Diksha Sundriyal
The romance of Sophie Baek and Benedict Bridgerton goes through many ups and downs in the fourth season of Netflix’s ‘Bridgerton.’ While they fall for each other at first sight, a major problem arises from their class difference. Benedict is an aristocrat, hailing from one of the most influential noble families of the ton. Sophie, on the other hand, is a maid. To make matters worse, she is an illegitimate child, and both these things work strongly against her. The only way that they can be together is if she becomes his mistress, because getting married will have Benedict and his family shunned from society. Despite all this, Benedict is ready to take that risk for Sophie, but fortunately, things turn around for them. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Sophie’s Pregnancy Could Have Shifted the Dynamics Between Her and Benedict
Sophie Baek is the daughter of Richard Gun, the Sixth Earl of Penwood, and his unnamed mistress, who used to be a maid. Because she is an illegitimate child, her father cannot publicly accept her as his daughter and introduces her as his ward, though his new wife, Araminta, is not fooled by it. The circumstances of her birth make things worse for her after her father’s death, especially when Araminta tells her that he left nothing for her in his will. Sophie spends the rest of her years working as an unpaid maid in Araminta’s house, blaming her father for not fulfilling his promise of taking care of her and detesting her mother for having an illicit affair, the price of which is now being paid by Sophie.
Having lived the life of an illegitimate child, Sophie promises herself that she will never have relations with any nobleman. She does not want her child to go through the same thing, which is why she tries to stay away from Benedict and refuses his offer to become his mistress. She dreads thinking about having the same fate as her mother and then leaving a helpless child behind to fend for themselves. Things, of course, don’t turn out as she’d thought. In the fifth episode, after he declares his love for her, they end up sleeping together, and the next morning, Sophie is jolted to the reality that she could very well be pregnant now. So, she counts the days until she gets her next period.
Ideally, her cycle should have arrived a week after she slept with Benedict, but to her horror, the days stretched out further. By this time, Benedict has already started to sell her the dream of living with him at My Cottage. Sophie knows that if she turns out to be pregnant, then she will have no choice but to accept Benedict’s offer and live the very life she had vowed not to. She even starts to settle into the idea of what life could be like once she leaves for My Cottage, but then she overhears Anthony and Benedict talking about the same thing. Anthony’s words, harsh as they may be, ring true, reminding Sophie of the reasons why she had refused Benedict’s offer in the first place. As if receiving a second chance, her period shows up, and she finally decides to leave Bridgerton House and Benedict behind for good.
The Late Lord Penwood’s Will Paves the Path for Sophie’s Future With Benedict
While Sophie may have been an illegitimate child, her father, Lord Penwood, promised that he would always look after her. But when he died, Araminta told Sophie that her late husband left nothing for Sophie, not a single penny, and allowing her to live as a maid in Penwood House was Araminta’s act of kindness towards her. Later, when Sophie tells Benedict about this, he points out that Araminta clearly has nothing but disdain for Sophie, which means that her words cannot really be believed over her dead father, who actually provided for Sophie when he was alive. So, Sophie, with Eloise’s help, breaks into Penwood House, now ruled by the new Lady Penwood, and finds her father’s will. It turns out that he kept his promise after all, and Benedict was right in assuming that Araminta straight-up lied about it.
The late Lord Penwood left a dowry of eighteen thousand pounds for Sophie, the exact amount that he left for Rosamund and Posy, each. To make sure that Araminta didn’t abandon Sophie after his death, he included a clause where the stepmother would receive an additional four thousand pounds for keeping his daughter under the same roof. It was because of the second clause that Araminta kept Sophie as a maid without paying her, not because she showed kindness to the poor girl. She was also infuriated by the fact that her late husband was treating Sophie equally to Rosamund and Posy. In her mind, Sophie had already stolen him from her and her daughters, and she didn’t want that to happen in his death as well.
Moreover, with Lord Penwood gone without any heir, the title would be passed on to someone else in the family. At this age, Araminta couldn’t marry again, which meant that she had to look out for her daughter’s future. Spending eighteen thousand pounds didn’t seem right to her, so she hid the fact from Sophie, who never bothered to check with a solicitor. Araminta’s plan was to use Sophie’s dowry to double Rosamund’s and increase her chances of finding a suitable husband. But all of this comes crashing down when Sophie finds the truth and confronts her about it.
Alice Mondrich Helps the Bridgertons Change the Narrative About Sophie
The problem for Araminta now is that she has committed a crime, which means if she pushes for Sophie to go to prison, then she will have to face a similar fate, losing her status in society and ruining her daughters’ prospects of getting married. Since both parties know damning things about each other, Violet proposes something that would be beneficial to both. To begin with, Sophie will get her dowry back, which means Rosamund’s dowry falls significantly, leading her engagement to be broken off. Next, Araminta will publicly accept that Sophie is the daughter of her husband’s distant cousin, which means she hails from nobility and belongs to the Penwood line. While Araminta is not happy about this arrangement, she has no choice but to accept it when Mrs. Mondrich brings Queen Charlotte into the picture.
Having been cornered and the threat of going to prison looming over her, she introduces Sophie as a lady to the queen, who realises exactly what has happened, but is so amused by the whole thing that she decides to let it slide. She shows her acceptance by telling Sophie that she would have made a great diamond. Now that the queen has accepted her, Sophie is officially a legitimate Penwood now, though she still cannot call Richard Gun her father. The queen’s approval also means that Araminta cannot go against the story and try to tarnish Sophie’s reputation. With that, the class difference between Sophie and Benedict is erased, and they are finally free to have their happily ever after, without having to hide from anyone.
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