Last Chance: A Bridgerton Tale about Anthony (AU NON-COMPLIANT)

Chapter 15: Repentance

Hello,

I am sooo happy I got to this chapter for this one was the INSPIRATION for this entire fic lol, especially the scene in the dining room with all the other Bridgertons was why I wanted to write this fic, so I was stoked to be able to do so finally. Hope you enjoy, see you at the next one (presumably the last one but I said that last time as well so we'll see. )

P.s. Please check out my other Bridgerton fic "Balance" (that one is about Benedict).

She had hardly slept all night and she looked terrible, sporting puffy eyes and a tearful face. She would have preferred to crawl into a hole now, far away from everyone, but that was not an option. She needed to speak to him; not to change his mind, although Mara was curious as to what had caused him to change his mind.

What had changed? She had wrecked her brain about it, but she did not understand why he had altered his thoughts. Mara had planned to speak to him after receiving Sienna's letter; perhaps to be lenient since it was only in Cornwall that she realised she loved him. She had realised that she did not love Henry but Anthony, and that what she had felt for Henry once belonged to the past. The pain was gone too; so was the resentment; she had accepted it for what it was. Because he had chosen Lauren, Anthony had come onto her; and although the decision to marry him had been bizarre, it had felt right even though it had taken her a while to get used to him. It was also something; to be married within a week to a man she hardly knew; from her parents' house and although the distance between the two houses was small, she had cried the first night out homesickness for her family.

Mara had felt like a fish out of water; suddenly trusted in a role she no longer thought she could take on, that of lady of the house, and the added pressure of being Viscountess. Mara had done her best; done her best to play a role that did not suit her, but at the end of the day, imposter syndrome struck in all its ferocity. She had felt inadequate; not up to the task; her insecurity played tricks on her and no matter how many times Anthony assured her that she had been a good hostess during the many evenings they had entertained guests, she had not felt up to par and had often thought that another woman could have done it much better.

The rapprochement with her husband Anthony had been slow but sure, and slowly he had been able to diminish her insecurity a little, slowly she had begun to believe that maybe, just maybe, she would be suitable as his wife, that they could both put the past behind them until he proved her wrong and the dream was shattered.

And just when she had wanted to talk to him; at least hear him out, he sent divorce papers. Even though she was curious about the reason, she would not contest it as she knew once Anthony had made his mind up no one could change it.

That said, there was one hitch that prevented a painless separation; the fact that she was pregnant. She had not yet made a doctor's appointment but there was no denying her severe morning sickness and all the other symptoms that came with early pregnancy.

Her parents were overjoyed to hear that they would have a grandchild and hoped that this would be a good reason for a reunion between her and Anthony but... she didn't want that. She didn't want him to take her back just for the child; but on the other hand, he had to know. It was a very double feeling for her; because she didn't want to divorce him, but her pride also prevented her, she didn't want him to change his mind because she was pregnant now because it was 'the way it should be'.

Mara had doubted whether she should tell him, yes or no, and somewhere she did not want to do it for the above reasons but her sense of justice she had not been able to ignore.

He had to know so she had sent out a note to let him know that she had returned and that she would like to him yet had received a curt one in return stating that 'all communications would ought to through their respective lawyers" and that "Mr. Bridgerton had no desire nor intention to see her".