‘Bridgerton’: A Guide to Benedict & Sophie’s Spicy Book Scenes Before Season 4
Bridgerton may not follow its source material exactly, but we can always count on the Netflix show and Julia Quinn’s books to have at least one thing common: a healthy amount of spice. Netflix’s adaptation of the Regency romance series has seriously brought the heat so far.
Who could ever forget that gazebo moment between Anthony (Jonathan Bailey) and Kate (Simone Ashley) in Season 2? It wasn’t in the books — they wait until their wedding night in The Viscount Who Loved Me — but we weren’t complaining. What about Colin (Luke Newton) and Penelope’s (Nicola Coughlan) carriage encounter in Season 3? It’s just as passionate onscreen as it is on the page in Romancing Mister Bridgerton.
We could go on, but we won’t bore you with our reminiscing. Instead, let’s look ahead to Season 4, which covers Benedict (Luke Thompson) and Sophie’s (Yerin Ha) love story. We’ve done our homework and read An Offer From a Gentleman cover to cover — so just how many spicy scenes take place in the book? How many steamy moments can viewers look forward to in the show? There’s no guarantee that Season 4 will be entirely book-accurate, but we’re going to go ahead and break down what the show is working with.
[Warning: The below contains spoilers for An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn.]
The lake scene (Chapter 11)
What is the Bridgerton lake scene, you ask? Benedict and Sophie don’t technically cross a line here, but that almost makes the lake scene even more delicious. Benedict saves Sophie — who he didn’t recognize from their masquerade encounter — from a dire situation. Her employer, who was hosting Benedict and friends, was on the verge of taking advantage of her. Benedict steps in and takes Sophie back to his My Cottage estate, but he gets sick after they’re caught in the rain.
Thanks to Sophie’s care, Benedict recovers, and he decides to go for a swim in the lake on the property. When Sophie finds him, she realizes Benedict is completely naked under the water. She has the opportunity to leave, but Sophie’s curiosity gets the better of her, spying on him from behind a tree. Of course, Benedict catches sight of her, and when she tries to flee, he asks her to stay. He does request Sophie turn around while he emerges from the lake to get dressed. Their subsequent conversation is where the book gets its title: Benedict asks Sophie to be his mistress.
The Bridgerton team has already teased the iconic scene ahead of Season 4’s premiere. As far back as February 2025, showrunner Jess Brownell brought up Benedict’s country estate, adding, “Maybe within striking distance of that cottage, there’s a lake.” We can only hope that it plays out exactly as it does on the page. It’s too good for it not to!
The couch scene (Chapter 17)
Benedict and Sophie sleep together for the first time after Benedict finds Sophie reeling, having just crossing paths with her stepsister. At this point, Sophie is working for the Bridgerton family, a compromise she and Benedict make after she refuses to be his mistress. Since she’s still hiding her true identity, Benedict doesn’t know what’s troubling her. Benedict takes her back to his own home, they have a deep conversation, and one thing leads to another. The Bridgerton boys love a sofa, it seems. (In Colin’s case, though, it was more of a chaise lounge.)
The couch scene coincides with Benedict, still in the dark about Sophie’s double identity as the Lady in Silver, figuring out that he’s in love with her. “He wasn’t certain how [Sophie] had come to mean so much to him,” Quinn writes. “It seemed that one day she was a stranger, and the next she was as indispensable as air. And yet it hadn’t happened in a blinding flash. It had been a slow, sneaky process, quietly coloring his emotions until he realized that without her, his life lacked all meaning.”
The bath scene (Chapter 23)
After Benedict rescues Sophie from jail, having been put there by her evil stepmother, they share an intimate moment at his house. By now, Benedict is fully aware of Sophie’s double identity. Despite feeling betrayed at first, he realizes that he can’t go on without her. He tells Sophie that he wants to marry her, and her status doesn’t matter to him anymore.
Afterward, Sophie gets into Benedict’s tub to wash the grime off. Her lover quickly follows. (We can only hope show Benedict wears a green robe like book Benedict does.) He takes care of Sophie and washes her. He offers to wait until their wedding on Monday to sleep together again, but Sophie asks him not to. Then, in the throes of passion, it’s Sophie’s turn to deliver a swoonworthy line: “You are the reason I exist, the very reason I was born.” (We may or may not riot if that doesn’t make it into the script.)
Which steamy scene are you most eager to see in Bridgerton Season 4? Tell us in the comments!
Bridgerton, Season 4, Part 1 Premiere, Thursday, January 29, 2026
Bridgerton, Season 4, Part 2 Premiere, Thursday, February 26, 2026
