Colin Bridgerton: You are a cruel woman indeed to stand here and talk of friendly affection as if you have not just committed a grave sin against me.
Marina Thompson: Speak not of sin, Mr. Bridgerton. I did not come here to be shamed by you nor anyone else. I did not know better. You may think me a villain, but I did what I thought I must. No one ever truly helped me or guided me in a different direction. I had no choice. I needed to wed. And you, you were the only man who offered me even a glimpse of happiness.
Colin Bridgerton: So I should feel flattered, then? Consider myself lucky that you chose me, lied to me, tried to trick me into a fraud of a marriage? I shall take my leave of you for the last time, Miss Thompson. [He starts to leave but stops at the door and turns around] You wish to know the cruelest part of your deception? If you had simply come to me and told me of your situation, I would have married you without a second thought. That is how in love I believed myself to be. But I see now that was all a lie.
Sir Henry Granville: You have no idea what it is like to be in a room with someone you cannot live without, and yet you feel as though you are oceans apart. Stealing your glances, disguising your touches. We cannot as much as smile at each other without first ensuring no one else is watching. It takes courage to live outside the traditional expectations of the society.
Daphne Basset, Duchess of Hastings: I know why you made that vow to your father. I found the letters you wrote to him as a child, and I read them.
Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings: Daphne...
Daphne Basset, Duchess of Hastings: Just because something is not perfect does not make it any less worthy of love. Your father made you believe otherwise. He made you believe that you needed to be without fault in order to be loved, but he was wrong. Should you need any proof of the matter, then... Then look just here. I am tired of pretending. And I cannot continue acting as if I... As if I do not love you. Because I do. I love all of you. Even the parts that you believe are too dark and too shameful. Every scar. Every flaw. Every imperfection. I love you. You may think you are too damaged and too broken to ever allow yourself to be happy, but you can choose differently, Simon. You can choose to love me as much as I love you. That should not be up to anyone else. That cannot be up to anyone else. It can only be up to you.
Queen Charlotte: I yearn for someone fresh, someone unexpected, to turn this season on its head. That is what we need. There is no room for indifference. Apathy is a blight the monarchy simply cannot endure.
Lady Agatha Danbury: Of course, Your Majesty. But remember, a young lady cannot be a diamond until you anoint her as such. So, if, for any reason, you do not find one among the candidates today...
Queen Charlotte: Do you think she will return? We have heard nary a peep from Lady Whistledown since last season ended. Perhaps the writer came to her senses. Perhaps she realized taking on her Queen was a bad idea and she will never publish again.
Lady Agatha Danbury: It is a convincing theory, ma'am.
Queen Charlotte: Or she simply left for the country as the rest of us did in the offseason. Bored by the lack of any real gossip. You do know what that would make her, then? One of us.
Lady Whistledown: [narrating] There is nothing quite like the sweet-scented smell of success. But after taking in the scene from last night's festivities, it is clear the season won't be quite so fragrant for everyone. The Viscount Bridgerton's own mama may have loudly declared her eldest son's lofty intentions to marry, yet I cannot be the only one wondering if this former Capital-R-Rake is, indeed, ready to flourish. Perhaps the viscount, like the rest of us, is simply waiting for the queen to finally name her diamond. Or perhaps this author should take matters into her own hands.
Lady Violet Bridgerton: There were some lovely young ladies in attendance last night, were there not? Lady Delilah has beautiful manners, and I hear Miss Goodrum is very accomplished in her needlework. Perhaps you shall get to know them better soon.
Viscount Anthony Bridgerton: Lady Delilah can barely string a sentence together. And Miss Goodrum thought that Napoleon fights for the Spanish. As for every other eager chit you pushed in my direction, I'd happily never lay eyes on them again.
Lady Violet Bridgerton: Anthony...
Viscount Anthony Bridgerton: I am looking for perfection, Mother. And you should be, too. The woman I marry shall be the Viscountess Bridgerton, the lady of this household, responsible for launching my sisters and bearing my children. Do you desire them to be raised by a woman who does not know how to so much as hold a map right side up? This is the duty I must fulfill.
Kathani Sharma: If I could marry for the sake of my family, I would. But I am not my mama's daughter by birth. Edwina is. I've spent the last eight years raising my sister to walk in the right way, to talk in the right way, to play the pianoforte just so. Teaching her twice as much and watching her work twice as hard as anyone else. I even taught her how to make this pitiful excuse for tea the English so adore. I despise English tea. But if it means my sister will not be left destitute, then I will smile, and I will nod politely after each and every sip to be sure.
Lady Agatha Danbury: Your sister has a right to know. As you said, it is her future.
Kathani Sharma: That is precisely why I shield her. Because I know her. If she was made aware of the circumstances, she would marry quickly only to please us. She would say yes to any man kind enough to ask. Edwina deserves a chance to find love without such a burden.
Lady Whistledown: [narrating] Dearest reader. It has been said that competition is an opportunity for us to rise and stand ready before our greatest of challenges. Well, if what this author hears this morning is true, then a great challenge concerning this season's diamond has been set forth, indeed. Any suitor wishing to gain an audience with Miss Edwina Sharma must first tame the rather prickly spinster of a beast otherwise known as her sister.
Queen Charlotte: They are called "zebra." Striped horses from Africa, in fact. Seven more arrive next week. Though I can't think what to name them all. After fifteen children, I seem to have run out of ideas.
Anthony Bridgerton: She is pompous and arrogant and quite sure she knows best in every situation.
Colin Bridgerton: She sounds like a terrible nuisance.
Benedict Bridgerton: Especially since you are the one who knows best in every situation.
Penelope Featherington: You've sworn off women, then?
Colin Bridgerton: Well, for the time being.
Penelope Featherington: I am a woman.
Colin Bridgerton: You are Pen. You do not count. You are my friend.
Penelope Featherington: Of course. Your friend. How good to hear that.
Viscount Antony Bridgerton: I'm not a man of poetry. Words of flattery are beautiful and sweet, but they are also hollow unless accompanied by action. Miss Edwina, I could stand here and pretend to be someone I am not. I could pretend to want the very same things as you, but I'd be lying. I may not be able to offer the display of passion that you truly deserve. But I assure you that when it comes to action and duty, I shall never be found lacking. And I hope that is what will speak louder than any pretty words ever can.
Lady Violet Bridgerton: Oh, I am so pleased you were able to come.
Daphne Basset, Duchess of Hastings: As if I would allow dear Augie to miss out on watching his mother win this little family tradition. Second year in a row, if I might add.
Kathani Sharma: [having chosen the black mallet] Is this yours?
Anthony Bridgerton: Not at all. You're welcome to it.
Colin Bridgerton: You near threatened to beat me the last time I touched--
Anthony Bridgerton: You exaggerate!
Kathani Sharma: Are you the superstitious sort? I know some men cannot perform without their familiar tools. Like a child with a blanket.
Lady Violet Bridgerton: Every day, I get up. I get dressed. I feed myself. I try to breathe in and out. I force myself to stop by the nursery. And I think about how sorry I feel for little baby Hyacinth because she will never know Edmund's laugh. Or the way he smelled, or what it is to be hugged in his arms. I feel even sorrier for myself because, most of the time, all I am thinking is that this little baby did not do me the kindness of killing me so that I could be with my husband. Edmund was the air that I breathed. And now there is no air.
