Romancing Mister Bridgerton

“Where does that woman get her information? […] I vow sometimes she knows so much about my family I wonder if I ought to be frightened.”

Curiosity about the identity of Lady Whistledown begins with the very first chapter, establishing suspense and mystery that will move the plot and playing into the theme of The Allure and Danger of Secrets. Quinn often uses foreshadowing, including this early hint from Eloise that Lady Whistledown seems to know a lot about the Bridgertons. Unbeknownst to Eloise and the readers, Eloise is speaking to Penelope—Lady Whistledown herself—whose fascination with the Bridgertons reflects her love for Colin.

“Maybe, Penelope had thought on more than one occasion, part of the reason she loved [Colin] was that he made her feel comfortable with herself.”

In contrast to the enemies-to-lovers trope in romance, which casts the romantic leads in antagonistic roles to start with, the friends-to-lovers trope gives the two leads a foundation from which romantic attraction will emerge. Colin and Penelope’s romance progresses as they both bring out the other’s best qualities, making their friendship into a foundation for love.

“There was something odd in Colin’s eyes. Something fleeting and elusive. The ton often thought him nothing more than a devil-may-care charmer, but he was far more intelligent than he let on.”

As they reconnect upon Colin’s return from Greece, Penelope begins to see more of his personality than he shows to other people. Disclosing the hidden aspects of their personalities to one another drives the romance between the leads and speaks to the novel’s inquiry into the tension between appearances and personality.

“This Author has chronicled the activities of the ton for over a decade now and has found no evidence that they do indeed have anything better to do with their time.”

Lady Whistledown’s column exaggerates Quinn’s dry narrative voice with even further satire and dryness, often remarking with amusement on the more ridiculous behaviors or aspects of those among the upper levels of society. Lady Whistledown’s position as an observer, and the respect she gathers for her observations, contrast with Penelope’s feelings of being mostly overlooked by society.

“It’s always interesting to find out that there is more to someone than meets the eye, don’t you think?”

This statement is a motif in the novel, with several characters espousing versions of Lady Danbury’s idea. Lady Danbury’s statement here inspires Penelope to be more confident; Colin has already guessed that there is more to Penelope than he initially assumed. This hint further foreshadows the later discovery that Penelope is Lady Whistledown.

“It was the face one put on when one wanted to be anywhere but where one was.”

A strong aspect of Penelope’s character is her kindness, demonstrated here by her sympathy for another young woman put on display and judged for her appearance. The image of putting on a mask speaks to Penelope’s secret identity and also to the ways she has pretended that being a wallflower and “spinster” doesn’t bother her. Continuous surveillance and the emphasis put on appearance are conventions of Regency society that provide interest, conflict, and drama in the romance.

“It seems men always like to pretend that they were wholly self-contained, completely unaffected by the whims and opinions of society.”

Continuing the theme of subverting The Power of Outward Appearances, Penelope’s love for Colin deepens as she observes vulnerabilities in his character that she hadn’t anticipated; sharing the depths of their inner lives develops the romance. This passage also points to the reality that, much as women are scrutinized and judged, men are also judged. The emphasis and value placed on outward appearance affects all.

“No, I’m not going to forget it […] I’ve spent my life forgetting things, not saying them, never telling anyone what I really want.”

Part of Penelope’s character arc is learning to speak up and, in speaking up, being seen—first by Colin, which leads to the development of the romance, and then by her social group, which leads to broader recognition and acceptance. This speaking up is a step in the integration of her identities: the quiet, overlooked Penelope and the admired Lady Whistledown, whose opinions are heeded and repeated.

“And so, on an otherwise unremarkable Friday afternoon, in the heart of Mayfair, in a quiet drawing room on Mount Street, Colin Bridgerton kissed Penelope Featherington.”

The droll, almost mundane report of this monumental moment in Penelope’s life plays on the device of Lady Whistledown, who comments on the action throughout in the chapter headnotes. The reporting style of undercutting words like “unremarkable” and “quiet” alludes to a common literary style of the 19th-century English novel, but the humor also undercuts the emotion of the moment, keeping things light and in keeping with the rest of the book’s style and tone.

“Lady Whistledown had a rather cutting sense of humor, but with the exception of her infamous comments on fashion, she never seemed to pick on the less popular members of society.”

The suggestion that Lady Whistledown is clever but not overtly cruel is raised more than once before her unveiling as Penelope; these qualities fit with Penelope’s character of being a perceptive but generous observer. The jibe about fashion recalls the comparison of Penelope’s unfashionable dress to an overripe citrus fruit, which Penelope uses to deflect suspicion that she could be Lady Whistledown.

“Irrational as it was, he absolutely could not tolerate the fact that she had a secret. She was Penelope. She was supposed to be an open book. He knew her. He’d always known her.”

While The Allure and Danger of Secrets is appealing to most characters in the book, Colin, in contrast, feels outraged when he discovers that Penelope has kept something so crucial from him. Her lack of trust seems like a betrayal of their friendship and upends what he thought he understood about her. However, Penelope’s unmasking as Lady Whistledown quickly becomes part of a series of revelations and new perceptions that help Colin’s attraction and affection grow and allow him to display a newfound maturity in standing behind his wife’s talent and ambition.

“How do you think I was able to keep up the ruse for so long in the first place? I was invisible, Colin. No one saw me, no one talked to me. I just stood and listened, and no one noticed.”

The irony in Penelope’s reveal as Lady Whistledown—one of the novel’s biggest plot twists—is that her very invisibility as a person has made her a perfect observer. A further irony is that while Colin fears that she will attract censure and blame for her observations, Penelope is proud of her accomplishment; people liked her work.

“Now that Colin knew, it somehow felt as if her secret were floating about in the air, like particles of dust just waiting for form into a cloud of knowledge.”

Now that Colin and the reader have discovered Penelope’s secret, the new aspect of suspense is how long Lady Whistledown’s identity can remain a secret to the rest of their world. This image of the gathering cloud adds to the sense of suspense: There is the implication that a storm will soon follow but no indication of when it will unleash.

“He’d always thought love would hit a man like a thunderbolt, that one day you’d be loitering about at some party, bored to tears, and then you’d see a woman, and you’d know instantly that your life would be changed forever.”

Quinn often pokes metafictional fun at the romance genre by making her characters refer to or think about its conventions. Here, Colin reflects on the common romantic trope of love at first sight, which Quinn incorporated into the love story of Sophie and Colin’s brother Benedict, the subjects of the third book in the Bridgerton series, An Offer From a Gentleman.

“All these fools, trying to figure out what you did to get him to marry you, when all you really did was be yourself.”

Lady Danbury, who has encouraged Penelope to let more of her personality show, understands that Penelope’s worth and attractiveness have been underestimated, as The Power of Outward Appearances overshadows inner worth. Colin seeing Penelope’s attractive qualities furthers their romance, and this statement foreshadows the novel’s conclusion, when Penelope is finally acknowledged as Lady Whistledown before all of the ton.

“Years she’d spent, feeling like she was invisible and hating it. And now she’d have given anything for a few brief moments of anonymity again.”

Far from being anonymous and unobserved, Penelope is the center of all eyes at her engagement ball; ironically, this is what she has longed for, but the experience is deeply uncomfortable. Moreover, since the publication of her last Lady Whistledown column has made Colin angry with her, the scene is rife with the tension of conflict and uncertainty over the question of whether he can love and accept all of her.

“I don’t think you changed […] At least not very much. But then one day I realized I was seeing something different when I looked at you. […] Maybe I changed. Maybe I grew up.”

Colin wonders at several points what exactly has made him see Penelope in a way that led from friendship to love. He concludes that he has simply grown as a person into someone able to perceive and appreciate aspects of her that had always been there. His newfound powers of observation play into the novel’s interest in the appeal and strength of relationships where partners’ true selves emerge.

“In her dreams, she sat him down, shyly revealed her secret. He reacted first with disbelief, then with delight and pride. How remarkable she was, to have fooled all of London for so many years. How witty to have written such clever turns of phrase.”

Her dream about Colin being proud of her for being Lady Whistledown is a reflection of how Penelope longs for him to see, accept, and cherish all of her. She fears that his inability to accept her writing will remain an obstacle between them, even in their marriage.

“Even Colin—the golden boy, the man with the easy smile and devilish humor—had raw spots of his own. He was haunted by unfulfilled dreams and secret insecurities. How unfair she had been when she’d pondered his life, not to allow him his weaknesses.”

The character arcs for both protagonists involve their dreams coming true, while the romance arc involves them being able to see and come to know one another better. Penelope learns what lies beneath the surface of the man she fell in love with, and this knowledge enriches their relationship, much in the manner of the other friendships in the book.

“For ten years, you have made people laugh. You’ve made them wince. You’ve made them think […] I don’t know what could be a higher achievement.”

Colin grows past his insecurities about the quality of his own writing to perceive what Penelope has accomplished with her words, speaking to the novel’s motif of the power of writing. He demonstrates his skill with words in his own journal, and this shared skill unites them, removing the last obstacle in their relationship. In turn, Colin’s full acceptance of Penelope as her writerly self moves them toward their happy ending, a requirement of the romance genre.

“You’re the imperfect man of my heart, and that’s even better. I’d always thought you infallible, that your life was charmed, that you had no worries or fears or unfulfilled dreams. But that wasn’t really fair of me.”

While Colin sees more of Penelope before he offers marriage, Penelope feels that she only truly comes to know Colin after their marriage. This furthers their friendship and cements their romantic love, reaffirming the novel’s message that friendship—which requires understanding and acceptance of the other—is the soundest basis for lasting love.

“I love you with my past, and I love you for my future. […] I love you for the children we’ll have and for the years we’ll have together. I love you for every one of my smiles, and even more, for every one of your smiles.”

After the way their marriage comes about, Penelope is pleased and glad to know that Colin loves her, but his declaration in these flowery terms moves her greatly. The mutual declaration of love is usually the seal of completion for the romance arc; here, it only remains for the couple to resolve Cressida’s threat of blackmail for them to achieve their happy ending.

“After so many years of ambling through life, laughing at the antics of others, it was time to take action himself.”

Colin’s character arc over the course of the novel involves a certain amount of maturing, and he recognizes this when he decides to thwart Cressida’s threat of blackmail. In acting to protect Penelope, he becomes a man of action rather than the man of leisure he’s been; standing up for his wife becomes a proxy for embracing a cause or finding a purpose.