Bridgerton Season 4: Why Does Lord Penwood Address Sophie Baek As His 'Ward' And Not Daughter | Explained

The first part of the fourth season of Bridgerton premiered on Netflix on January 29. The story this time focuses on the love life of the family's second son, Benedict Bridgerton. In a Cinderalla-style meet cute, the brother of the Viscount makes an acquaintance with Sophie Baek at a masquerade ball and is unable to unearth her identity by the end of the evening. A brief glimpse in the second episode of the show features a significant detail about Sophie's childhood. One particular scene has made all binge-watchers of the show curious.

The curious case of Sophie's childhood

A brief glimpse of Sophie's childhood is shown to the audience through a flashback sequence. In the scene, Yerin Ha's character thinks back to the time her father first introduced Lady Penwood and her two daughters to their house in Mayfair. While introducing Sophie to his new wife, Penwood simply addresses her as ‘his ward’, immediately inviting her ire. However, the earl followed it up by instructing Lady Penwood to ‘care for Sophie as her own’.

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In the current time, the show features Sophie as a housemaid working for Lady Penwood, after being denied any role in the household as one of the Lord's heirs. The Lady even tells her that her father has not left anything behind for her in his will. Despite this, Sophie is shown to be close to her father and remembers him fondly. In the viral scene, he claims Sophie to be his ‘ward’ instead of his daughter. This means that Sophie is not his biological daughter.

This is later revisited when Araminta confronts Sophie and informs her that her mother was a maid and Penwood's mistress. Sophie is thus proven to be the illegitimate child of Penwood and his mistress.

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