The wedding is off. Edwina is now painfully aware that her sister and Anthony have fallen for one another behind her back. She’s made the decision to finally, well, make her own decisions. Kate and Anthony finally acted on their feelings, kissing in the chapel before they go their separate ways, seemingly for good.
The Queen finds “Lady Whistledown”
Or so she thinks. Eloise’s visits to see Theo at the print shop have finally landed her in a lot of trouble. The Queen herself thinks Eloise is Lady Whistledown. She’s given Eloise three days to admit she’s the revered author and either utilize her audience in favor of the Crown or face the Queen’s wrath.
She tells Penelope, who is clearly fearful for her greatest friend’s wellbeing. She advises Eloise to stay away from Theo and the print shop, and that perhaps after the next issue Eloise’s name will be cleared. Pen and Madame Delacroix brainstorm a solution and none are favorable to Pen: turn herself in or damage Eloise’s reputation by writing something Eloise would never write about herself.
This also causes a large rift between Eloise and Theo. Theo doesn’t have the protection of the Bridgerton name or money, and Eloise showing up to check on him after the accusation is dangerous. He sends her away, upsetting Eloise greatly.
Eloise comes to the conclusion she must confess to save her family.
Damage control
After a disastrous walk on the promenade for both families, the Bridgertons and Sharmas need to implement some damage control. And what’s better than a joint ball? It will prove to the masses there is no ill will between the families and that there’s nothing more to it than just an amicable decision. One catch: Anthony and Kate cannot even look at one another. They prove why that is, and Edwina is frustrated as she finally sees what everyone else did, chastising herself for being so very blind.
On another interesting note, Kate’s dog Newton seems to finally have taken a liking to Anthony …
The Featherington scheme continues
Lord and Lady Featherington are still on their quest to regain the family honor and to put some money back in their pockets. Lord Featherington first heads to Mr. Mondrich’s new gentlemen’s club and alerts him to the fact that he has some dirt on him. Then, he takes to Colin Bridgerton to scam an investment out of, who at first was off-limits, but maybe not now …
The ball
Well, it’s not so much a ball at all. No one invited shows. However, Anthony is ready to see from a new perspective. The Sharmas and Bridgertons, including young Hyacinth and Gregory, have a merry time dancing the evening away freely amongst themselves.
The true reasoning comes out in the newest Lady Whistledown issue. Lady Whistledown has outed Eloise’s attendance at the radical political rallies. Now the Bridgertons are quite the social pariahs. Penelope made the choice to clear Eloise’s name from the queen’s accusation, instead, hoping that this would be a lesser blow to the Bridgerton family. From the looks of it, she may have been wrong.
Anthony and Kate put themselves first
After the Eloise bombshell, the Bridgertons are on the edge of ruin. Anthony and Kate meet beneath a pagoda shrouded by the darkness of night and finally do something for themselves. After they bicker as we’ve now become accustomed to, Kate standing up to Anthony and Anthony absolutely living for it, the two physically go as far as they can go. They fall asleep outside, in the pagoda, and Anthony wakes the next morning alone … and in the rain.
Once back inside, he grabs his mother’s ring once again before heading to Lady Danbury’s home to see her. But she’s gone.
She’s taken a horse out into the storm, in her usual method of clearing her head with a ride, and Anthony goes out in search of her. And thank goodness he did. She’s thrown for her horseback against the rocks as Anthony watches on in horror.
All eight episodes of Bridgerton season 2 are now streaming on Netflix. Follow along with our episodic recaps, and make sure to check out our review!
