Many have suggested that Mr. Benedict Bridgerton, might desire to join the mart this season. This author suspects what the second son truly seeks is a sense of purpose. I do encourage you to say yes to society for once, Mr. Bridgerton. You never know where it may lead you.
I'm seeing posts saying they'll feel sad if Debling turns out to be a great guy and Pen doesn't end up with him. I want to say it doesn't matter if Debling is the so called perfect gentleman. He doesn't know her. She doesn't know him. Not really. The same would be true for ANY other man they had come in as the convenient plot device too.
Everyone in these convos always forget what made the Bridgerton family so infamous in the ton. Marriage was a business for everyone, and that was an accepted fact of life, but the Bridgertons had a thing for making marriages of love. Even if Debling is the nicest dude to exist on earth, he's still a man of the ton who will be looking for a wife to fulfill a role, and ultimately marriage in those times would always, always be transactional. And Portia pushing Pen into the marriage mart so early, Penelope looking for prospects year after year, is also for her own worldly well being, not related to her heart.
One of the things that actually makes Colin stand out is the very fact that he appreciated her as a person first, then a friend, and only later as a woman. Back when women were seen as just potential wives or side pieces, ornamental displays for one's arms, or someone to fulfill the role of housekeeper and mother, Colin who appreciated her as a friend first, saw her as someone that could be confided in, but also someone that he could be inspired by, is an anomaly. In fact, even among his own brothers, he is an anomaly.