She looked up at him suddenly, her hands flat on his chest. Her eyes no longer held a warm gaze of love, but rather a flame of determination. He quirked an eyebrow at her curiously.

"I must admit I am afraid to hear whatever evil plan you seem to be concocting." He smirked, teasing her.

"I don't want to run away and get married." Her voice was a whisper and he narrowed his eyebrows.

"What? But you said-"

"I can't run from him. I won't run from him. I want to get married here and have the proper ceremony you talked about." She nodded, as it reassuring herself.

"He does not get to hold any power over us and force us into a rushed marriage. We are not going to run from him. We are going to hold the ceremony here in front of all the Ton and if he attends, I am going to look directly into his pitiful eyes as we walk down the aisle after we say 'I do'." She declared, letting out a breath of relief she did not know she had been holding in. Benedict smirked and kissed her passionately, making her giggle in surprise.

She kissed him back before she pulled back a bit, grinning at him. "What was that for?"

"I don't know, seeing that determination in your eyes, that fire, well frankly it was very hot." He winked and she laughed, throwing her head back.

"I do not think I've ever heard you use the word 'hot' to describe a woman before. That's not very gentleman-like." She teased, blushing nonetheless. He smirked and stroked her cheek gently with her thumb.

"I cannot help it. The years of training to be a proper gentleman seem to fly out the window when I am with you." He winked, kissing her cheek before kissing her lips again.

"I am definitely in favor of having the ceremony here. I would run away with you anywhere if you asked me to, but I fear my mother cannot wait any longer to host a proper wedding for at least one of her children." He smirked and she laughed at this, nodding in agreement.

"It is settled then. Let's go find Anthony!" She urged, pulling on his hand. He laughed, not moving as he tugged on her hand to pull him back to him.

"We can talk to him in the morning, my love. It will not matter if we wait until then, he will go straight away to the Queen for a marriage license if it means spiting your evil uncle, I am sure of it." She giggled at this and nodded, standing on her tiptoes and softly pressing her lips to his.

"Let us enjoy this beautiful scene then." She took his hand, leading him over to sit on the garden swings with her. "I cannot believe you set this all up, when did you have time?"

"I had a little help from Colin. But mostly while you were asleep. You are quite a heavy sleeper, you know? I was able to sneak in and out without you stirring a bit." She laughed at this, shaking her head at his teasing.

"You could have done it without sneaking around if you actually slept in your own room, you know?" She mocked him and he poked her side, making her laugh. Benedict had come into the guest room each of the past three nights once his mother was asleep, claiming that he missed her too much. She had hassled him for waking her up, but she happily let him into her bed each time.

"I can't help it, you are absolutely intoxicating. Every moment I am not with you, I spend wishing I was." He kissed her hand and she blushed, giggling softly.

"Who knew you were such a romantic?" She smirked, intertwining their fingers.

"Well, I am an artist. We are known to be quite romantic." He winked.

The two spent nearly an hour in the backyard, talking about the wedding. They discussed which flowers they would have, the music that would play, and mostly, how they would manage to put it all together as quickly as possible. They both agreed, however, that if anybody was going to put a wedding together in no time, it would be Violet Bridgerton.

Despite how happy Madeleine felt, a familiar aching pain ate away at her gut. She and her mother had been planning her wedding for as long as she could remember, and she would not be there to see it. 

-

That night, right on schedule, Madeleine was awoken by the creak of the guest bedroom door opening. She stirred, yawning a bit, and pulled her comforter open to let Benedict in. He laid next to her and pulled her into his arms, pressing a kiss to her forehead as she snuggled up in his embrace.

"I love you, Benny." She whispered, smiling sleepily.

"I love you too, Madeleine Bridgerton." He smirked and she giggled softly, lifting her head and pressing a kiss to his jawline.

"Mm, I like the sound of that." She whispered, closing her eyes as she drifted back into a dreamful sleep.

She was awoken by a loud noise in the morning, Benedict cringing and turning to look at her in hopes that it did not wake up.

"I'm sorry, darling. I was trying not to wake you. Go back to sleep." He stroked her hair gently, smiling down at her.

"What are you doing?" Her voice was tired and she squinted, seeing one boot on the floor.

"Well, I was attempting to put my boots on, hence the noise that woke you. The one time you chose not to be a heavy sleeper, huh?" He teased and she giggled, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

"I was going to go speak with Anthony about the marriage license and you looked so peaceful, I did not want to wake you."

Her eyes widened in excitement, suddenly very awake at the sound of that. "Well I am awake now, I'm coming with!"

He laughed at the girl as she quickly got up, getting changed out of her night clothes at record speed. Once she was all ready, he took her hand and kissed it before leading her to Anthony's study.

The door was slightly ajar and Anthony sat at his desk, looking over whatever paperwork he had on it. Benedict knocked lightly before entering, Madeleine at his heels.

"Good morning, Brother. Madeleine." Anthony smiled at them happily, which was not very Anthony-like of him. Benedict and Madeleine shared a brief look of confusion before Benedict turned back to his brother.

"Good morning to you too, Brother. Listen, we wanted to talk to you about requesting a special marriage license from the Queen. We changed our minds about running away to marry, we want to do it here."

Anthony smirked at this, not seeming at all surprised by his declaration. Benedict narrowed his brows in confusion, Madeleine mirroring his expression.

"Anthony?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at his suspicious behavior. She nearly jumped at the sound of another voice from behind her and turned to see Colin perched on the office sofa.

"I may have overheard a certain conversation between the two of you last night, and I may have told Anthony about it." He grinned at the two like a cheshire cat, and they turned back to Anthony, still donning very confused expressions.

"This, Brother, is the special marriage license you have requested." Anthony stood, handing it to Benedict, who stared at it with wide eyes. "I went over as soon as the sun rose and requested a meeting with the Queen to explain the situation. As soon as Her Majesty read Doctor Phillips' documentation of the injuries, she approved of the special license. You two are to be married this Saturday."

Madeleine's eyes grew so wide she felt they might bulge out of her head. She squealed in excitement, hugging Anthony tightly. He laughed and returned the hug, squeezing her firmly.

"Oh, thank you, Anthony! This is wonderful!" She exclaimed as she let go of him. "Goodness, this Saturday?! We must start planning immediately!"

"Mother is already at the florist, and you two are to meet her at the modiste as soon as possible to be fitted." Colin chimed in again, smirking proudly at how he and Anthony had pulled this off. The girl beamed and hugged the youngest of the three as well, kissing his cheek in a friendly manner.

"Oh, you two are absolutely wonderful, do you know that?" She smiled and Benedict nodded in agreement before he took her hand, pulling her back to him.

"All right now, enough love for those two, I am the one you are to marry after all." He pouted and she laughed, kissing his cheek too.

"You are rather cute when you are jealous, Benny." She smirked up at him and he scrunched his nose at her. "I cannot wait to marry you, truly. Let us go, we must meet your mother!!" She pulled on his hand eagerly, the two brothers laughing at Benedict's fake fearful expression.