There’s a frosty chill between Bridgerton’s Lady Danbury and her sibling.

Daniel Francis’s Lord Marcus Anderson steps into season three of Bridgerton as the suave, charming brother of Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh). However, while the Ton – Dowager Viscountess Bridgerton Violet (Ruth Gemmell) included – seem to be enamoured with his rizz, Lady Danbury is far less taken by her new house guest.

She may have welcomed the Sharmas with open arms and an open heart but the news of her brother’s arrival was met with a chill, the decisive pull on her cigarette underscoring her irritation. That irritation only grew in his presence.

Jokes that entertained her staff at breakfast curdled for Lady Danbury, adding further mystery to her relationship with her family.

In previous seasons, Lady Danbury mentioned that her children live continents away and while she dotes on others as though they are her own, she has never spoken of her children, or her family, with anything but detachment.

Now, with Lord Anderson on the scene, it’s pretty hard to sweep the dysfunction under the rug. Their strained relationship compels us to wonder what happened.

What happened between Lady Danbury and her brother Lord Anderson?

Our first point of call was to check the source material, but don’t worry, we’re not about to hit you with a spoiler warning because Lord Marcus Anderson doesn’t seem to be in the Bridgerton books at all.

As a new addition to the Bridgerton world, written for the Netflix adaptation, there is little to glean about their relationship – that said, there are still clues to draw from.

One of the first instances is when Lady Danbury interrupts an intimate conversation between Marcus and Violet. She makes awkward introductions, informing her dearest friend that Marcus is her brother, before pointedly adding:

“Marcus has just arrived in town, he’s only visiting.”

There is a look of displeasure and defensiveness on her face, almost as if she is erecting a protective barricade in front of Violet, warding Marcus off.

The murky details of their fractured relationship become even more intriguing later on at another soiree.

While talking to Alice Mondrich (Emma Naomi)​​ about Mr Mondrich’s unwillingness to give up his bar since joining high society, Lady Danbury comments:

“Past lives are dangerous to revisit.” The camera then pans over to Marcus and Violet talking.

During this conversation, Marcus’s lack of knowledge about his sister’s deep involvement in society becomes clear when he reveals to a smitten Violet Bridgerton that he wasn’t aware of Lady Danbury’s penchant for “meddling in the lives of [their] young people.”

Since this is pretty much her favourite pastime/daily devotion, it would imply that Danbury and Anderson have little to no communication at all.

“We are becoming reacquainted,” he confirms to Violet with sadness in his expression. His regret over their missing bond suggests that it is Lady Danbury who is the one pulling away.

This is suggested further when Lady Danbury rebuffs Marcus’s attempts to get close when he asks her to meddle in his own life and help him find a match.

“I do not know what you have heard,” she chides, “but I ask that you leave me out of your raking about town. I am not interested.”

His spiel about being “pure of heart” does nothing to dissuade her as she comments:

“Is your heart located in your breeches?”

It’s possible that amorous behaviour in his youth could be the reason for her distancing herself from him. Perhaps there was the worry that – as she climbed society – he would embroil her in scandal that would taint the Danbury name. Or perhaps it’s a little more personal than that.

There’s one little detail that may have had eagle-eyed fans curious. Lady Danbury’s maiden name in the source material is Soma, howeverm Marcus’ family name is Anderson.

Such a small tidbit of info that could inspire Lady Whistledown to put quill to ink and begin drawing up sordid conclusions about a half-sibling relationship and a scandal of the adulterous kind in their parents’ history. A fractured home and so on – but Francis offers up a different explanation for their fraught bond.

During an interview with New York Live, Francis shared details about the Danbury-Anderson sibling relationship:

“There is a bit of rivalry there,” he revealed.

“He’s the first-born son and so at that time he’s the heir to the empire. The heir to wealth and so he was the favourite.

“From Marcus’s perspective he loves his big sister. That’s his big sister so he doesn’t actually know why there’s so much tension with his sister but we find out.”

Though it’s still possible that they could be half-siblings and perhaps a tawdry affair will come to light, Francis doesn’t directly address this, which suggests that Danbury’s maiden name has been changed from Soma in the books to Anderson in the show.

It also implies that it was the family dynamics growing up and favouritism that could have soured their relationship.

However, since Lady Danbury isn’t exactly the petty kind, we would presume there’s much more bubbling away beneath the surface.