Here’s Who Benedict Marries In The Bridgerton Books

Spoilers for Benedict’s storyline in the Bridgerton books ahead.

Colin and Penelope’s love story takes center stage in Bridgerton Season 3. But if you’re a Benedict fan, you’ve probably been eager to see the show adapt his journey from Julia Quinn’s third book, An Offer from a Gentleman — especially since Netflix opted to shuffle the order of its seasons, leaving the fate of Benedict’s lead year uncertain.

In the meantime, Benedict and the widow Lady Tilley Arnold seem to be forging quite the connection in Season 3. However, the trajectory of Quinn’s book series suggests the person whom Benedict marries in Bridgerton is someone very different.

Benedict & Sophie’s Bridgerton Love Story

An Offer from a Gentleman begins with the story of Sophie Beckett, the illegitimate daughter of the Earl of Penwood. Instead of raising her as his daughter, Sophie becomes his “ward” and lives under the watchful eye of her stepmother, Araminta, who also happens to have two daughters (you can see where this is going). As Sophie’s Cinderella story continues, she manages to sneak into one of Lady Bridgerton’s masquerade balls. She steals a dance with Benedict, and the pair share an instant connection. But the magical moment doesn’t last long, as Sophie darts from the ball without Benedict catching her name or seeing her face.

Two years pass, and Benedict is still enamored by his chance encounter with Sophie. So much so that he vowed to find and marry the woman he danced with that night. That is until he starts to fall for the Bridgertons’ new housemaid. And who would she be if not Sophie?

Wondering why he’s so drawn to her, he starts to fall for the housemaid. But due to their differences in social class, Benedict is wary of making anything official. Instead, he asks her to be his mistress – which doesn’t go down well at all (duh, Benedict). Of course, he eventually discovers that the housemaid was the woman he’s been searching for after all this time which causes a ton of drama, leaving Sophie jobless and in jail after her stepmother accuses her of being a thief.

Happily Ever After?

Thankfully, the Bridgerton family as a whole grew so fond of Sophie during her time with them. After discovering that she’s in jail from Lady Whistledown, the family rescue her. By the prologue, Benedict and Sophie are officially married and seven years down the line they’re expecting their fourth child.

Speaking about the Netflix series in 2022, series creator Chris Van Dusen said they had plans to explore Benedict’s sexual fluidity, though. So perhaps there will be new storylines than those directly taken from Julia Quinn’s novels.