“But no, she had to go and fall in love with Colin Bridgerton when he fell off a horse and landed on his bottom in a mud puddle. It was highly irregular, and highly unromantic, but there was a certain poetic justice in that, since nothing was ever going to come of it.”

Quinn’s lightly satirical voice, poking fun at the romance genre even while she writes within it, adds humor to the narrative, as does her frequent use of whimsy and subversion of familiar conventions, as with the unromantic first meeting between the two leads. The preliminary obstacle—that the two are in no way suited and that Colin would never be interested in Penelope—introduces irony as well as suspense, as the reader knows that these two are set up for a love affair destined to conclude happily.

“Where does that woman get her information? […] I vow sometimes she knows so much about my family I wonder if I ought to be frightened.”

Curiosity about the identity of Lady Whistledown begins with the very first chapter, establishing suspense and mystery that will move the plot and playing into the theme of The Allure and Danger of Secrets. Quinn often uses foreshadowing, including this early hint from Eloise that Lady Whistledown seems to know a lot about the Bridgertons. Unbeknownst to Eloise and the readers, Eloise is speaking to Penelope—Lady Whistledown herself—whose fascination with the Bridgertons reflects her love for Colin.