Just as before, Bridgerton‘s upcoming fourth season will draw inspiration from the Benedict-centric book An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn. In it, Benedict attends a masquerade ball where he meets Sophie Beckett, a maid in disguise, and falls in love with her on the spot. After some considerable time apart, the two reunite, only Benedict doesn’t know that Sophie is the same person as his mysterious Lady in Silver. While it would be great to see most of this book adapted, the Netflix series has always taken certain liberties in what gets pulled from the source material. Based on the tease in the Season 3 finale, we already know that the masquerade ball from An Offer From a Gentleman is coming. However, another pivotal scene from Quinn’s book deserves to make the leap from page to screen.
‘An Offer From a Gentleman’s Lake Scene Balances Humor and Heat
The lake scene in An Offer From a Gentleman is a microcosm of what makes this Bridgerton novel stand out, juggling humor, heat, and angst to bring Benedict and Sophie together in a way that feels inevitable. For context, Sophie and Benedict reunite in the country after Benedict saves Sophie from being assaulted by her new employer’s son, bringing her with him to his house, My Cottage; while there, Benedict gets sick and Sophie nurses him back to health. As the two spend more time with each other, Benedict notices that he’s attracted to Sophie in a way that reminds him of the Lady in Silver. To clear his head, Benedict goes out for a swim in a nearby lake. Unbeknownst to him, Sophie is out walking when she stumbles upon a naked Benedict as he’s enjoying his solitary swim.
For all the ways Sophie has tried to be practical when it comes to Benedict, she is unable to look away or leave, allowing herself this wicked moment to see the man of her dreams in this state. However, her voyeurism is cut short when Benedict realizes he’s being watched. When Sophie tries to salvage her humiliation, Benedict is more flattered than anything else. The scene leans into humor as Sophie attempts to defend herself, while Benedict enjoys watching her make excuses. As the two walk back to My Cottage, the pair continue to quip back and forth, with Benedict even admitting he would’ve done the same thing as Sophie if the roles were reversed. All the teasing comes to a halt when their flirtatious banter turns into something heated, resulting in Benedict and Sophie sharing a kiss.
‘An Offer From a Gentleman’s Lake Scene Magnifies the Angst Between Benedict and Sophie
What An Offer From a Gentleman‘s lake scene also does is highlight the angst of Benedict and Sophie’s situation. From the moment they originally meet at the masquerade ball, the two are drawn to each other. Without even realizing it, Sophie wanders over to the lake where Benedict is swimming, while Benedict recognizes Sophie’s presence by the lake in a similar fashion. There’s an unconscious awareness that draws each of them together like moths to a flame, and yet, Benedict and Sophie are separated by their social class. Although she is the bastard daughter of an earl, Sophie is a low-class servant in the eyes of society. Benedict may indulge his interests in certain circles outside the ton, but he knows that any attraction to Sophie can only remain a secret to be kept.
Despite all of this, when Benedict draws Sophie into his arms, he remarks that he has never had this particular feeling before, but the irony is that he has already — with Sophie in disguise as the Lady in Silver. The angst of this kiss intensifies because Sophie is already withholding the truth from Benedict. It’s a moment perfectly in line with the Netflix adaptation, which has enjoyed pairing romance with an equal amount of drama, especially when secrets are involved; in Season 3, Penelope keeps her identity as Lady Whistledown a secret from Colin until he follows her and learns the truth for himself in Episode 6. Similarly, Sophie is holding the truth hostage because Benedict didn’t initially recognize her; plus, society won’t allow them to be together in public, so why should she break her own heart any further? The dramatic irony of Benedict and Sophie’s mutual attraction only intensifies, adding to the angst of what should be a happy moment.
The Lake Scene Results in ‘An Offer From a Gentleman’
Outside the comedy and chemistry that drives the two characters into each other’s arms, An Offer From a Gentleman‘s lake scene is a pivotal moment in Benedict and Sophie’s story. It’s this encounter that leads to one of the titular offers Benedict makes Sophie: he wants her in his life, as his mistress. Before that, he’d actually made a different offer to Sophie — during the masquerade ball, when he wants to court her and start a life with her as soon as possible; unfortunately for Benedict, she flees and the Lady in Silver vanishes from his life.
While Benedict is already aware that society won’t accept Sophie as a viable bride for a Bridgerton, there’s also a deeper reason for his suggestion. He’s afraid that if he locks himself into a marriage, he won’t be available to the Lady in Silver if he were to find her. Thus, the offer he makes to Sophie is Benedict’s attempt to have his cake and eat it too. Meanwhile, Sophie is the product of a scandalous affair, and her loveless upbringing taught her that she could never subject a child of hers to the same fate. As much as she loves Benedict, Sophie won’t love him in the dark, so when he asks her to be his, Sophie refuses and makes plans to leave My Cottage.
Benedict’s offer and Sophie’s decision to leave set the plot for the remainder of the book in motion. The exchange also doubles as the catalyst for Sophie to return to London with Benedict under the condition that she goes to work for his mother, Violet Bridgerton (Ruth Gemmell). In turn, Benedict will try to convince Sophie to embrace a life with him. From this point on, the two characters are on a collision course toward each other that wouldn’t have happened without them giving in to their attraction on their walk back from the lake.
Bridgerton has the unique opportunity to create its own spin on the Cinderella story thanks to An Offer From a Gentleman. In particular, the book’s lake scene is a perfect storm of all the elements of Benedict and Sophie’s story, making it stand out from the other Bridgerton novels. More than that, the lake scene is evidence that the spark between Benedict and his mysterious Lady in Silver at the masquerade ball wasn’t a fluke, with every interaction afterward building to their inevitable kiss by the lake. At the very least, the book’s lake scene should be included in Season 4 for the sole reason of allowing us to witness another Bridgerton man emerging wet from a body of water, something we haven’t enjoyed since Anthony Bridgerton back in Season 2.
