[10. Park Shenanigans]


It was a beautiful day for a picnic and most of the ton was taking advantage of the weather after the rainy day before. While Winnie hadn't had plans in the morning when she woke up to the sun beaming through her windows, it soon became apparent the Bridgertons had made plans for both her and George. During breakfast, they had received an invitation to the park for a family picnic, where many other prominent families would be. Lady Bridgerton had even written a note for Winnie at the bottom of the message that almost made her reluctant to go.

It's a beautiful day to promenade with some suitors, dear.

Winnie was tempted to say no, but the look on George's face when he heard that he would be able to play with Hyacinth and Gregory made it impossible. She could never deny her brother anything, especially when their father tended to keep him at home as much as possible.

Two hours later, when the sun had reached its highest peak in the sky, Winnie and George joined the Bridgerton family for a meal in the local park. There were prominent families all about; some ladies Winnie's age were being charted around on small boats by suitors in the river, gentlemen flocked together to scope out eligible ladies, and there were many potential couples promenading. Most of the people, however, sat under tents to shield them from the sun and ate and enjoyed time with their family.

The spread that the Bridgertons had brought for lunch was plentiful and delicious, with many finger sandwiches, biscuits, and cakes to go around. At some point while they were eating, Winnie had to cut George off from the biscuits, as he was practically swallowing them whole, risking asphyxiation or worse, a sugar high. Thankfully, before George could get upset with her, Anthony and Colin stepped in to teach him a game that they often played with Hyacinth and Gregory during such events.

"We will stand around here, in a circle. So, you will stand here," Anthony told George as Colin, Greg, and Hyacinth got into place, and moved him to the empty spot next to him. "And now, Winnifred, if you please..."

Had Winnie not been watching the viscount attend to her brother, she surely would not have heard him. Her gaze left his shoulders, where they had been lingering, and followed down his strong arm to the hand he was using to gesture to the empty spot between George and Gregory. She had not even noticed she was staring at the man until he raised an expectant brow at her.

"My apologies," she stood in her space. "Please, go on Lord Bridgerton."

"The object of the game is quite simple," Anthony started, crouching down to George's level to explain the rules. "We must toss the hoop," he shook the hoop that Hyacinth had eagerly given him. "To each other in the circle. The catch, however, is you must only use one arm to catch, and it needs to go through the hoop in order to count. If you don't catch it, you're out and the remaining players continue."

Historically, Winnie usually ran into trouble when she played games with the Bridgertons. When Colin tried to teach her cards, she received a large paper cut on her index finger that made her unable to sew for days. One time, while she, Eloise, and Daphne were playing tag, she ended up tripping and accidently taking both of them down with her. Worst of all, however, was the pall mall accident in summer of 1809–that fateful day had been stressful for all involved, but it was only Winnie that had ended up in tears, hiding away with Lady Bridgerton in the drawing room of Aubrey Hall, her friendship with Anthony fractured.

Hopefully, this game designed for children would not cause any such dramatics.

"Do you have any questions, George?" Anthony stood to his full height. When George shook his head, he turned to Winnie, a sarcastic look on his face. "And you, Winnifred?"

Winnie pursed her lips, annoyed. "No, let's play."

The game started and though Winnie wasn't the most coordinated, she could hold her own in this game. It was quite easy, though, and even George was better than her. In fact, he was great at keeping up with the Bridgertons, even winning a round or two. Winnie did not mind losing at all–if they were playing pall mall, that'd be a different situation–and enjoyed watching George and Anthony interact.

It was quite something, actually. She had seen it before on Anthony, of course, when he interacted with Gregory and Hyacinth, but he was wonderful with children. He was softer, less sarcastic, and more open to listen and teach.

Her stomach fluttered in time with the corner of her lips, smiling when Anthony caught the hoop in a brisk chop, bending at the knees like he was in a fencing competition.

Winnie excused herself as the game winded down and picked up a cluster of green grapes to snack on before gently lowering herself onto the picnic blanket. Benedict and Daphne were not far from her, chatting with their mother about something, but far enough that she couldn't quite make out what they were saying.

"Tag, you're it!" She heard Gregory's loud voice and the combined squeals of George and Hyacinth as they started running, heading away from the family tent. On her left, there was low chuckling and she watched with wide but weary eyes as Lord Bridgerton sat down next to her.

"It is good, I think, that George enjoys my siblings' company," he commented, still looking after his youngest siblings and George running around and begging others of their age to join in on the fun. "It's good for him to get out of the house."

Winnie couldn't disagree, as she had been trying for the last three years to get George out and about the ton to make friends with other children his age. It was Thomas, however, that led her to be less successful. He was so afraid of George getting hurt that he wanted him close by at all times, even if he couldn't bear to look at him most days. Winnie was lucky when she could get George out of the house to go horseback riding, or on a walk to the market.

"It is," Winnie replied, a fond smile directed at her baby brother's form. "I am very lucky that he tends to be the opposite of shy. I believe it to be much easier to make friends as an extravert."

The odds were stacked against George's social skill, considering his hermit father and shy sister, yet he thrived with other people. It made Winnie so proud.

"It's lucky you've never had to make friends, then," Anthony jibed goodnaturedly. "Daphne and Eloise were more than glad to snatch you up the moment you all met."

Winnie laughed, his words ringing true. "I was very lucky, indeed."

It was quiet for a few seconds while they both enjoyed the gentle breeze that drifted through the park. The silence was not uncomfortable, thankfully, and was actually quite...peaceful? It surprised Winnie as she was the queen of awkward silences. With Anthony, it seemed that there was no such thing.

"Winnifred."

Winnie hummed and turned to Anthony. "Yes?"

"I screwed up with Daphne, didn't I?" she could practically see the regret seeping from his pores and dripping from his vocal chords. "I almost made her marry a man t-t-t-that–" he gulped harshly and looked down at his lap shamefully. "I'm a horrible brother."

"You're not a horrible brother," Winnie disputed immediately. "You love and care for all of your siblings and though your actions were severely misguided and pig-headed, you were trying to secure a stable future for Daphne."

"I was."

"Even if it was a horrible future with a horrible man."

"Good point."

"And you entirely went the wrong way about securing Daphne's future–"

"I wouldn't say—"

"I would say that, in fact," Winnie stated firmly when Anthony tried to defend some of his previous actions.

Anthony dipped his chin, conceding to her. "You were right about everything," he admitted, though he looked extremely unhappy to do so. "Did you know about what Berbrooke tried to do?"

Her eyes caught the way his jaw flexed in anger and now that it wasn't aimed at her, she could admire the beauty in it.

She shook her head. Focus.

"I did not know to what extent Berbrooke went," she told him, carefully avoiding mention of the Duke of Hastings. "I knew that Daphne punched him, and I knew she didn't want me to say anything about it."

"She didn't want me to know," Anthony scoffed. He moved his arms behind him so his fingers could dig into the grass, leaning all his body weight on them. "She doesn't trust me."

"Maybe not about Berbrooke or any other suitors, surely," Winnie agreed, only feeling a little bad when he winced at the truth. "But you could always try to build that trust again."

Anthony shifted into his regular position, taking a few blades of grass with him. He played with them between his fingertips for a moment before his dark brown eyes met hers. "How?"

Winnie's lips slightly shifted into an amused grin. "Talk to her. Listen to her. Apologize to her."

Anthony's right eyebrow quirked as he glanced over at Daphne, five feet away from her at best. "It's not that simple."

"It's not," Winnie agreed. "But it's a start."

A little ways away, her eyes caught Eloise, who was waving frantically at her. "Please excuse me, my Lord. Your sister summons me."

"Ah," Anthony looked at Eloise knowingly and then back to her. "Thank you, Winnifred, for more of your good advice."

He got to his feet and held out a hand to help her up. She laughed breathlessly as she took it, using hardly any of her strength as he pulled her up. "I never thought I would live to see the day that the viscount, Lord Anthony Bridgerton, spoke so highly of–"

Anthony swiftly cut her off, rolling his eyes in amusement. "Eloise is growing impatient, I should not want to hold you two up. Excuse me, Miss Sheffield." he let go of her hand and went the short distance to Daphne, sitting down onto the blanket beside her.

Winnie laughed again and made her way over to Eloise, who really had grown impatient waiting for her.

"Why were you taking so long to talk to Anthony?" Eloise wrinkled her nose as she took Winnie's arm. "You were fighting, weren't you? Neither of you looked unhappy, though," she shook her head to rid herself of her errant thoughts. "Never mind about that. Should you like to join me to ask Penelope about the maid situation?"

Winnie's heart stumbled as she recalled what Penelope had told her and Eloise before, about the maid who was with child whilst unmarried. "Of course," she nodded determinedly. "We shall go right away."

Thankfully, the Featherington tent was not too far from the Bridgerton's. Between the both of them, they finally got Penelope's attention when she happened to look in their direction, and before long, she was squished into the middle so they could thoroughly question her.

"What have you learned from your maid, the one who is in the family way?" Eloise could hardly wait a second to blurt out her question.

"What happened?" Winnie followed up anxiously. "How did it happen?"

Penelope looked around to see if anyone was paying attention to them or their conversation; of course, no one was. "She said it was love."

"Love?" Eloise asked, bewildered, as Winnie raised an eyebrow in surprise. "That doesn't stand to reason."

"No, it certainly does not," Penelope agreed. "Look at my mama. Three children. Would anyone presume that had anything to do with love?"

"Perhaps your mama and papa once loved one another and that's how you and your sisters came to be?" Winnie theorized; both girls gave her looks of disbelief. "Oh, fine. Well, did she say anything else? Was she not frightened?"

"More..." Penelope hesitated, struggling to find the words to describe her maid's emotional state. "Sad than frightened. But there may be a chance for her to have a happy ending yet, I suppose."

"Really?" Winnie asked eagerly. She loved love and she adored hearing stories about love, even if they were from people she had never met.

"She wants to escape to the country where she and her love will marry."

Eloise wrinkled her nose. "Then she has even greater reason to be frightened," she stated. "Once she is married, her life is over. That's scarcely an escape, Penelope."

"It's not for you, El, but it is for the maid," Winnie looked around Penelope to give Eloise a look.

She knew Eloise was a smart young woman and so she also knew that Eloise should have the thought that if she wants to choose something for herself, so should other women. Even if they wanted to become wives and mothers, their choices were still valid.

"I suppose," Eloise grumbled, chastised for now. She turned back to Penelope. "So she said nothing else? Nothing but love?"

"Well, at first she said it was cake," Penelope informed them, giggling lightly. "But that was just how she and her love met. He would sneak her cake in church."

"That is so romantic!" Winnie swooned. "Sometimes services are so long, one does become famished."

"Yes, I think so as well," Penelope agreed with her, smiling. "Could you imagine–"

Winnie cocked her head, wondering why Penelope hadn't finished her sentence. She supposed she did hear some sort of ruckus going on behind her, but surely it had nothing to do with what Penelope was saying?

She copied Eloise and Penelope as they turned around, facing the direction that they had just come from. Winnie squinted and recognized Lord Berbrooke's stout figure striding toward the Bridgerton tent.

"Come on!" Eloise grabbed Winnie's hand and they swiftly made their way to the family, who was gathering around. Even George, Gregory, and Hyacinth had stopped their playing, George burrowing into Winnie's side as soon as she was close enough to the tent.

Winnie gave Eloise a curious look, but the brunette just shrugged, just as clueless as to what was going on. Winnie chose to watch Lord Berbrooke–whose eye was even more purple and grotesque, as if someone else had taken a whack at him–as she assumed that he had started this confrontation.

"I bring cheerful news, Bridgertons," he proclaimed. "I have taken matters in my own hands and sought a special license for my wedding to Miss Bridgerton."

Winnie's mouth dropped, her eyes immediately turning to Daphne. Daphne, with the duke's presence behind her, looked at Berbrooke with wide, angry eyes. Her gloved hands were clenched into fists and Winnie knew she was aching to punch him again.

"There is to be no wedding," She said firmly.

"I told you," Anthony's voice was a little harder to hear than Daphne's or even Berbrooke's, just because she was closer and he was louder, so Winnie resorted to reading his lips. "The arrangement is canceled."

Violet spoke then, though Winnie missed what she said completely. Whatever she was offering, Berbrooke immediately dismissed her. "I require no further conversation. Though, perhaps I am finally speaking to the true Head of the Bridgerton House. For if it were you, I imagine you would have instructed your sister to take better care than to encourage certain attentions while alone with me on the Dark Walk at Vauxhall. Of course, mere hearsay of such a scandal could wreak havoc on even the most influential of families," he smirked nastily. "What would someone like, say, Lady Whistledown do with such unseemly information?"

Winnie bit her lip and smoothed down George's hair, trying to combat her anxiety and anger.

Anthony's already-stormy glare turned thunderous as he took a frightening step toward Berbrooke. "Is that a threat?

Despite the scandal it would surely cause, Winnie almost hoped that Anthony would kick his ass and give him some more bruises to match his black and blue eye.

"It is certainly not, because in three days, I am to marry. I have the diamond of the season. I have the very best the Ton has to offer. I have a Bridgerton," Berbrooke puffed out his chest proudly. "And I shall save her, as well as your entire family, from the ruin which you could not protect them."

He slapped the marriage license against Anthony's chest, and this seemed to set the duke off. He moved around Daphne, intent on pummeling Berbrooke, but Benedict stepped him, pushing on his chest for him to back off. Winnie was rather put off about that; Berbrooke deserved a good kick up the ass and it certainly looked like the duke had enough strength and social standing to do so.

"I look forward to the union of our great families," Berbrooke finally finished, flinching away from the Duke of Hastings. He nodded toward Anthony and then the duke. "Bridgerton. Hastings."

The whole family, minus Anthony, who was still studying the license, stared after the man as he strutted away like a peacock, obviously proud of his manipulation. Now, Winnie was no expert in relationships, or courtships, or marriages, but surely one would not want to get on their in-laws' bad side before marrying their intended? Maybe that was the only way Lord Berbrooke could get any attention, otherwise.

Winnie finally looked at Daphne. Her friend had looked away from Berbrooke and was staring at the green grass at their feet, looking lost. Her eyes were wet, but Winnie noticed that she did not cry. If she were at home, she would, Winnie knew. But they were in public and thus, a facade was put on. Winnie wanted to hug her and reassure her that everything would be all right, but she could not. She had no control over this and it seemed, neither did Daphne.

-

If smoke could pour out of one's ears from the utter rage pulsing through one's body, surely Anthony's ears would be steaming. Furious didn't even cover the basics of Anthony's emotions, as there were plenty of layers of sadness, guilt, and annoyance.

The nerve, the audacity, of Nigel Berbrooke! His family was not even on par with the Bridgerton's social status and as head of said family, Anthony had the right to dissolve any marriage arrangement on his sisters' behalf. How Berbrooke even got the Bishop to pass over the license was unknown, but Anthony was furious with him as well.

Anthony didn't know how long he had been muttering under his breath as their carriage carried himself, Daphne, Violet, and Eloise home, but once his jumbled thoughts slowly caught up with his emotions, he started forming a plan and those mumbles turned to action.

"I must issue my challenge to Berbrooke straight away."

Violet sighed tiredly. "Oh, Anthony..."

"I assure you, I've been properly trained in the matter. I know the rules to follow–"

"You are not to duel with Lord Berbrooke. Do you understand me?" his mother interrupted him. "I do not care what kind of training you think you may have. It is illegal, not to mention positively horrific."

"Gentlemen are left with no other choice, Mother," Anthony argued. "When a young woman, let alone one's sister, is rumored to be dishonored–no matter how false those accusations are–the consequences shall be deadly."

"It's not a solution, Anthony," Daphne finally spoke, looking away from the window where she had been staring since their ride home started. "Should Lord Berbrooke decide to make good on his threat before you shoot him dead, brother? What happens then?

It was Anthony's turn to look out the window now, wishing that this was all just a nightmare that they were collectively sharing.

"He may decide to open his tiny mouth at any moment and then I shall be ruined, as will everyone else!" Daphne's voice shook and it made Anthony's chest hurt. "I must marry Nigel Berbrooke. It is the only choice."

Anthony could practically feel the incredulous stare that Eloise was giving him, but he continued to glare out the window. This wasn't over yet, he would not let Berbrooke threaten his family and he would not let Daphne marry for anything less than love like she wanted.

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