Quick recap
Benedict, the second son, is the season's most sought-after bachelor. At Violet's masquerade ball, he dances with a mystery woman who flees at midnight and leaves behind a glove with the Penwood crest. She is Sophie Baek, the late earl's illegitimate daughter, treated as a maid by her stepmother, Araminta. Benedict tracks Sophie down, and they fall in love at his country house, My Cottage. He asks her to be his mistress, and Sophie says no. Francesca loses her husband, John. Araminta has Sophie arrested, but the Bridgertons get her released and expose the stepmother. Benedict and Sophie marry at the cottage, and a new Lady Whistledown starts publishing.
