Regency Romance
‘Bridgerton’: What Is the Lake Scene From Season 4?
Bridgerton Season 4 may not premiere for a while, but some teases made during the show’s Season of Love celebration on Valentine’s Day offered exciting insight into what moments book fans can look forward to, namely the lake scene.
For readers of Julia Quinn’s An Offer From a Gentleman, they’ll likely recall the scene quite easily, but for people who have yet to read the third novel from the romance series, we’re going to break it down for you below, so beware of book spoilers ahead.
As showrunner Jess Brownell shared during the Season of Love event, “It’s pretty faithful to the book, and there are amazing moments from the book,” she said of Season 4. She particularly discussed Benedict’s (Luke Thompson) country estate, My Cottage, and pointed out, “Maybe within striking distance of that cottage, there’s a lake.”
Liam Daniel / Netflix
But what is the significance of the lake? As previously teased, second-eldest Bridgerton brother Benedict meets Sophie (Yerin Ha) at his mother’s masquerade ball, but what he doesn’t know is she’s a maid who snuck into the celebration. After being enchanted by the Lady in Silver, Benedict searches for her without any luck.
In the book, years pass and he still is unlucky in finding his dream woman, until he unknowingly crosses paths with her again at a house where she’s working, saving her from men with impure intentions. Not recognizing Sophie without her mask, Benedict whisks her away from the estate, taking shelter at My Cottage. But when he falls ill after getting caught in the rain, Benedict is cared for by Sophie and the My Cottage housekeepers, the Crabtrees.
Over the course of their stay, he begins falling for Sophie but also struggles with his long-lingering love for the Lady in Silver. When Benedict begins to recover from his sickness, he decides to take a swim in a nearby lake, where Sophie happens to stumble upon him in a… state of undress. Needless to say, when she’s caught by Benedict, he forces her to stay, making her turn her back as he gets out of the lake to confront her.
The pair have a rather pivotal conversation as he teases her about spying on him. This leads up to the book’s titular offer as Benedict propositions Sophie to be his mistress knowing that men of his class aren’t supposed to marry women of her class. How the show will portray this has yet to be seen as Season 4 filming continues.
Brownell stated, “Some smaller things have changed, character motivations especially. Benedict is quite different from the book just in that Luke Thompson brings this wonderful sensitivity and self-awareness to the character and so in Benedict’s story of trying to woo Sophie, I think the character is a bit more delicate and thoughtful perhaps about the way he goes about it.”
Stay tuned for any updates on the lake scene that Brownell teased and even Ha previously hinted at to Swooon in October of 2024. Let us know what you hope to see in the onscreen adaptation of this pivotal book moment in the comments below.
Bridgerton, Season 4 Premiere, TBA, Netflix
