Spoilers ahead for the Bridgerton Season 2 premiere.
Lady Portia Featherington would be very content to keep the Featherington estate under her control. But with the death of her husband Archibald in Season 1, there's a new Lord Featherington in Bridgerton Season 2. As this plot isn't in the books, who the new Lord Featherington would be was anyone's guess. Netflix also left the mystery wide open in its promotional materials. But at the end of the Season 2 premiere, the new Lord Featherington makes his appearance... and he's not quite what Lady Featherington was expecting.
Earlier in "Capital R Rake," Lady Featherington warns her daughters that they all need to be engaged before their cousin, who will assume the role of the new Lord Featherington arrives. Though he's an "old, bitter curmudgeon," who "cast his only out to the Americas for daring to question his word," she believes he's a gentleman who will pay for her daughter's dowries.
But when he shows up at the Featherington Estate with his very masculine-looking luggage and hunting trophies, he's not old or ugly. He's a rather dashing young man who's already paid Philippa's dowry.
Turns out, the original heir has died, so this younger cousin who's been living in the Americas has taken over the role. As Deadline reported, his name is Jack and it's the mystery role Rupert Young of Merlin was cast in back in April 2021.
While Lady Featherington is skeptical of this man, Penelope seems quite happy with his arrival. But is he too good to be true? Probably. Because why else add this suave character into the show if he's not going to cause some trouble?
As for what kind of trouble he could cause, well, there's the fact that Penelope and Prudence aren't engaged when he arrives like their mother wanted them to be. If he found his own wife this season, perhaps he'd refuse to pay the two sisters' future dowries. And he might just kick them out of the Featherington estate to boot. Or, will it be like a Cousin Matthew on Downton Abbey situation where Lady Featherington wants one of her daughters to marry him to keep the money in the family?
No matter what happens, this Cousin Jack swooping in is probably not great news for the Featheringtons. But hey, he can't be worse than their gambling addict father, can he?
Images: Liam Daniel/Netflix, Netflix