history. Leaving London would be a necessity after she escaped. She couldn’t risk being tormented or dragged back by the Cowpers. She reasoned it may also soothe her heart to be further away from Benedict and free of the anxiety he may discover her. She didn’t think she could survive watching the light die in his eyes if he recognized her on the street only to realize the woman he sought to woo was nothing more than a bastard servant, barely worthy of cleaning his floors. She couldn’t bear his revulsion and his anger.

But all the money she had to her name would hardly get her out of the city, much less sustain her until she found work. There was nothing for it. If Araminta already presumed she was a thief, what reputation would she damage if she did nick just enough to get by? If any family both deserved and could endure such treatment, it was the Cowpers. Picking through the finery laid across the room, Sophie pocketed the diamond clips from the shoes she had worn along with a pair of ruby earrings tucked in the back of a jewelry box. Surely their sale would be more than enough to keep her fed until she started a new position.

Now she had to make her escape. Sitting in the darkness and listening intently, within the hour she heard Cressida and Lord Cowper return, then the tittering voices as everyone readied themselves for bed. When all grew quiet in the house Sophie knelt at the door. She had only picked a lock once before when she was a young girl at Penwood Park desperate to get into her father’s library. It had taken many tries but she was ultimately successful. The trick was to have a hair pin. Something she had always been locked in the dressing room without. Until now. Pulling pins from her masquerade coif, she quietly teased them into the lock, breaking two before she finally heard a promising click that made her heart soar. 

She uttered thanks once again to Gen who had gifted her more than she could ever repay. Then she paused, thinking of her friend and how sad she would be to part from her. But she didn’t have a choice. She couldn’t stay in London and risk encounters with the Cowpers or Benedict. And the last thing she wanted was to endanger Genevieve and her livelihood by hiding out at her shop with stolen jewels. No, she simply had to leave for the betterment of everyone. She would find a way to reunite with her friend one day. She knew that Gen would spur her on. She would understand better than anyone, having completed her own fierce climb out of the muck toward independence.

Tiptoeing silently through the house, Sophie gathered her few belongings from her room and washed the last of the powders from her face. She pulled her hair back in a modest style and hid it under a bonnet. With all she owned in the world tucked under her arm and her stolen revenge clinking in her pocket, she slipped down the servants’ stairs, out the back door and as far toward the city outskirts as her feet would carry her. If she knew anything for certain anymore, it was that the details of her life were not significant. Where and how she lived was nothing to fret over. All of it was bound to be equally unfulfilling since none of it would include Benedict.

---

The next day, Viscountess Bridgerton swept through the halls of Bridgerton House. She had just laid her newborn down to rest and the sounds of an argument were echoing from the morning room. Marching toward the noise, she could make out the voices of her husband and brother-in-law.

“Benedict, I am not sure how many ways I can explain it to you. This is the guest list for the ball. Why is that not good enough?”

“There has to be another one! I’ve met all these families already and she’s not one of them.”

“Who?!” The Viscount practically shouted.

His brother responded with uncharacteristic agitation. “Have you heard anything I’ve been saying to you?!”

Reaching the door, the Viscountess swung it open forcefully. Two chestnut heads swiveled to face her, eyes wide. Anthony sat at the head of the breakfast table. Benedict sat at the corner, papers spread before him.

“Gentlemen!” Kate chastised, letting her frustration be known. “Lower your voices, please.”

They both shrunk into themselves.

“I’m sorry, my dear.” Anthony’s brow turned up in supplication.

“Sorry.” Benedict mumbled, dropping his head and turning back to the documents.

Kate walked to them, letting her own temper cool. It wasn’t unusual for the brothers to have disagreements, being opposing sides of the same coin as they were, but it was odd that they were so impassioned about it. Benedict especially never raised his voice. 

“What is the matter?”

Benedict looked up at her, red-eyed and disheveled as if he had not slept at all. “I met a woman last night at the masquerade.”

Kate flicked her eyes to her husband who met her gaze knowingly. They had both been waiting for an entire season to hear Benedict express interest in a single young lady and had all but given up hope. Now it seemed the year may not have been fruitless.

He continued. “She wouldn’t give me her name and she left before the unmasking. I had never met her before. I need to know who she is.”

“Because you would like to court her?” Kate asked gently.

“Yes.” There was something desperate in his voice, something pleading in his eyes. “You must have seen her. She was in a silver gown, an old fashioned dress. Jewels in her hair. She wasn’t on the dance floor but you must have seen her come in.”

She furrowed her brow, questing back through her memory. It had been the first ball she had hosted since Edmund was born and the first ever masquerade. Even with the help of all the Bridgerton women and staff, it had been overwhelming. She had been needed everywhere at once and had met dozens of guests, all of them hidden behind masks and disguises. None of them had stood out in the blur.

“I’m afraid I don’t recall anyone of that description. There were many guests.” She turned to Anthony. “You did not see her either?”

He shook his head, frowning. “Colin did apparently.”

“And that’s the only thing assuring me that she wasn’t a dream.” Benedict dragged a hand across his face, looking ready to collapse on the table top. “That and she left a glove behind. Someone has to know who she was.” He turned back to the Viscountess. “Did anyone inform you that they were arriving without an invitation? A guest of a guest?”

“I’m sorry Benedict, no. Seeing as it was a masquerade, are you sure you didn’t mistake her for someone else? How do you know that she was not one of the young ladies on the list?”

“Because I know.” There was a sternness in his eyes and an edge to his voice that were altogether novel. Gone was the carefree bohemian brother who never failed to light up a room with his mirth. He was haggard, clearly distressed. Kate was reminded of her own anguish when she had watched Anthony courting her sister. How she had contended with longing for something she could not have.

Anthony leaned forward, his voice exasperated. “Brother, it was one evening. How much of an impression…”

“If you felt such a connection to this young lady, it is doubtless she did too.” Kate cut off her husband, flashing him a warning look before turning to her brother-in-law. “I will let you know if I learn anything in the usual gossip. You should keep your eyes open too. Perhaps your paths will cross again.” She placed a hand on Anthony’s chair. “That is often how things occur when two people are destined to be together, is it not my love?”

The Viscount swallowed and nodded. “Indeed.”

Benedict sighed, a hint of his crooked grin returning. “Thank you. I suppose I’ll start by interrogating the footmen. John seems like a secret keeper.” 

Kate gave him an encouraging smile. “Very good.” 

Raking a hand through his already wild hair, Benedict gathered the guest list and plodded out of the room.

Staring after him, Anthony rolled his eyes. “You should not encourage his flights of fancy.”

“And you should not discourage him if he thinks he has found a match.” His wife cut back. “Do you want your brother settled or not?”

“I do, but leave it to him to fall in love with a nameless ghost.” 

Kate stepped closer, arching a brow and running a hand across the width of his shoulders. “You did not learn my name when we first met.”

Anthony smirked, tracing the pattern on her dress and allowing his hands to travel up the contours of her thighs, rounding over her hips and coming to rest around her waist. “You would not give it to me. Something about enjoying a victory lap.”

Kate pursed her lips triumphantly, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Ah yes, I had come out on top in our little race.”

In one swift motion Anthony pulled his wife down into his lap, holding her tight as he gazed into the depths of her eyes. He nuzzled into her collarbone, a purr rumbling from his chest. “Mmmm, on top…”

The sounds that emanated from the morning room for the following hour were ones that the staff had long grown accustomed to and knew not to approach, but at least they were not loud enough to wake the sleeping heir.

Tagging: @angels17324 @broooookiecrisp @secretagentbucky @eg-dr3amer3 @time-to-hit-the-clouds @lyta2323 @autumn-grace @sadprose-auroras @the-other-art-blog @goldrambutan @colettebronte @heeyyyou @musicismyoxygen84 @faye-tale @ambitionspassionscoffee @starchaser325 @malna4903

[starrynights23]

Watching Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story Episode 1:

I love both young and older Queen Charlotte. The actresses are very convincing at playing the same character at different points in their life.

Charlotte comes off as a brat at first, but after her brother explains why he could not refuse the betrothal, she becomes a lot better.

I like how she wanted what her husband was like and how she become frustrated when the servants only told her that he was the king.

Young Lady Danbury is perfect in her later scenes, but I hate her introduction. Showing a dark-skinned, young black woman having miserable sex with her geriatric dark-skinned husband is not a good look for Netflix.

I wonder if Prince Augusta's line about Charlotte's skin color was inspired by that line from the Sussexs' Oprah interview.

The inclusion of the wealthy non-white families to George and Charlotte's wedding came across as a rushed job. I would have liked it better if they had invited to the wedding from the beginning. I am also confused that George is not informed about this given that he is the king.

George and Charlotte's first meeting was so cute. The actors have great chemistry.

The wedding and ball scene was beautiful, but I wished that Lady Danbury had danced with Charlotte's brother, Adolphus. She deserves something nice for dealing with her much older husband.

I have mixed feelings about the last scene between George and Charlotte. It does not make sense given how romantic George was to Charlotte in their earlier scenes.

My current theory is that George wants Charlotte to live separate from him because of his mental health problems, and he does not want to expose her to them.

Older Queen Charlotte's scene with her adult children is so funny and mostly historically accurate.

The real-life King George IV and Queen Charlotte did not have any legitimate grandchildren after Princess Charlotte of Wales died. Their adult sons other than Prince Regent George were practically forced to make proper martial matches after their only legitimate niece died in childbirth.

Fun fact. Princess Charlotte's widower was the future King Leopold I of Belgium and one of Queen Victoria's maternal uncles.

I wonder if the mention of Queen Charlotte's many illegitimate grandchildren is a possible set-up for the show's version of Sophie Beckett.

[unfortunate-arrow]

I've seen a lot of people who want to erase Sophie being and illegitimate daughter and make her fully a servant and I'm like what? no! for me is even more tragic and satisfying and the same time, not to mention you have a 2x1, Sophie was supposed to have a decent life and Araminta took that away from her, we get to see that illegitimate children are not welcomed anywhere (even in S1 Anthony mentions a gentlemen of "dubious parentage") and also we get to see the hard life of a working class woman

I honestly enjoy having the aristocrat’s bastard as a hero or heroine in regency romance novels, so yeah, I think Sophie should still be illegitimate.

Without Araminta’s irrational hatred of what Sophie represents (her inability to conceive an heir), there’s no catalyst for their plot. It also would bring up other questions. It doesn’t make sense for Araminta’s character, especially considering that, without Sophie, she then turns her ire to Posy.

Also, if the earl hadn’t died when he did, Sophie probably could have married a doctor or a steward. But he died and Araminta took away any chance of Sophie having that life. It is tragic, more so than simply being a servant.

And while I wouldn’t necessarily describe Sophie as working class (I maintain that she technically doesn’t have any class), it does show the work of servants and how difficult it could be to get work as a young, pretty, unmarried woman.

[thekatebridgerton]

Hello, I just read your response to Benedict giving up everything to be with Sophie and I’m just wondering if he would really be shunned like that for marrying an earls ward? The only ones who know she’s illegitimate and a servant are the Bridgertons and I’m sure they blackmail Araminta to keep it a secret. It’s been a long time since i have read the book though so maybe I’m forgetting. I’m genuinely confused lol

Ah Dear Reader, do add this to the list of unspoken things Julia suggarcoats. So i’ll take a minute to spell this out. If you are one of those who wants to keep beleiving that Benedict sufferend no consequences from marrying Sophie and didn’t have to give up a lot of his class privileges for her. then do skip this post. 

Because I, with my limited knowledge of English lit, was under the impression that in ye olden times the word “Ward” was code for illegitimate daughter. In fact, Jane Eyre, arriving at Thornfield, initially doubt’s Adele’s parentage exactly because Rochester, bachelor gentleman that he is, has taken in a little orphaned girl and hired a governess for her. And honestly, me too, we will never know if Rochester is Adele’s father or not. And this is with Adele looking nothing like Mr Rochester in the book. 

But Sophie? Sophie looks a lot like the Penwoods. So the Bridgertons did what any respectable family at the time would have done if one of their sons wanted to marry the illegitimate daughter of another noble and claimed she WAS born into a wedded family that nobody knows about. So that on paper everything was settled enough. It was a common practice really.

Lets put it this way, even if the girl in question WAS born into well known wedded parents. Say if Sophie had been the legitimate daughter of a famous Mr Beckett and Mrs Beckett and they died leaving her an orphan. The Earl taking her as his 'ward' would still have been super sus, and raised all eyebrows, because he was neither her uncle or her distant relative. So speculation would always abound, why would a noble take an orphaned 'ward' who is not related to him into his household? unless she was his by blows.

On paper, the Bridgertons made her respectable, on PAPER. As in, for all extents of the law, Sophie had a right to be treated like a legitimate born citizen. But it's the same as if the Bridgertons had bought Benedict a title. Everyone would still know and talk about it behind close doors.

And yes the only thing keeping the ton from talking about Sophie's illegitimacy in public where everyone could hear, was in fact, Araminta's dubious silence. Because as long as Araminta doesn't confirm what everyone more or less already knows, then there's a thread of plausible deniability and the Bridgertons can prosecute anybody they want for slandering their beloved sister in law.

But like Anthony says, an illegitimate daughter at least is better than a servant. Benedict marrying a servant in the eyes of society would have definitely been... Sigh, how do I explain the amount of classist, and entitlement themes An offer From a Gentleman touches upon without sounding mean?

Finally I’d like to add that if the author HAD meant to leave it as “Benedict married An Earl’s ward” I wouldn’t have had to explain this. Because yes, say the Earl of Penwood had a life debt to some vicar or some soldier etc who saved his life and promised to take care of their child in the event they died. Earls did have wards that were completely respectable in ye olden times. But Juila didn’t and this is part of why yours truly least liked Bridgerton is Hyacinth. Because of This paragraph in her book 

(I’m going to take a moment to breathe out the enormous amount of rage this little exchange causes me, and just say that Gareth deserved better than a jerk like Hyacinth) 

 “in part because of her past” but you’re right dear reader Benedict and Sophie are definitely not being shunned by society by the time Hyacinth gets married.

The thing is, that Benedict doesn’t mind being shunned, he never regretted his choice to be with Sophie, or any sacrifices he had to make to marry her. I’m sure the life of a country gentleman agrees with him and that Sophie never feels she lacks anything for not being invited to balls or attend high society soirees. She’s got a bunch of upper class sister in laws after all, if Sophie wants to be a part of high society she can hang out with Daphne and Kate for a few days. And come back to live the life of a pampered country gentlewoman. lets put it this way, in status, Benedict and Sophie are more or less in the same line as Mr and Mrs Bennett. Country gentry, Somewhat related to nobility but not really part of it anymore. 

But Benedict grew up as the brother of a Viscount his whole life. He had a life filled with class privilege that he walked away from in order to marry a woman who was little more than a servant when he met her. And honestly yeah good for him. He came to his senses after being a supreme ass to Sophie during his whole book. Realizing that true love with Sophie was worth anything and he made it his mission to shower her with love for the rest of his life.

Benedict's book may not be my favorite but he definitely earns a lot of brownie points for how An offer from a Gentleman ended.

And that's the tea

[mermaidsirennikita]

What's your take on the claim that genderswapping Sophie Beckett would be sexist? Legitimate concern or smokescreen to hide homophobia?

Definite smokescreen to hide homophobia. Nobody has been able to define to me why genderswapping in this case is sexist. Making a female character male is not inherently sexist--that's not how sexism works, lol. You need reasoning behind your argument. There is no shortage of female characters on board, nor is there a shortage of women involved in positive romantic relationships. This is a show directed towards a primarily female audience, complete with the female gaze. It's not lacking in feminine representation.

The way you can tell that this is a smokescreen is that if you respond with "okay, if that's the issue how about we get queer rep by genderswapping Sir Phillip" aaaaaand they still have a problem. How would genderswapping a man be sexist? (It wouldn't be. That's because sexism is not the issue.)

I mean, check out the subreddit for this fandom--anything suggesting queer interpretations is downvoted to hell. The fandom wants this show to be as het as it can possibly be.

[triviareads]

Will LW talk about Sophie in S3? Wouldn't be suspecious having such juicy rumours of a girl who is "a ward" but there are also rumours of her being a maid and not publish it in her sheet? If she already outed Marina for trying to trap Colin why wouldn't LW say Sophie also trapped Benedict in a marriage? especially if her background is kinda grey

I don't think Penelope or the ton at large know much about Sophie, because Araminta seems to have buried the rumor that Sophie is the earl's illegitimate daughter by forcing Sophie to work as her servant, and the rumors only seem to reemerge once Benedict and Sophie are engaged, despite Violet's attempts to pass off Sophie as the legitimate "daughter of the earl's cousin, Mr. Beckett". So I feel like Penelope/LW would probably only know Benedict is chasing after a maid, at most, at least until they're engaged. So once they're engaged, the dueling narratives of "cousin's legitimate daughter" and earl's illegitimate daughter come into play.

[apinchofm]

giving a glowing review

Sophie Gunningworth wanted to see the season in London, having spent her entire life at Penwood. When she meets the dashing artist, Benedict Bridgerton, she finds her life is no longer a bore as she navigates London society.

[apinchofm]

“Please, don’t leave.” Benophie

Sophie dressed, choosing a pink dress today. Another long summer's day at Penwood. She would go for a walk in the gardens, maybe for a ride.

She was surprised to see a young man in the drawing room, where she usually liked to break her fast. Young men did not come here, especially not young gentlemen. He was well dressed, with a beautiful blue jacket and light blue cravat that matched his eyes.

"Hello, sir," She greeted.

"Ah, hello!" He greeted, "Is Lord Gunningworth about?"

"He is in a meeting," She said. He nodded and went to leave.

“Please, don’t leave.” She blurted out, taking his arm. It rather surprised him, but he was more intrigued, "It is just we do not receive many visitors."

"Ah. Well, I apologise. May I introduce myself? Mr Benedict Bridgerton." He bowed to her, making her giggle.

"Miss Sophie Beckett." She replied. She wondered how he would react, but he merely kindly smiled.

"Shall I call for some tea?"

Lord Gunningworth was rather surprised to hear his daughter's laughter coming from the drawing room. She was a rather shy thing, so there was something so warming hearing her laugh at a male voice telling her a story of a corgi chasing a man.

"Ah, Mr Bridgerton." The younger man stood, putting his cup down, "I trust my daughter has been hospitable?"

"Your daughter has been most accommodating." He said with a warm smile, "It is a pleasure to see you again, my lord."

"Papa, you did not tell me you were to have another portrait done!" Sophie said to her father.

"That is because I am not. You are." Her eyes widened, "If you are to debut in London, you should have a portrait befitting your station. Mr Bridgerton comes highly recommended from the Royal Academy."

"Oh, papa!" She said, hugging and kissing him excitedly.

"But, papa. Devrait-il vouloir me peindre?" She asked him in a hushed voice and he

"I would be honoured to paint you." Benedict chimed in, and she turned to him, surprised, "That is if you should like to be painted."

"I would like that very much, Mr Bridgerton."

[silverhallow]

Chapter 11 of

🙏Hope for the Hopeless🙏

Is now on ao3 and WattPad

[apinchofm]

Chapter 3: meetings and musems

"You should be careful, My Lady." She warned, "Men like him, those artists, they all have their lines and pretty words. What you need is a reliable nobleman."

Sophie merely smiled at her maid, "You are so harsh."

"It's kept me sensible." She said pointedly, with a gentle smile.

[silverhallow]

Hope is a Heartache

The year is 1816 and Richard Gunningworth, the Earl of Penwood has decided that at the age of two and twenty, it is time for his daughter to find a husband…

With Violet Bridgerton as her godmother and chaperone Sophie is sure to impress.

For years everyone assumed Benedict would offer for Sophie, even with Sophie’s brother Charles and Anthony giving him pointed remarks he still remains unaware of his true feelings towards his best friend…

For Sophie, after 4 years of waiting for her best friend, who also happens to be the man she loves, to ask for her hand… she finally agrees to venture into London and make her bow to society.

Where she immensely popular and everyone wants to know Lady Sophia Gunningworth

When his heart and head finally catch up all Benedict can do is wonder and remember all the moments where he thought she’d always be there and

Hope has turned into heartache for them both…

When a disaster strikes forcing hands and Benedict wonders have they missed their chance?

[silverhallow]

The epilogue of

🙏Hope for the Hopeless🙏

Is now on ao3 and WattPad

[silverhallow]

Chapter 14 of

🙏Hope for the Hopeless🙏

Is now on Ao3 and WattPad