Chapter One - The Queen's Eye

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Lady Whistledown's

SOCIETY PAPERS

Grosvenor Square, 1813.

Dearest reader, the time has come to place our bets for the upcoming social season.

Consider the household of the Baron Featherington.

Three misses foisted upon the marriage market like sorrowful sows by their tasteless, tactless mama.

Far better odds might exist in the household of the widowed Viscountess Bridgerton.

A shockingly prolific family, noted for its bounty of perfectly handsome sons and perfectly beautiful daughters.

How very perfect, indeed!

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"Mama?" I poked my head out of my door and peered down the long hallway. "Mama!"

"Coming my dear," my mother chimed, the sound of her footsteps slowly grew louder as she made her way up the atrociously large staircase that we had. "What is it?"

"Have you seen the jewelry that I was supposed to wear for the presentation?"

Mama let out a huff and nudged me into the room, helping me to locate and put on my jewelry before father and Henry inevitably shouted at us to hurry.

"Are you ready my dear?" Mother turned to look at me in the mirror, a small smile appearing on her face. "You look lovely, Florence. Truly."

"Thank you, mama," I offer her the most confident smile that I could.

She does one more adjustment of the tiara on my head before the two of us walk out of the bedroom and towards the carriage, where father and Henry were already waiting.

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Today is a most important day, and for some a terrifying one, for today is the day London's marriage-minded misses are presented to her Majesty the Queen.

May God have mercy on their souls.

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The Featherington's were called up first, causing the room to quiet suddenly.

All the girls and their mama's watched intently as they stepped forwards and readied themselves for the doors to open.

"Mama, how are we supposed to all fit through the door-"

"Figure it out," Mrs. Featherington hisses, shooting Penelope a heated glare as she stepped behind the three of them.

As the doors open, they all awkwardly shuffle forwards, turning their bodies are they try to squeeze through the doorway at the same time.

The doors close once more and the groups of waiting mamas and their daughters begin to nervously chatter once more.

"Cressida!" A smile breaks out on my face when I see my old friend, whose mother was fixing the feathers that were adorned on top of her blonde head. "You look beautiful!"

Cressida smiles, and mutters a quiet, "thank you."

"Florence, you look beautiful," Lady Cowper gushes.

I blush and bow my head at her compliment. It wasn't often that she genuinely gave them out, so when she did Cressida and I lapped it up.

"Thank you, Lady Cowper."

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It is only the Queen's eye that matter's today. A glimmer of displeasure and a young lady's value plummets to unthinkable depths.

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Daphne was called up next.

She and her mother stood side by side, sharing a glace before the Dowager Viscountess moved to stand just behind Daphne.

"She does look rather nice," I whisper, watching as Daphne and her mother walk out of the room and towards the Queen.

The tall and imposing doors quickly cut off the rest of us from the waiting crowds, again causing the room to start to quietly talk amongst themselves.

"Lady Florence Huntingdon..." the caller looked up from his list and looked around the room.

Mama gently nudged me forward and nodded her head at the caller.

As we stood in front of the doors, I nervously clenched and unclenched my hands, before forcing myself to relax, taking in deep and slow breaths in an attempt to not pass out in front of the Queen.

"Ready, my dear?" Mama glanced at me with an eyebrow raised.

"Of course," I took in another deep breath and watched as the large doors began to open.

"Lady Florence Huntingdon, presented by her mother, the Right Honorable, the Countess of Huntingdon."

I take a hesitant step forward out of the waiting room and into the ornately decorated room. People gathered on either side, watching with bated breath as their family members were each judged by the Queen, knowing that, for some, their family's reputation depended on the words- or lack thereof- that they receive.

Father and Henry stood to the side, as close to the Queen as they could get without actually standing beside her. Each of them watched me with a careful eye, their faces showing nothing but calm to the everyday person around them, but mama and I knew that they were terrified.

As we came to a stop, we both dipped into a low curtsy, staying there until we were otherwise dismissed.

A few murmurs rippled through the crowd as they continued to watch the Queen.

Suddenly, a hand rested under my chin and pulled my face up, effectively pulling me up from my curtsy. The Queen looked me over with a calculated eye before slowly nodding her head, a twinkle of some unknown emotion brewing behind her chocolate brown eyes.

"A beauty," the Queen said, her eyes continuing to scan my face as I looked up.

From the corner of my gaze, I could see father biting back a smile. Henry nodded his head, not bothering to hide his pride as he smiled widely in our direction.

I took a step back and curtsied once more before exiting the room.

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But as we know, the brighter a lady shines, the faster she may burn.

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"Did that- what just happened?" I sputter, looking over at mama as we make our way back to the carriage, no doubt meeting father and Henry there.

"You, my dear, just managed to secure the eyes of every eligible man in town," mama said, smiling over at me.

"I highly doubt that Henry will be happy with that," I weakly joke, fiddling with my hands as we make our way down the staircase and to our carriage, where Henry and father were already standing and waiting for us.

"He'll have to be," mama declared, "you cannot let this opportunity go to waste."

As we rejoined father and Henry, they both allowed their facades to break and their proud smiles to show.

"Renny! You did marvelously, my darling!" Father said, pulling me into a tight hug. "You and the Bridgerton girl were the only two to get any sort of reaction out of the Queen."

"Except for when one of the Featherington girls collapsed in front of her," Henry let out, chuckling as he helped mother and I into the carriage and then stepped in himself. "That caused quite a stir, let me tell you."

"Henry!"

"Sorry, mother."

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-T