Dearest reader, the ton is full of excitement for Anthony to find his wife in Bridgerton Season 2. But while you're enjoying this chapter of the Netflix series, you may find yourself wondering about Anthony's love from Season 1, Siena. The opera singer Siena Russo had Anthony breaking all his viscount rules in the first installment. But Anthony and Siena's breakup in Bridgerton did some serious damage to the eldest Bridgerton sibling.

While Season 1 was Daphne and Simon's love story, Anthony and his non-"lady" Siena brought the steam early on as he carried on a not-so-secret affair with the performer. But once Anthony's mother scolded him for not fulfilling his duty as the viscount, he abruptly ended things with her. Yet, Anthony couldn't help but get jealous when Siena went looking for a new gentleman to keep her fashionable, and he came crawling back to her. But she was tired of his games and tired of sharing him with the duties of his family, so she rejected him. I'm already exhausted, but that wasn't the end of their on-again, off-again relationship since once he came to her doorstep to tell her he was (very unnecessarily) dueling Simon in the morning, they slept together again.

Since the duel didn't end as dramatically as expected, these two didn't end up running away together. And the next time Anthony saw Siena, she was with another man. But these two crazy kids couldn't keep away from each out for long and rekindled their romance underneath the bleachers of Will Mondrich's boxing match. Anthony was ready to truly commit to her now and invited her to the final ball of the season. After all, he was the viscount and his sister was the duchess, so who could stop their taboo love affair now?

Well, Siena could, that's who. When Anthony came to fetch her for the ball, the other man she was seeing answered the door. Siena dumped Anthony, claiming that she alone will look out for her well-being and that Anthony wanted to turn her into something that she isn't. "You need to let me go," she tearfully told him, and Anthony relented.

Siena wasn't really in the books by Julia Quinn (there's a mention of Anthony having an affair with an opera singer, but it's nowhere near this extensive). But it seems his heartbreak caused by Siena is all to explain why Anthony is so resistant to marrying for love in Season 2. As he told Daphne and Simon in the Season 1 finale, "I have finally determined the difficulty... love itself. Removing it from all romantic relations shall make me all the better for it. No more distractions from responsibility or being waylaid from the sensible path."

Spoilers ahead for the Season 2 premiere.

Since she had such a profound influence on Anthony in Season 1, you'd expect Sabrina Bartlett's Siena to appear in some capacity in Season 2. But there's only a silent nod to her existence in the premiere episode, "Capital R Rake." Following Lady Violet Bridgerton's announcement that the viscount intends to find a wife this season, Anthony is shown alone looking at an ad for an upcoming performance by Siena Russo. He takes the flyer and puts it into the fire.

I'm not sure that's the healthiest method of closure. But that seems to be the door firmly shut on his relationship with Siena with Anthony not uttering a word about her to anyone. (Though, according to Daily Mail Online, Bartlett teased to Tatler in 2021 that she could potentially return for Season 3.)

Yet, just because the opera singer's gone for now doesn't mean the hurt she caused has disappeared. And because of all that Season 1 baggage, Anthony's going to attempt to find a wife he doesn't have any feelings for in Season 2. Good luck with that, buddy... especially with Kate Sharma around.

Images: Netflix