Things escalated quickly in Bridgerton Episode 4, “An Affair of Honor.” In the beginning, Daphne was days away from securing a proposal from the prince, and by the end, she was engaged to a duke and had to make a huge sacrifice for her future.
Women in this episode have to make big decisions while the men are out there making poor choices such as challenging others to duels and blowing through family funds while gambling.
Featherington’s Future
Things look pretty grim in the Featherington household on many fronts. Lord F has gambled away the girl’s dowries and his wife found out about it. Honestly, it sucks that a lady’s worth in the eyes of potential suitors is based on how much money their fathers will pay a man to take them off their hands. How gross. And how disgusting that Lord F basically ruined his daughter’s lives based on his need for gambling. While it is an addiction, it can impact so many people in someone’s life. Seeing him break down in front of her was tough to watch and it was equally difficult for Lady F to handle. The two of them seem to have a relatively loveless marriage and don’t focus on feelings often.
Our hearts broke for Phillipa, who finally found love with Mr. Finch after they bonded over their mutual love of cheese. How could we not enjoy this ship? We also love cheese. Hopefully, there will be a way in the future for the two of them to be together.
Another drama brewing in the Featherington household is Marina setting her cap for Colin, talking about him as the perfect alternative to the gross ugly old men Lady F keeps trying to pair her with. It’s not only Polin shippers who are against this plan, because our dear Pen is taking this news hard. So much so that she lashed out at her bestie Eloise.
It’s kind of interesting that Eloise called Benedict out on his privilege in the last episode, and Penelope calls her out on it in this one. “We can’t all be a pretty Bridgerton.” We love the Peloise friendship and hope they mend their bonds soon.
On The Hunt
Eloise is currently obsessed with finding the identity of Lady Whistledown. She crossed a line by going through lady’s maid Mrs. Wilson’s room in an attempt to find clues. We loved how she stood up to Eloise when she declared herself Mrs. Wilson’s mistress.
And she pointed out rightly so that servants do not have time to be Lady Whistledown because they are too busy working. This show continues to highlight how out of touch the wealthy are with the rest of the world.
This was also evident when Simon announced he was leaving the day of the boxing exhibition, and Will’s wife rightly called him out on it. The couple was dependent on the duke influencing his wealthy friends to bet on him. For Simon, leaving town to avoid heartache made sense. But for the Mondrich’s it could mean the difference between feeding their children or not. Thankfully, Simon decided to stay.
A Prince Or A Duke
After Simon’s harsh words in the last episode, we can hardly blame Daphne for going all in on securing the prince. However, her heart is not quite in it because she has feelings for the duke. That scene where she finally told her mother about the fake relationship was heartbreaking. Not only was Violet hurt because her daughter lied to her, but she sees that Daphne is hurting. Despite her desire to see her children well matched, Violet Bridgerton loves them above all and wants their happiness. We can’t wait to see more of this in future seasons.
Daphne is left with the difficult choice of accepting the prince or not, which Simon doesn’t make easier on her. He really shouldn’t have kissed her in the pleasure gardens if he wasn’t intending to marry her. It was not fair to Daphne at all. She did choose to take charge and pull him in for a second kiss, but he shouldn’t have started things if he couldn’t make things right for her.
Her “you would rather die than marry me” was gut wrenching, and we cannot even imagine.
An Affair Of Honor
So Daphne and Simon were caught making out by Anthony and of course this means there must be a duel if he won’t marry her. We particularly feel for Benedict in this situation, who was finally embracing his cool life as a second son with no responsibility. Anthony is all “just kidding, you are going to be responsible no matter how this turns out.”
And Anthony doubles down on not leaving Siena the heck alone by promising her that they can be together if he survives the fight. They can run off into the sunset because dueling is illegal.
It’s hard to imagine why these men feel this duel is necessary, especially when Daphne is so against it. She willingly kissed Simon, and didn’t want her brother or him to die over this whole thing. This is another instance of Anthony trying and failing to do the right thing by his family. He has so much to learn.
Daphne decides not to leave the men to their “weighty affairs” and goes off to interrupt, and once again, the ladies of this show are stopping men from their foolishness. We cannot help but be sad for her when she has to decide to marry Simon despite him telling her than the cannot have children. Coming from a big family, that must be hard for her to bear. But she loves him, and she doesn’t want dishonor to come to the Bridgerton name because of what happened in the gardens. Cressida, by the way, continues to be the worst.
The episode ends with Daphne declaring they will be married. It’s a rocky start to their marriage, but things often get worse before they get better, right? It can only be lovely from here. Just kidding, there are four episodes left that will surely give us some delicious angst as well. And honestly, we are here for it all.
Favorite Quotes
There were many great moments in this episode, especially from the ladies. Here are a few of our favorite quotes.
- “Why must our only options be to squawk and to settle or to stay in the nest. What if I want to fly?” – Eloise
- “The only thing we’re devoted to is putting food in our children’s mouths. Perhaps you’d like to dig a little deeper today your grace.” – Alice Mondrich
- “Love, your grace, conquers all.” – Lady Danbury
- “I wiped your bottom when you were in leading strings and I do not appreciate your tone.” – Mrs. Wilson putting Eloise in her place.
- “You think that just because I’m a woman, I’m incapable of making my own choices.” – Daphne to Anthony
Bridgerton is now Streaming on Netflix.
