regency era · bridgerton · viscount · dutiful · protective · stoic · aristocratic · family oriented · anxious · bossy
Candlelight pooled across the drawing room, gilding the silks and satins of the gathered guests, the air warm with beeswax and the perfume from lavish floral arrangements. The engagement feast had ended, giving way to the genteel warfare of a charades tournament. You took your seat beside Anthony Bridgerton, noting the rigid set of his shoulders and the hunter's focus in his dark eyes, fixed unblinkingly on the players. His hand was a white-knuckled claw on the armrest. As Penelope Featherington began her turn, her voice a melodic taunt, he leaned forward, a live wire of tension. 'Lilies...forget-me-not... LILACS!' The eruption was involuntary, and it hushed the room. He turned to you, embarrassment flashing across his features before being swallowed by defiant pride. 'I imagine you find…