Isn’t it poetic to watch two insomniacs who keep each other awake at night wander around in an

Isn’t it poetic to watch two insomniacs who keep each other awake at night wander around in an inappropriate state of undress during a storm in a middle of a night in a mansion full of people, troubled by the same malady – lovesickness – and seeking some sort of respite, only to find both the source of their dreams and sleeplessness and the cure to their ailment in the study? The storm raging outside serves as a fitting background and a perfect metaphor as it reflects the turmoil and turbulent emotions warring inside Kate and Anthony. What’s more, the candlelight and the darkness splits their figures into two halves – one illuminated by the warm glow of the fire, the other cast in the cold shadows of the night, and each side tries to gain the upper hand – symbolizing how they are both tormented and torn apart by conflicting emotions warring inside them; between passion and reason, love and duty, affection and pride; between what they want and their hearts desire and what they perceive they shouldn’t want. They truly find themselves in the middle of a tempest  – an emotional whirlwind of their own making  – shaken to their very cores by these newfound feelings that make them question everything they have ever believed in.Initially, Anthony and Kate stand at the opposite sides of the study, both illuminated by the candlelight, but then she walks to the darkest part of the room furthest from the light, and, against his better judgement and despite his reason telling him not to, Anthony follows her into the darkness to join her there, as if he were pulled to her by some invisible leash, losing one of the many battles waging inside him. Or it might be the red string of fate connecting them. To Anthony, Kate is a temptation incarnate and he can’t resist her even if his life depended on it. Anthony’s constant struggle to keep himself away from Kate is highlighted by him lingering by the entrance, hesitating there, holding onto the door and using it as both an anchor to stop himself from running to her (as if a mere piece of flimsy wood could ever achieve such a Herculean feat!) and a shield from the power and sway Kate holds over him. For a brief moment, he contemplates leaving entirely but he fights a losing battle, like a drowning man grasping for straws trying to delay his inevitable demise. He has never stood a chance against her.Anthony puts up a valiant effort to be a gentleman, to do the right thing by her (because he is not only protecting himself from her but protecting Kate from himself), though, because, unlike Kate who is too preoccupied with the storm outside and her negative memories of it, Anthony immediately notices her appearance and takes it in, feeding on it – her white nightgown, bare slender arms unconcealed by sleeves for once, her glorious disheveled ebony locks falling around her face and body like a gorgeous chocolate waterfall,… – since he always observes every little detail about her.  Anthony hoped to find some solace in his study, but discovers there the woman who’s been haunting his dreams instead. In that moment, he must be thinking that he fell asleep and she walked into his dream once again. He is deeply aware of the inappropriateness of their attire, of them being alone together and the potential danger of being caught, yet, he can’t stop himself to steal just one more moment in her presence, just as he can’t stop the sun from setting. He can neve overcome the attraction between them nor resist the ultimate pull of her body, heart and soul calling to his.The cover of darkness gives Kate and Anthony the freedom to allow themselves to become vulnerable and reveal deeply hidden emotional scars from their past. They allow themselves to be open and vulnerable in a way they haven’t been with anyone else, not even their own family. These two extremely independent and proud people who had learnt from a young age to be self-relient and not to show weakness to anyone not only to protect themselves but so their loved ones could rely on them instead, suddenly confide in each other, sharing secrets, instinctively seeking solace and comfort in the other person and ultimately finding them in each other for one beautiful stolen moment, as if they somehow knew the other person would understand them and keep their secret safe. This moment is earth-shattering for both of them.Standing close to Kate in his own study, his private space, just few feet from the place where Daphné told him about a feeling that doesn’t allow him to look away from a woman at any given moment, causes his body and soul to burst into flame when he is near her, takes his breath away and makes him fight the urge to lean forward and touch her lips with his; deep down, Anthony realises and fully comprehends something he only sensed vaguely and instinctively before  – that he is feeling it all in this very moment with Kate. It’s like an epiphany, like a lightbulb goes off in his head, like everything, all those confusing emotions, finally make sense. Anthony is one step away from leaning forward and touching her, brushing his lips against hers because just as he realises his own feelings and it shocks him, he notices and becomes shook by the fact that Kate is looking at him so tenderly and gazing at his lips longingly TWICE (and the second time pointedly lingering there!), the way she isn’t protesting or stopping him, the way she so clearly anticipates him to touch her,… And for that one fleeting moment, it appears that the warm light and warmth of the candles illuminating their bodies is gaining over the cold darkness, just as Kate and Anthony’s feelings for each other start to overcome them…But then the spell breaks, bringing a rough awakening. Lightning and thunder  – a sound from the outside – wakes them up and interrupts them again just like in the garden after the bee sting. However. now their roles completely reverse  – unlike the day in the garden, Anthony isn’t even rattled anymore. He ran away from the flower garden, it’s Kate’s turn to run now after reality came crashing down on her (and she finally realises looking hungrily at Lord Bridgerton’s lips while he’s barefoot and only in his shirt, with sleeves rolled-up, braces down and unbuttoned collar revealing his bare neck and chest, and she is wearing only her nightdress may be perhaps the most scandalous thing she has ever done in her 26 years long life) while he wants to pursue this feeling whatever it might be and wherever it may take him.Anthony desperately wants Kate to stay and explore whatever it is between them as he frantically tries to stop her, flustered and alarmed she’s recoiled from him and put a distance between them, and fumbling for the right words to assure her he doesn’t think badly of her and which would convince her not to leave him but to stay with him just a little bit longer. It’s poignant especially after his initial reluctance to even enter the room and come one step closer to her.Even though the last vestiges of his control stop him from actually walking after her, Anthony’s whole body spins on its axis and pivots to her (like it wants to extend itself and reach out to her), as if his every single cell and his whole being wanted to follow her, to do what he’s been doing since the day they met  – chase after her. He looks so utterly anguished, forlorn, frustrated and tormented, rooted to the spot where Kate left him, the lightning exposing all the emotions he can no longer hide, just as it did a moment ago when it exposed the connection between him and Kate and which sent her running away from him.  The final drops to Anthony’s glass full of misery and torture are her almost brushing him with her gorgeous curls as she rushed past him and leaving behind her intoxicating scent which lingers long after she is gone and which doesn’t let him sleep. Kate and Anthony both sought to find some semblance of calm to help them sleep, only for their encounter to rob them of their sleep altogether (and right under Papa Bridgerton’s watchful eye). -- source link

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