Bridgerton Season 2 Episode 5 Recap – An Unthinkable Fate

The queen tells the newly engaged couple, Edwina and Anthony, that she is going to host their wedding. She tells Brimsley that she’ll oversee the preparations because that is also something she’ll use to trap Lady Whistledown.

Mrs. Varley says that their accounts are left unpaid still, and Portia says that Jack was supposed to restore their fortune but she is still struggling. Jack overhears this and goes into the room, saying that their financial predicament is entirely her fault. Portia tells him that what she did was only to believe him when he said that he has a great fortune in rubies. He says that they can still cancel the engagement so he can court Cressida again. She refuses to consider that and says that she will think of something.

Benedict arrives at the Academy. He glances at the naked female model, Tessa, and smiles.

Gregory asks if Edwina will live with them after the wedding. Violet tells him that she will and that she will be the lady of the house, responsible for every one of them. Hyacinth asks if Kate will be coming too. Anthony does not answer but appears startled by the question. Violet changes the topic and asks Eloise to help her plan the dinner to welcome the Sharmas into the family. Eloise tells her that she is going to attend a lecture on flower arranging with Penelope so she cannot help.

Lady Mary, Edwina, and Kate go to see the modiste for Edwina’s gown. Edwina is excited as she tells Kate that the archbishop will be officiating their wedding, but Kate doesn’t seem too excited. Edwina continues to express her excitement about living in London, but Kate tells her that she should enjoy London on her own because she is going back to India immediately after the wedding, as planned.

Madame Delacroix tries to get Pen to write that she has been entrusted to take care of the diamond’s wedding ensemble.

Kate comes home from the modiste earlier than Edwina and Lady Mary. To her surprise, Anthony and his jeweler are there. They say they came to have Edwina’s ring altered to fit. While waiting for Edwina to arrive, Kate discreetly confronts Anthony for still proposing to Edwina despite what happened between them in Aubrey Hall. Anthony tells her nothing happened between them. Kate reminds him that if someone other than Daphne discovered them, then they will be the ones obliged to wed. Anthony asks her if she’d like that, and when she said no, Anthony tells her that they should just be thankful that they have avoided such an unthinkable fate.

Mr. Brookes, the jeweler, suddenly comes to the realization that he can use Kate’s finger to measure the ring given that she and Edwina sometimes share gloves. Both Kate and Anthony try to voice their disapproval, but Mr. Brookes insists and puts the ring on Kate’s finger. Anthony holds Kate’s hand while staring at the ring, explaining that the ring was the one his father gave Violet when he proposed. Edwina and Lady Mary arrive, so Kate explains why the ring is on her finger. She tries to remove it at once, but the ring is stuck. After much effort and a few disapproving looks, she manages to remove it. “All yours”, she tells Edwina. Lady Danbury comes into the room bearing news that the Sheffields are in London and would like to meet Edwina and Anthony.

Lady Danbury announces that she will invite them to the engagement dinner she has already arranged. Anthony tells her that he is looking forward to it, and asks Edwina to promenade. Lady Mary says that she has a headache so she asks Lady Danbury to chaperone Edwina. Lady Danbury obliges and demands Kate to go with her even when Kate has told her she does not want to go.

While promenading, Kate asks Lady Danbury why she has invited the Sheffields to dinner even when she knows that Lady Mary has suffered so much because of them. Lady Danbury tells her that she does not want to be impolite like them. Plus, she says she thinks it is what Kate would want – a reconciliation. However, Kate states that she would have wanted that after the wedding and that she is worried that the Bridgertons might find out about the trust fund and think badly of the match and decide to call the wedding off. Lady Danbury says she can’t help but wonder if Kate would rejoice if that were to happen, but she reminds Kate that a scandal like that is something that their penniless family would never recover from.

Mr. Dorset approaches Kate and asks her to accompany him for a turn at the lake. He apologizes again for what he did at the races, and they go for a ride at the lake. They pass by Violet, Anthony, and Edwina. Anthony cannot help but stare at Kate as she enjoys the company of Mr. Dorset.

Pen and Colin talk as they look at Prudence and Jack who are also at the lake. Pen tells Colin that Jack has ruby mines, and this catches Colin’s attention. He says he will introduce himself to Jack so he can invest, saying that everybody else has found their purpose while he has not. Pen asks him where Eloise is, and he tells her that he thought she was with Pen for a lecture on flower arrangement.

Eloise arrives at Bloomsbury. She evades her chaperone and goes to one of the assembly rooms where radicals gather. She finds Theo there, the apprentice at the printer’s shop. She says that his work, the pamphlet, inspired her to go there.

At the lake, Kate and Mr. Dorset get along well, with Kate sharing childhood memories with him. She tells him that she cannot wait to return to India. Mr. Dorset asks her to show him around India if he ever goes there again and she agrees.

Will and Alice also promenade, because Alice insists that they can find new members for their club there. Jack talks to Will about boxing, so Alice invites him to go to the club so they can talk more.

Mr. Dorset ties a knot to secure their boat to the dock as he and Kate prepare to alight. Edwina and Anthony come to the dock. Anthony tells Mr. Dorset that his knot will not hold and ties a new one himself. Mr. Dorset alights the boat and holds out his hand to help Kate alight, but Anthony holds out his hand as well, causing Mr. Dorset to retreat. Anthony helps Kate out of the boat and holds her hand for a while. Kate removes her hand from his hand in a swift motion, startling Anthony and causing him to trip on Newton. He falls into the lake with Mr. Dorset, attracting the attention of the crowd. This pisses him off.

The next day, Pen waits for Eloise to come downstairs so they may proceed with their routine walk. She tells Eloise that they missed her the previous day, and Eloise says that she was busy with the preparations for the upcoming wedding. She tells Pen that she cannot go for a walk that day again due to the same errands. Pen knows that Eloise is hiding something, so she asks Eloise’s maid where Eloise had gone the day before. The maid tells her that she has been in Bloomsbury.

Portia asks help from Mr. Brookes to identify the value of one of Jack’s ruby necklaces. Mr. Brookes tells her that the necklace is of value, so she should take care of it because it is rare to find such fine stones. Portia tells Jack that what he has are fine counterfeits, and if it can fool a jeweler such as Mr. Brookes, then they can certainly fool other people and they might survive the season.

At the academy, Benedict sees Tessa drawing and compliments her work. The model tells him that women are not accepted as students at the academy, so she works as a model to learn through the lectures instead. She asks Benedict to pose for her and he obliges.

Before the dinner, Violet comes to Anthony’s office and tells him that she cannot help but think that Anthony is not setting a good example for his siblings because he will be marrying someone whom he clearly does not love. Violet tells him that if the marriage is not what he wants, then he should call it off before it’s too late. He says what he wants is beside the point, as he cannot call off the wedding and dishonor Edwina. She then tells him that a man cannot take back his word, but the woman may. Anthony says that Edwina would never do that, but Violet argues that she may if she knows his true feelings on the matter.

As Kate and Edwina get prepared for dinner, Edwina tells Kate how excited she is to meet their grandparents. Kate is about to tell her about how they influenced their trip, but Lady Danbury comes and announces that their guests have arrived. After Edwina leaves the room, Lady Danbury tells Kate that she is hosting the dinner for Kate’s sake. She says that though the wedding of Edwina to Anthony will most likely end whatever is between him and Kate, Kate would have access to the Sheffield fortune and that would be a great prize for her.

The dinner goes on as planned. Edwina tries her hardest to make their grandparents like Kate. However, at one point, the conversation veers into how Lady Mary ignored the match the Sheffields have made for her to marry a mere clerk with a child from an unknown mother. This enrages Kate, but Lady Sheffield does not stop. She says that Lady Mary ran away and robbed them of their grandchild. Lady Mary tells them that she has 2 daughters and that when she ran away, she had the freedom to raise her daughters without the demand to chase titles and wealth. Lady Sheffield tells her that she should not speak like she does not want riches because Kate certainly does chase them for their wealth.

Seeing that Lady Mary and Edwina are clueless about what she is talking about, Lady Sheffield tells them about Edwina’s trust fund which can only be accessed if Edwina marries an Englishman of nobility. Violet asks Anthony if he knows about this, to which Anthony shakes his head.  Kate begs for them to listen to her explanation. Lady Sheffield continues to speak ill of Kate, saying that she has a penchant for hiding the truth. Anthony tells her to stop talking and says that he can see that the reason why they were exiled is that they have deficient manners. He emphasizes that ever since they arrived, they have not shown proper respect for the Sharma family and he will not tolerate it. He tells them to leave at once and announces that they will not get an invitation to the wedding. This angers Lord Sheffield, who tells Edwina that she will not be inheriting anything from them.

Anthony and Violet also leave, not allowing anyone to explain what just happened. Edwina and Lady Mary walk away, with Edwina voicing her disappointment towards Kate. Kate runs after Anthony and begs for a word. Kate tells him that he should not be mad at Edwina because she knows nothing about the trust fund. Anthony tells her that he is not mad and that he will call off the wedding before it can cause any more damage. Kate asks him why he has suddenly decided to cast Edwina aside despite him wanting to marry her so badly. “It is you, you have made this match impossible”, Anthony declares. He says that India is not far enough for Kate to travel to free him of the torment he will be subjecting himself to. “You are the bane of my existence and the object of all my desires”, he adds. He gets close enough to Kate that their lips almost touch, but he pulls away before they can kiss. He says that if he gets married to Edwina, then Kate and he will be bound for eternity and he will be spending every day of his marriage wanting and dreaming of Kate.

Infuriated by the fact that they are once again becoming an outcast, Portia comes up with a plan. She urges Jack to take advantage of the people wanting to invest in his business even when there is really no business.

Kate tries to explain to Edwina that she did what she did because she thought it was the right thing to do. She says she thought she has found an answer to their financial troubles by having access to the Sheffield fortune. Edwina tells her that she is not a child anymore. She says that if Anthony does not call off their wedding, then they won’t need the Sheffields. Edwina says that she loves Anthony and that if they get married, she is sure that he will provide for Kate and Lady Mary’s needs too.

Eloise goes to meet Theo once again. Pen witnesses this from a distance. Meanwhile, Benedict makes love to Tessa.

Kate goes for her routine morning ride and meets with Anthony in the woods. Anthony tells her that he will be ending things with Edwina because that is the only way he thinks he can solve their impossible situation. He says that once the engagement is over, it will be as if they never met. Kate begs him not to do it because it will break her sister’s heart and she does not deserve that. She says that he must marry Edwina as soon as possible because she believes that their feelings for each other will soon pass and that at one point, it will be as if they never felt it at all. Anthony stares at Kate for a long while and finally tells her that he will make sure that the wedding takes place as soon as possible.

Our Thoughts

Wow. That was intense. There are also many things happening at once. First, Eloise and Theo seem to be getting along well. We are excited about what will become of this friendship between them. Second, Portia’s persistence to get out of the slump they are currently in is really something. Oh, the things people will do for family. Third, the Sheffields certainly are not good people and we have witnessed that now. Fourth, Anthony stepping in to defend the Sharma family is really admirable. He is certainly a man of honor and so we are not surprised that what he did made Edwina fall in love with him all the more. Fifth and last, Kate begging Anthony to go through with the wedding and dismissing their feelings as something that would fade is beyond us. This episode was quite a ride!