Bridgerton season 4 lake scene differs from the book

Businessinsider writes that one of the most anticipated moments in Bridgerton season four is the 'lake scene,' and the show's version diverges from Julia Quinn's book.

Onscreen, Benedict recuperates at My Cottage and Sophie accidentally finds him swimming nude; they share a brief, passionate kiss, he apologizes, and they go their separate ways. In the book the encounter is longer and more intense: the kiss lasts, Sophie slips and calls him by his first name, and later Benedict asks her to be his mistress after deducing her parentage.

In the novel, when Sophie refuses that offer Benedict resorts to blackmail — offering her work for Violet or threatening to report her for theft, an exchange that ends with Sophie striking him and then accepting employment. The series removes that blackmail, instead highlighting the power imbalance through a warning from Mrs. Crabtree, moves the mistress offer to a newly created 'staircase scene,' and leaves Sophie's response to part two on February 26.