"I'm afraid that is not possible my lord. She doesn't seem to be here."
"One of the horses is gone too." Anthony narrowed his eyes. He knew exactly where Kate was.
He took his horse and raced to the park. Squinting in the rain, he saw a glimpse of Kate hooded and galloping. "Miss Sharma" He shouts but it's too late. Kate tries to jump over a hedge and her horse rears up. In front of his eyes, he sees Kate slip from her horse and lay motionless on the ground. He rides as fast as he could to her and feels a bit of relief seeing her stir a bit.
"Stay with me. Come on now!" He cradles her head with his hands and feels something wet coming out of the back of her head. As he takes out his hand, he sees the rain wash the red blood on his hands. His own blood froze. He couldn't breathe. For a second, the whole world became silent to him. No, he told himself, nothing was going to happen. He will save her.
He picks Kate up murmuring "It's going to be alright. Just stay with me." To his horror, she shudders, gasps, and stops breathing altogether. He stills. They were all alone in the big field and rain was pouring on them both. He shakes her and tries to wake her up.
"Please, please! Stay with me. No. No. No. No. Wake up." He puts her down and breathes into her mouth. He keeps trying to no avail. He found it harder and harder to breathe, and anchor himself to reality. "This is not happening. This is not happening."
Anthony sobs, leaning over Kate, and holding her hand. It was all his fault. He was responsible for her feeling agitated. He was the one who drove her to ride in this weather. It was just his luck that the woman he loved died in front of his eyes just like his father did all those years ago.
"Come back to me. Please. Let me start over. Let me start over. You don't have to love me. Bicker with me. Fight with me. Quarrel with me. But please don't go away from me. I need to see your smile. Your taunting, victory smile." As Anthony is crying this out, the world suddenly fills with white light. He closes his eyes against the flash and hears the resounding crack of thunder all around him.
He keeps his eyes closed, panting, hoping against hope that all of this is just a dream.
"Aaah! Yesss!" he hears shouting and a buzz of noises. Confused, he opens his eyes and gets overwhelmed by the colorful sight in front of his eyes. There was no field, no rain. He looks at his hands. There was no Kate, no blood. His drenched clothes were replaced by dry ones.
"I must say. I have never bested a Viscount before. Beating you feels the same as any other win but somehow smells sweeter." That voice! Something he never thought he would hear again. He turns and blinks. There she was. Radiant and beautiful with a blazing smile. He could barely focus on the conversation she was having with Edwina. All he could do was blink. What just happened? Did he create a delusional world to escape? How is he at the horse racing event he went to weeks back? He looks at the horses. He looks at Kate. Something was very wrong here. Or very right. Was that all just a dream? Is he getting a second chance?
"My lord? My lord?" Edwina was shaking his arm and asking with concern, "Are you alright?"
"It looks like the Viscount is not used to losing, sister. Are you going to be a sore loser, Viscount Bridgerton?" Kate asked him, eyes dancing with mirth.
Anthony couldn't stop the onslaught of feelings her smile caused. He knew he couldn't stay a moment longer there. Not without taking her in his arms in front of everyone. "My apologies. I'm not feeling well." Taking a deep breath, he rushed away from everyone.
Anthony went to Bridgerton house and locked himself in his study. What was happening? Was Kate alright? He ran his hands over his face and collapsed in his chair. He took his out his pocket watch and saw that the time was twenty minutes past three. He remembered it still being dawn. He then opened his ledger and saw accounts only till 14th of April 1814. He took a deep breath and held his head in his hands. There were two options. One is that he has somehow travelled back in time. Another is that he has become delirious and made this whole episode up. Maybe he should try waking himself out of the delusion. How does one go about that? He closed his eyes and ordered himself, "Anthony, you must come out of this. Kate might need you there. Your family might need you." He counted slowly to ten and opened his eyes. That did not work. He was still in his study.
"Fine, then.", he made up his mind. He was Anthony Bridgerton and he'll make it all work. If he couldn't come out of this dream, he'll make sure it is at least perfect. He took out his small, black notebook that he always carried with him. He opened it to see the index of eligible misses he prepared long ago. That was the last entry in the note. He turned the page and started a list of things he has to watch out for.
To prevent –
Kate falling from a horse
Kate getting stung by a bee
Being alone with Kate in the pavilion before getting married to her
Getting betrothed to Miss. Edwina
Dorset getting close to Kate
Eloise becoming a radical
Benedict dropping out of the Royal Academy
Getting caught by Daphne while professing his passion to Kate
Getting caught by Lady Danbury while admiring the beguiling scent of Kate
To do –
Get married to Kate
Forbid Kate from riding a horse
Forbid Kate from walking in a garden
Forbid Eloise from going out Ensure Eloise goes out only when chaperoned by Mother
Admit Benedict in Royal academy without donating money Tell Royal Academy to make donation anonymous so that Benedict never finds out about it
He looked at his list and nodded. Yes, it was a good list. He is going to have the perfect dream season. Nothing could go wrong.
"What is wrong?" Colin asked Anthony.
Anthony frowned, "Did the Greeks teach you to enter a room without knocking?"
"We were worried about you, brother. You asked us all to come to the races and left midway in a rush. Lumley said that you were not feeling well. I've never seen you leave in such a hurry without even a glance to the rest of the family. I ask again, what is wrong?"
"Where are the others?" Anthony asked getting up from his chair.
"Benedict will take care of them and bring them home later. Are we going to talk about you?"
Anthony hesitated. "Have you ever dreamed of something so intense that you don't know if it's real or not? It feels like a lot happened and then did not happen. I want it to be true because I can't live without it; now that I know what it is like. I also don't want it to be true because I can't live with what happened. It was my fault, you see? Did it happen? Did it not happen? Is this the truth or was that the truth? Am I even here? Are you even here? Is the world real?" He looked around him hoping for someone to shine a light on truth.
Colin stared at his brother and tilted his head. "You did not touch any of the tea I brought with me, did you?"
It was Anthony's turn to stare at his brother. "Yes, another item I should have added to my list. Give me that tea right now. If I hear you suggesting Benedict to drink it, I will ask the cook to stop making your favorite scones."
Colin was flabbergasted. "Is this any way to welcome your brother home?"
