Dear reader, we'd like you to imagine Bridgerton without Lady Danbury. Practically impossible, right?
Well, it was almost reality according to Julia Quinn, the author of the book series that inspired the Netflix period piece. In an exclusive chat with E! News, Quinn confirmed that she "almost killed her off in a book."
"She's so important and I thought it'd be this like great dramatic moment," she said of the most formidable genteel lady in the Ton. "And now I'm so glad I didn't, because she is hands down my favorite character to write."
In fact, Quinn vows that Lady Danbury—played by the brilliant Adjoa Andoh on the small screen—"will live forever" in her mind. "If I wrote a contemporary," the author quipped, "she would have been reincarnated and be there anyway. We will never lose her."
We'd read that book! But, since it doesn't exist yet, may we direct you to How to Marry a Marquis, the novel where Quinn first introduced Danbury.
Need more recs? Quinn encourages fans of the show to check out her Smythe-Smith quartet series. "It's really in the same world," she explained. "And the Bridgerton characters go to the annual Smythe-Smith quartet concert, which is the world's worst concert."
The novels shed light on the Smythe-Smith family, who choose to continually put on the notorious musicale. "Who are these poor girls? And do they know how bad they are?" Quinn asked herself before writing the series. "And if so, why are they still doing it?"
Intrigued? We thought you might be.
In addition to writing, Quinn is helping expand the Bridgerton world by serving as a consultant on the upcoming Queen Charlotte prequel series. However, she's "mostly just watching as a fan" this time around.
"There will be some backstory from Lady Danbury and Violet in there," she noted. "But for the most part, Queen Charlotte is the primary character and she's not from the book, so there isn't the same degree of source material. So I'm less involved."
Season two of Bridgerton, which is inspired by Quinn's novel The Viscount Who Loved Me, premieres March 25 on Netflix.