The second half of Bridgerton season four returned to our screens today, and amongst the steamy bath scenes and surprise engagements, the new episodes have finally given us an answer as to who the new Lady Penwood is: Cressida Cowper (Jessica Madsen) is back.
After Araminta (Katie Leung) and her daughters were forced to move out of their home and next door to Bridgerton House at the end of part 1, we spent much of episodes 5 and 6 very curious to see who would be taking the helm of Sophie’s (Yerin Ha) former home.
And in episode 6, we got our answer as Cressida emerged in pink from the carriage as the new wife of Lord Penwood. Her arrival back in the Ton immediately shakes feathers, most notably causing a shock for Penelope (Nicola Coughlan).
But given the third season aired nearly two years ago, we may have forgotten exactly what happened between those two and why everyone is still so mad at Cressida during the new season. Just as confused as we are as to why there’s tension in the air? Here’s what happened last season for Penelope and Cressida.
Cressida and Penelope have been feuding since season 1, ever since Cressida began bullying Penelope at any opportunity she had, including once spilling a drink on her and trying to get Eloise (Claudia Jessie) to become her friend rather than Penelope’s in season 2.
However, things really ramped up between the two during season 3. Both women were attempting to catch the eye of Lord Debling (Sam Phillips), but he ultimately found a better connection with Penelope. Cressida didn’t let it go and sabotaged Lord Debling from proposing to Penelope after she revealed just how close Penelope and Colin (Luke Newton) were. In fairness, Penelope really did want to marry Colin, but it wasn’t exactly girl code from Cressida to do that.
Cressida’s plan backfired somewhat as Lord Debling still didn’t propose to her and so her parents tried to give her hand in marriage to the elderly Lord Greer.
Desperate to try and escape marrying Lord Greer, Cressida confessed to the Queen (Golda Rosheuvel) that she was Lady Whistledown, after a reward of £5,000 was offered for the reveal. The Queen didn’t buy her story and her family was humiliated, leaving her father to pull her dowry.
With nothing else to lose and determined not to be sent away to live with her aunt, Cressida sought to discover Lady Whistledown’s true identity.
To Cressida’s credit, she did actually manage to work out that Penelope was, in fact, the writer. She then tried to blackmail Penelope by demanding £10,000 for her silence, so that she could live a comfortable life without marriage.
Penelope refused and later went on to reveal her identity in public. This move meant Cressida had no other hope and was sent off to live with her aunt in the countryside.
So yes, this explains why she’s not exactly beloved by Penelope or any other member of the Bridgerton family.
All of Bridgerton season 4 is available on Netflix now.
