Benedict’s Bridgerton Book Ends With A Thrilling Twist

Bridgerton Season 4 is finally here. And this time around, the Regency romance tells the swoony love story of Benedict and Sophie.

Based on Julia Quinn’s 2001 novel An Offer from a Gentleman, this season follows the commitment-averse artist as he’s struck by sudden, one-track desire. After meeting a dazzling stranger at his mother’s masquerade ball, he falls for a maid he rescues from a dangerous situation — not realizing they’re the same woman.

As showrunner Jess Brownell told Entertainment Weekly, Benedict and Sophie’s book was “the easiest book to adapt” for screen. “It lent itself really closely to television structure for a love story. There are just a lot of rich set pieces that gave us juicy conflict and high stakes.”

While the first four episodes are out now, fans will have to wait for Part 2 on Feb. 26 to see the pair’s complete love story. But if you want a peek ahead, here’s the plot summary and book ending of An Offer from a Gentleman.

An Enchanting Meet-Cute

Benedict and Sophie — whom he only knows as the mysterious Lady in Silver — have a romantic evening at Violet’s masquerade ball. But when the clock strikes midnight, Sophie rushes back home to her stepmother, Araminta. Sophie is the illegitimate child of an earl, and Araminta has used her as an unpaid servant ever since her father died.

Two years later (a timeline condensed on screen), Benedict attends a party where he runs into Sophie again. He doesn’t recognize her from the ball, but rescues her from being assaulted by her employer, Phillip Cavender, and his friends. Benedict gets very sick as they ride away, and they stay in Benedict’s country cottage while he recovers.

They further their connection here, including sharing a passionate kiss after Sophie spots Benedict swimming naked in a nearby pond. Benedict asks Sophie to come back to London with him and be his mistress, but she refuses, wanting to avoid her own mother’s fate.

Benedict and Sophie return to London, where Violet gives Sophie a job in the Bridgerton household. They sleep together for the first time, but Sophie again refuses to be Benedict’s mistress.

Unmasking The Truth

One day, Benedict sees Sophie wearing a blindfold while playing a game with Hyacinth and her cousins and realizes who she really is. He feels betrayed, and Sophie decides to leave — but right as she steps outside, Araminta arrests her for stealing her shoe clips.

After finding out what’s happened, Benedict and Violet rush to help Sophie in jail. There, they learn about Sophie’s noble origins and Posy — Sophie’s kinder stepsister — reveals that Sophie’s dad left her money in his will, which Araminta stole.

Armed with this knowledge, Violet makes a deal with Araminta. To avoid being prosecuted for theft herself, Araminta goes along with the story that Sophie’s father was the Earl of Penwood’s distant cousin. This fib changes Sophie’s social standing, paving the way for her to marry Benedict. And in gratitude for Posy’s help, Violet invites her to stay with the Bridgertons.

An epilogue set seven years later reveals that Benedict and Sophie are happily married with three children and a fourth on the way.