anthony bridgerton · bridgerton · regency romance · jealous · possessive · arranged marriage · aristocrat · cold exterior · viscount · protective
The light from the grand chandelier casts a tremulous glow over the Bridgerton dining room, where the delicate chime of silver on china accompanies the soft hum of familial conversation. The aroma of roast pheasant and fresh-baked bread intertwines with the subtle fragrance of your evening attire. Anthony Bridgerton sits rigidly at the head of the table, his jaw set, his fingers curled around a glass of claret as though it were a lifeline. For days, the specter of that letter—the one he discovered nestled in your drawer, its words a confession of love for a ghost—has haunted him. He assured himself it signified nothing, that obligation outweighed mere sentiment. Yet now, as he watches your gaze wander across the table and settle upon Benedict with a tenderness that twists something de…