There are many reasons to love Daphne Bridgerton and Simon Basset, the Duke of Hastings, as a couple, including one that probably should be near the top of the list, and that is the fact that if these two didn’t work as a pair, we probably wouldn’t have gotten to meet any of our other beloved Bridgerton couples. We owe them so much. While we were watching Simon and Daphne fall for each other despite all efforts to the contrary, including but not limited to an insane vow Simon makes whilst grieving and angry (men!), we were also falling in love with them as a couple, and with their story. It honestly isn’t hard to do, and there are so many moments along the way you could point to as reasons why we love them, but below we’ve selected five of those moments from the first season of Bridgerton. You know, the ones that really made us burn for them.
When they so easily fall into the fake-dating trope
Episode 1: “Diamond of the First Water”
Oh, Daphne and Simon, these two dummies think they’re so smart, don’t they? At the Vauxhall Ball when Simon comes across Daphne coldcocking the loathsome Nigel Berbrooke and realizes she needs a little boost to survive the social season too, he thinks he’s really on to something when he suggests they pretend to fall in love. It’ll look like he is unavailable, and it will make Daphne desirable — it’s the perfect plan, as long as neither actually wants to marry the other. As if no one else in the world ever pretended to be dating, only to really fall for each other? Read a book, guys! But it is quite sweet to see how confident they attempt to look when they take to the dance floor, even as they’re both clearly a little shaky on the “definitely not wanting to marry the other” bit. It’s very cute and very futile.
When they first get intimate … no, not that way
Episode 3: “Art of the Swoon”
This is a quieter, oft-overlooked moment shared between Daphne and the duke, but it is a meaningful one. The pair stand together looking at one of the paintings Simon has donated to Somerset House. He doesn’t quite understand it but knows it was one of his mother’s favorites. Daphne launches into a monologue about why it moves her and how she is drawn to the intimacy of it all. It feels like one of the first times she is letting the duke see her as she really is. In that moment, she isn’t pretending or putting on airs or acting the perfect model of a high-society lady; she is being vulnerable. He doesn’t laugh or mock her — he just listens. In response, neither can help it as their hands drift toward each other. These two will eventually make much more intimate gestures, but isn’t there something totally romantic about a stolen bit of hand-holding?
When they burn for each other
Episode 5: “The Duke and I”
If you thought I was going to write up a list with Daphne and Simon’s best moments and not include the “I burn for you” scene, you are out of your mind. Instantly iconic, it is yet another scene that proves to me that Daphne and Simon are complete dummies (which is a compliment). Neither realized — or could fathom — that the other was actually into their pairing. But the moment Simon, who looks like he physically cannot hold it in any longer, tells Daphne that he is hers, that he has always been hers, well, we’re off to the races, aren’t we? For the rest of time, a person in love will be dreaming of the day when they can tell someone that they burn for them and hear it in return, and it is all thanks to Daphne and her duke.
When they spend some time on the stairs
Episode 7: “Oceans Apart”
That’s right, the stairs. Sometimes you love a pairing because they are just so hot together, you can barely stand it, and that is what happens when Daphne and Simon get on those stairs. I won’t apologize for that!
When they get real in the rain
Episode 8: “After the Rain”
Bridgerton knows how to do those laying-it-all-on-the-line declarations of love, and this season-ending one from Daphne to Simon, well, if you weren’t in love with them by now, you don’t stand a chance after this. Here, at their first ball as the duke and the duchess, the ball that is supposed to be their final hurrah before they lead separate lives, it begins to rain, and instead of running, Daphne finds it cleansing — and inspiring. She turns to Simon and begs him to believe that she truly loves him for who he is, for all he is. She is finally, after everything, finished with pretending when it comes to him. He may have some silly pact he made with himself out of shame, but she won’t abide by it. She loves him — “every scar, every flaw, every imperfection.” She wants him to trust those feelings, to trust her, and she wants him to choose their love over anything or anyone else. (Spoiler alert: He does.) When two people make the decision to love each other even when it might not always be easy, well, how can you not get on board with that?
