Chapter Twelve - The Somerset House

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Lady Whistledown's

SOCIETY PAPER

I have always thought that an appreciation of the arts is what lifts us beyond mere animals. It stirs the passions and moves the spirit, and, this author hopes, inspires more newsworthy pursuits.

A new wing at Somerset House is to be opened today, where several attractions will be on display... like the lovely Miss Marina Thompson, newly recovered from her mysterious illness and expected to finally rejoin the season.

Of course, there is today's royal attraction as well, Prince Friedrich of Prussia. His Highness has come to our shores in want of a fine Fräulein.

Could this be the reason a certain language tutor has been seen visiting Cowper House all week?

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I watch as Cressida pushes her way toward the Prince, even stepping on one debutante's toes as she goes.

"I do wonder why you are friends with her," Frederick mutters, glancing over at me with a furrowed brow, "she very..."

"Focused?" I offer.

"I would go more along the lines of selfish..." he confesses.

I sigh, glancing up at him for a moment before turning to look back at Cressida. "All Cress wants is to be married... I would even go as far as to say she wants it more than her mother. Underneath all the competition and jealousy she is a nice girl... she just was raised to... fight for what she wants."

Frederick falls silent as he watches Cressida impress the Prince, who gingerly takes her gloved hand and presses a chaste kiss upon it.

"I suppose I never thought of it like that," Frederick confesses.

"Because you, Frederick, are a man. A man who, according to the endless mamas and their eager daughters of the Ton, is eager to get married. You only see pretty young women vying for your attention. What I see, are the... cuts from our corset's being too tight, the bones that stick out from eating too little in order to impress a man, and the hours that we spend getting ready just to be brushed aside by suitors who think that they are better. We women, have to fight if we want to survive, if we want to be deemed respectable by society... it is a truth. However sad it may seem."

Frederick falls silent as he looks at me with wide eyes. "I... I never thought about it like that, I suppose..."

"One of the many joys of being a man, I suppose," I say, smiling up at him and sighing. "Shall we go in?"

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"Miss Florence, why don't you and the Duke join me," Lady Danbury calls, beckoning up forwards with her hand.

We both nod our heads and start over towards Lady Danbury, who was now talking to another man, the two sharing a small smile before they both turned towards us.

"Your Grace, Miss Florence, have you met Mr Grandville?" Lady Danbury asks, waving her gloved hand toward the man.

"I don't believe that I have," I confess, "it's an honor to meet you, Mr Grandville."

"The pleasure is all mine, Miss Florence," Mr Grandville says, "Your Grace, an honor like always."

Frederick nods his head and turns to look back at me, "Mr Grandville and I have met before... he painted a portrait of me back in the day..."

"Not that far back... only a year to two, I believe," Mr Grandville said, chuckling.

"Mr Grandville paints, did you know that, Miss Florence?" Lady Danbury asks.

"I did not... I will have to look for some of your work tonight then," I declare.

Lady Danbury glances around the room before motioning for us to follow after her, which we do with a pleasant smile and nod of our head.

"It's much too cold," Benedict Bridgerton notes, looking away from the painting and towards Lady Danbury.

Standing beside Frederick, he gently nudges me and motions towards the artist's plaque, "read it."

I read the name and quickly widen my eyes, glancing from Benedict to Mr Grandville, who is listening in with a small smile on his face.

"Where's any sense of the subject's spirit?" Benedict continued, glancing back at the painting in confusion, "and the light!"

I wince at his truthful words, glancing towards Mr Grandville and watching as he glances back at his painting with a raised eyebrow, taking in all the criticism that Benedict seemed to have.

"Given the quality," Benedict continues, "I do wonder why the piece was not skyed with the other daubs."

Lady Danbury leaned towards Benedict with a small mischievous smile, "perhaps we should ask the artist."

"Well, that would be something, Lady Danbury," Benedict says, chuckling as he looked back at her with a humorous smile.

"Here we go," I mutter, glancing toward Frederick with a smile.

"Hmm... Mr Grandville," Lady Danbury looks over towards him with the same mischievous smile, "why was your piece not skyed?"

Mr Grandville hums quietly, glancing back at the piece in wonder.

Benedict's face falls as his eyes widen at the sight of the artist for whose art he had just criticized. "Mr Grandville, I- I-"

"If you will excuse me, um, I must find my wife," Mr Grandville turns back towards Benedict and Lady Danbury and offers them both a nod of his head before turning away. "Your Grace, Miss Florence."

"You diabolical..." Benedict turns back to Lady Danbury with a humiliated expression. "How could you let me rattle on like that? You as well, Florence!"

"How could we not, my dear Mr Bridgerton? It was riotously funny, you must admit," Lady Danbury says, glancing over at me with a wink, before starting off toward another part of the newly opened wing.

"Sorry, Benny," I offer him a small apologetic smile and a shrug of the shoulders.

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"Oh, Your Royal Highness... I know that you have met my dear Cressida's friend, Miss Florence Huntingdon's... friend, the Duke of Windsor, have you not?" Lady Cowper says, smiling up towards the Prince when she notices us walking towards them.

"I have, we are old family friends," the Prince says, smiling over at Frederick before turning towards me, "Miss Huntingdon... lovely to see you."

"You as well, Your Royal Highness... how are you finding London?" I ask, smiling softly at him as I turn to look at him.

"It has been very nice... the people here are... lovely," he glances towards Cressida before sneaking a peek at Daphne when she enters the room. "If you all will excuse me for a moment."

He nods his head towards us before starting off towards Daphne.

"It's always her, isn't it," Cressida mumbles, turning to look at the girl in question with her ever-famous sneer.

"Don't worry, Cress, I think that the Prince was quite taken by you," I assure her.

"Would you like to go look at another one of the paintings, Miss Florence," Frederick asked, offering me his arm and a small smile.

"I would love to," I loop my arm in his and offer Cressida one more smile before walking off towards on the paintings at the other end of the room.

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"Whatever has happened?" Frederick asks, glancing over at me when we suddenly see a crowd surrounding where we had last seen Cressida and her mother stand.

"I have no idea," I whisper back, starting back over and making my way toward the group. Pausing, I looked around for a moment before starting off towards Prudence and Philippa, standing beside them with Frederick behind me when Daphne appeared beside me, the Duke of Hastings standing behind her, all four of us looking at the two sisters with a questioning gaze.

My confusion falters slightly when I notice Cressida laying on the ground with the Prince's arms around her.

"What happened?" Daphne asked glancing from the scene to the Featherington sisters.

"Cressida swooned," Philippa informs us, glancing over with a dreamy look,

"And Prince Friedrich caught her," Prudence finished.

Lady Cowper offered the Prince Cressida's fan with a small smile and watched as he began to fan her.

"Water?" He asked, glancing down at Cressida with a worried look in his eye.

"Yes, water, please," Cressida said breathlessly, smiling up at him when he passed the glass over towards her. "Thank you."

"I dare say it was the most romantic thing I've ever seen," Philippa continues, watching the duo with a dreamy gaze.

Cressida dramatically reaches for the Prince's hand, ensuring that the entire party saw it before standing up with a smirk. A smile appeared on her face when the guests broke out into a light applause.

"What an event-filled day it has been," I mutter to Frederick, smiling when I see him bite back a smirk.

Frederick pauses, biting back his words before turning towards me with a hopeful expression. "Would you like to promenade with me tomorrow morning? Around Hyde Park, as we have done in the past?"

I catch my breath, looking up at me with a surprised look before slowly nodding, "I- I, um, yes. I would, um, I would love that."

"I shall see you then," Frederick says, pressing a kiss to my knuckles before disappearing into the crowd.

"Another promenade, my darling," mama whispers to me, appearing at my side with a small knowing smile. "Well, come along then, we must get you ready for your second promenade with the Duke!"

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after this chapter (and this week) my schedule gets a little crazy so i don't know when i'll be able to update again for a little bit. i'm still going to be writing when i can, but i don't know if i'll have chapters that are up to par with what i want to give to you guys, so we might just have to wait until my schedule calms down or i have some extra time.

i'm really sorry that this is happening, but hopefully, it won't for a while (like a few months). i'm trying to have some chapters pre-written and edited so that i can have a little buffer space during the crazy weeks, but we'll see how that goes.

i hope that you are enjoying the weekend! i'll try to update again soon, i promise!

don't forget to comment and vote!

-T