#prudence featherington
Polin: A Bridgerton Season 3 Daydream…
(This is what I dreamt up for Polin this morning. It’s how I’d like Season 3 to go. I love Polin. Enjoy! )
Portia forcing Jack to leave town basically ruins Prudence’s but Portia is determined to make use of the forged document that she has that says the first born son to one of her daughters will inherit the Featherington title so she sets her sights on marrying off Penelope for the first time.
We see Portia demanding Penelope not wear yellow because Whistledown wrote about how unflattering yellow dresses are and Portia is all about attracting suitors for Penelope now so she starts putting her in more flattering colors and insisting that Penelope starts wearing a corset every day so her figure is always most appealing.
But just like she did with Prudence in the first episode of season 1, Portia will make Penelope’s corset too tight and when Pen gets to the first ball of the season she looks absolutely stunning but is having difficulty breathing.
Penelope is trying to avoid Colin but he finds her and tries to apologize for what he said when he was drunk at her family’s ball but Penelope gets upset and with the corset restricting her breathing she legitimately swoons and he catches her. When Pen regains her composure, she thanks Colin for his help but makes it clear that she has to focus on marriage this season and can no longer allow her friendships to distract her since her first season her focus was on Marina and last season she was distracted with Eloise.
Colin will claim he understands but inwardly he’s disappointed that he doesn’t get to spend time with Penelope at balls anymore and she has stopped visiting Eloise and his family so he doesn’t even get to see her at tea the way he used to.
Portia is growing reckless pushing for Penelope to attract suitors and Colin doesn’t find the men who are being introduced to Penelope to be true gentlemen because he’s aware of their past indiscretions. When he tries to warn Penelope, she is dismissive and tells him he’s just being protective because he still feels bad about embarrassing her and laughing at the idea of courting her but she’s focusing on men who actually see her as a woman and don’t merely pity her. Colin knows his past behavior is why Penelope feels this way and he tells her he misses when they used to be able to talk without her thinking so little of him.
Violet noticed them speaking and later mentions to Colin that he seems lonely and perhaps he should consider marrying because he deserves companionship and love and he snaps at her because the last thing he wants is for her to start pushing eligible young ladies at him when he has no interest in courting anyone. And he didn’t tell a soul but he couldn’t imagine courting anyone when all he can do lately is think of Penelope and how she used to make even the most boring balls better with her clever humor. He recalls how she used to smile at him and the way her eyes used to sparkle when he made her laugh and he wished more than anything he was back at Anthony’s failed wedding with her just having cake and daydreaming about how they both longed for a sense of purpose. That was the day he realized that Marina was right when she said Penelope cared for him. Of course she did, they’d been in each other’s lives forever, she’d been closest with Eloise but Pen had proven to be a true friend to Colin and he thanked her by mocking the idea that she was desirable as a wife.
In truth, when Colin actually thought about Penelope being a wife and mother he imagined himself embracing her as she smiled looking up at him, holding their child lovingly in her arms and the thought made his eyes well with tears because she would never look at him that way again and it was all his fault. At the next ball they attend, Penelope is dressed in a stunning gown and Colin cannot seem to take his eyes off of her. He notices she looks pale and approaches to ask her to get some air with him. She’s grateful because she’s lightheaded and they go to the garden where Colin begins to try and make small talk because he finally has Penelope to himself but he doesn’t know what to say and she is not looking well.
Penelope tells Colin she is just a little woozy because her mama would not let her eat so she would look nice in her dress but the corset is so tight she can’t breathe and again Penelope started to faint & Colin panics, rips her bodice to loosen the corset and get her some air and Portia finds them. Penelope takes one look at Colin and her ripped bodice and knows her mother will force his hand but before she can explain or protest, Colin insists they will marry immediately to save Penelope’s reputation.
The next day Colin calls on Penelope and brings her flowers and gifts like a doting suitor but Penelope is visibly distraught and promises him she will never force his hand because she wants better for him. He insists that he’s pleased with the idea that he’s going to marry her because she’s his best friend and he’s missed her. Penelope can’t bear the idea of trapping Colin but he’s not listening to her and insists that they should marry.
In a gut wrenching moment of honesty Penelope admits everything to Colin. That she’s always loved him. That Marina knew it. That she was the reason Marina’s secret was revealed because she was Lady Whistedown. That she acted out of desperation when she revealed Marina was pregnant because she knew they were running off to Scotland because Marina seduced him to ensure he wouldn’t question why she wanted to wed quickly and that she was sick over nearly ruining Eloise but with Anthony’s canceled wedding and the Queen’s threats she was terrified of what would happen if Eloise lied about being Whistledown as she intended to. That she knows her actions were unforgivable and she deserved to be alone without friends or love. But she took comfort knowing that someday Colin would find someone worthy of him and it would only be possible because she wasn’t selfish and set him free.
Colin is speechless at Penelope’s revelation and turns to leave in stunned silence but at the last second he turns back to Penelope, admits that Marina never seduced him, they never even kissed. Then he plants a desperately sad kiss on her lips, says he has a lot to think about but he won’t be the reason for her ruin because he’s a gentleman, so they will still marry. He leaves.
Colin confides everything to Anthony, Kate, his mother and Eloise confirms that the Queen had threatened them all the day after Anthony & Edwina’s failed wedding. The family is shocked that Eloise might have acted to rashly because if she had lied to the Queen, the family might have been stripped of their lands and title and ruined if not worse. Despite the stresses Whistledown caused over the years, they cannot deny that if not for Penelope, Daphne would have been forced to wed Berbrooke, Colin would have eloped with Marina and Eloise might have caused the downfalls their entire family.
Meanwhile Penelope decides she will take her money and leave town, ending their engagement with a letter since Colin is not being reasonable by refusing to let her call things off. Colin tells Eloise that Penelope is going to run away & he asks his family members to stick to Penelope like glue because he knows she has plenty of money and is planning to leave town for good.
Eloise has felt Penelope’s absence from her life deeply. She admits it to Kate one afternoon and asks her new sister in law how she made things right with Edwina when there was so much hurt from the secrets and broken trust between them. Kate tells Eloise to be honest with Penelope but at the end of the day, Edwina is Kate’s sister so there is a difference.
Eloise approaches Penelope for the first time all season and they have a heart to heart, each taking credit for their part in their fight. Penelope tells Eloise how much she misses her because Eloise has been like the sister she always wished for in her heart since she isn’t close to her own sisters. Eloise agrees that they have been like sisters and she’s happy that soon they really will be sisters. Penelope doesn’t have the heart to tell Eloise she intends to call off her engagement to Colin but knows she shouldn’t keep more secrets from Eloise.
But first, Penelope asks Eloise for help getting audience with the Queen. Penelope confesses everything to the Queen who is equally shocked and impressed by what the ton’s wallflower was able to accomplish as such a young woman. She agrees to keep the secret and even offers Penelope protection if the secret gets out that she was Whistledown but Penelope has to give up the gossip column and provide her gossip exclusively to the Queen. Penelope is both shocked and grateful. The Queen then announces that the scheming Lord Featherington who stole from many members of the ton is to be stripped of his title so it could be bestowed to a man worthy of it.
Since Penelope advised the Queen that it was Colin Bridgerton who discovered the scammer and ran him out of town, the title of Baron Featherington would be granted to him upon his marriage to Penelope Featherington and they will carry on her family name with the honor it deserves.
After the announcement Penelope is looking for Colin to tell him she will speak with the Queen when there’s a commotion and all eyes turn to Colin who makes a spectacle of himself proclaiming he’d been a fool for not realizing sooner that his dearest friend Penelope had become the most clever, remarkable and beautiful woman of his acquaintance, but it would be unforgivably foolish of him if he allowed anyone to leave that evening without understanding the truth.
Penelope is frozen because she doesn’t know what Colin is about to say but it’s possible he’s about to out her as Whistledown.
Instead he speaks of how he has read of many great love stories but it was the real love he witnessed between his parents and his siblings with their spouses that made him long for his own true love. He mentioned how easily he was distracted from what was right in front of him, and how fortunate he was for Lady Whistledown’s interference. Because he cannot think of a fate worse than a future without hope of love.
Penelope’s heart sinks a little because she knows she can’t ever keep him from the future her deserves. But suddenly Colin is standing in front of Penelope with the entire ton watching and he’s telling her she is the best person he’s ever known and the only woman he has ever felt in his bones he could never live without and that he can’t wait to marry her.
Then he apologizes to everyone in attendance who is a fan of Lady Whistledown because he heard she said she’d never write again if a Featherington ever married a Bridgerton but nothing is ever coming between him and Penelope again. Then Colin kisses Penelope in front of the entire ton and jokingly says, “what’re the chances the Queen would put in a good word with the archbishop so we can get a special license? We have a family to start working on.”
Epilogue: Penelope buys a giant 3 way mirror for the dressing room in her and Colin’s new home and Colin becomes obsessed with trying for an heir in front of the mirror. Lady Whistledown stops writing for the public and serves as a private informer to the crown of all types of gossip she uncovers so the Queen knows all the ton’s secrets and on occasion the crown sends Colin & Penelope traveling to out of town events and parties to secure special tidbits of gossip and Colin begins journaling while Penelope starts writing a series of short romantic novels, each inspired by his siblings meeting their spouses and each with happy endings because Penelope says she wouldn’t know how to write anything else.
oh worm?
