Roller Printed Day Dress

c. 1815

— husband!nanami and you finding out that you’re pregnant!

— duke!husband!nanami kento x duchess!wife!reader .

— set in the regency era , bridgerton!inspired , arranged marriage between nanami and reader , reader and nanami has some tension in their marriage , big age gap (nanami is 33 whereas reader is 20) , pregnancy , mention of Chadwick’s Sign (?) , generally fluff and sweeeet. ♡

The morning sun spills through the tall windows as nanami kento makes his way to the breakfast room. The table is set for two, but only one place is occupied. He takes his seat at the head of the long walnut table, unfolding the daily newspaper the butler has laid beside his plate.

"Has the lady risen yet?" he asks, not looking up from the financial section.

The maid shifts on her feet, “Yes, my lord, she has. Though… her lady’s maids informed that her grace is a little under the weather this morning.”

The cup pauses mid-air. The newspaper shifts. His thick brows furrow.

“How so?”

“Her maids report a feeling of giddyness followed by mild cramping.”

He sets the paper down fully, staring at the empty chair across from him. His mind churns. She was fine last night at supper. Tired, perhaps, but fine. He pushes back from the table, the chair scraping against the floor.

“I’ll see to her myself,” he tells the maid. “Call for the physician. And have cook prepare those fruit tarts that she favors. Perhaps she might grow an appetite when she sees them.”

The maid nods and hurries away, disappearing down a small corridor while a manservant hurries to fetch the physician. Nanami straightens his cravat, loosening the tie just the slightest before making his way through the manor and to your bedchamber.

He knocks softly on the door, not bothering to wait for permission as he pushes the wood open. And there you are, propped up by pillows on your bed, your hair loose around your shoulders. Fingers picking at the loose thread on the blanket. To the eye it does not look like you have the common cold or flu, but he knew better than to judge by the cover.

“Darling,” he walks over to your bedside. “The maid informed me that you are not feeling your best.” A hand presses against your forehead. No, not warm at all.

“Oh,” you curve into yourself, feeling all of a sudden shy about your husband’s concerns. “Yes, just a little… aching here and there is all, your grace.”

He hums, keeping his hand pressed against your skin a little longer before they tuck a strand of hair behind your ear. “You were waiting for something.” He glances around the room. “What is it?”

“My ladies,” you say quickly. “They pushed for a cold dip in the bath even when I assured them that there was no need for it.”

“Mm, yes, a cold bath does seem good for you,” he turns your head side to side. “It’s been quite hot these days.”

The physician arrives two hours later, greeting Nanami w ith a handshake. He asks you a few questions, you answer quietly, eyes darting to Nanami occasionally. Finally the physician turns to Nanami, asking to speak with him outside.

When the door shuts, the physician speaks, “It is far too early to confirm this, your grace, but your wife is experiencing all of the symptoms of an early stage pregnancy.”

Nanami freezes. Stunned into silence, actually. You’re pregnant? How is that possible? He’s only laid with you twice in the past seven months of your marriage, with a gap of six months in between.

“There is the Chadwick’s Sign method—“

“No,” he holds up a hand, dismissing the elder man. “Thank you, Mr. Dandridge, you may go.”

He stands there in the hallway, accompanied by silence. His throat bobbed. When, he thinks, trying to remember the date. A hand rakes through his blond hair.

He pushes the door open again, seeing you happily eating the tarts from earlier. He crosses the room, lowered himself onto the edge of the bed. The mattress dips under his weight.

He takes your hand. Presses a kiss to your knuckles. “The physician said that you may very well be with child.” There, plain and simple. The soft gasp you let out sends a pang to his chest. Were you happy or angry? Did you want to carry his child? You’re barely an adult, for god’s sake—

“Are you pleased?” you ask softly.

Once again, he’s silenced. Was he pleased? He never expected a child from you. Though, he does not find himself feeling dissatisfied, either. He squeezes your hand.

“Of course I am,” he says, “how could I not be?”

He sees your eyes light up, the shine over them like you were about to cry. No, don’t cry. He doesn’t think he could handle that.

You let go of his hand—leaving him wanting to chase your touch again—crawling over to him and settling yourself on his lap, your arms looped tightly around his neck. A whimper escapes you. He holds you back just as tight, pressing a kiss to the top of your head.

“I…love you.” It was so soft, but he heard it. It’s the first time you’ve said that to him.

“I love you more,” he sighs, can’t help the smile on his face.

He can’t wait to meet another version of you in nine months.

he did not want to be tied down by a loveless union with a prudish girl who'd only serve to make him seem like a villain when he goes out to sate his uncivilized urges. the monotony of spending the rest of his life with one woman didn’t appeal to him as much as enjoying the thrill of chasing skirts would. he even said as much in a drunken stupor the night before his wedding day in a brothel when Lord Price came to retrieve him, which earned a few sniggers and a few mocking apologies for the poor girl who was going to be trapped with him in holy matrimony.

except. all of his reservations come to a screeching halt when he meets you at the altar, this quiet mouse of a lady who seized the raging heart in his chest when you walked down the aisle in pure white. such a bonnie thing who couldn't even look him in the eye after having her mouth ravished by her new husband for the entire church to see.

you kept your head down throughout the entire reception. only spoke when spoken to. shirked away from your husband's touch in a way that made something in him burn with the curiosity of how much he can tease you when your cheeks were flushed so much that you felt hot to the touch. as you and him danced the night away, Johnny suddenly looked forward to the idea of his wedding night.

or rather, he looked forward to ruining you.

only, you didn’t give him the chance. you knew all about the rake long before your father and mother forced you to marry him because he was still from the very powerful and twice as prominent Mactavish clan. you assumed that since he’d made it abundantly clear that he had no intentions of giving up his depraved ways, that he wanted nothing to do with you. so you promptly said goodnight to him when you were finally alone and returned to your chambers without giving him much of a chance to say anything that might disparage you even more than you already were.

These nicknames are the result of a three month survey I conducted using hundreds of primary sources ranging from newspapers to period literature to murder trial testimony. I have been sitting on this research for two years due to several names I was stuck on, but when I mentioned to project in a response to an ask recently I had several people encourage me to just post it as is - so here you go...

Due to the strict social rules of the Regency era, nicknames were very rarely used in the upper classes outside of family and very close friends.

Young, unmarried women would sometimes go by a nickname publicly, but even then the rules of formal address still applied. A young woman of status would be introduced as Miss Betsey Lastname, not just Betsey. The eldest daughter would be introduced as Miss Lastname, whether or not she went by a nickname.

The same rules applied to children of a certain status that went by nicknames. Servants would refer to their young charges as Miss Sally and Master Jemmy - not just Sally and Jemmy.

Adults who went by nicknames outside of close family/friends tended to be servants (free, indentured and enslaved) or members of the lower class. A scullery maid was more likely to be a Fanny than a Frances and a stable boy was more likely to be a Jack than a John.

You do also see men in positions of authority referred to by nicknames in a "man of the people" type way - hence Ben Franklin, Sam Adams, etc.

However, this was also often used in a sarcastic manner by political opposition.

A few notes on the lists below...

Nicknames were often very regionally specific. Names with locations in parentheses were used primarily in those areas, those without locations I've found evidence of use throughout the English-speaking world.

Nicknames are listed in very rough order of popularity, starting with the most popular - (I did not actually count the hundreds of occurrences of each nickname as the sources I used were very hard to quantify, so these are based on my general observations during the project and should not be taken as academic fact.)

A general rule - Y not IE endings unless you are Scottish.

Lizzy not Lizzie, Sophy not Sophie, Charley not Charlie

IE endings were still associated with French names

Women's Names

Amelia - Am(e)y, Emily

Ann - Nancy, Nan, Nanny (northern England), Annie (Scotland)

Bridget - Biddy

Caroline - Car(r)y

Catherine - Kitty, Kate, Cat(e)y (US), Catty (Ireland), Katty (Scotland/Ireland), Katie (Scotland)

Charlotte - [see notes]*

Dorothy - Doll(y)

Eleanor - Nell(y)

Elizabeth - Bets(e)y, Eliza, Betty, Lizzy, Bess(y), Els(e)y/Elsie (Scotland/US) - NOT Beth

Frances - Fanny, Fan, Franny

Henrietta - Harriet, Hetty, Henny

Isabella - Bell(a), Tibby (Northern England/Scotland)

Jane - Jenny, Jessy/Jessie (Scotland)

Louisa/Lucy - Loo/Lou

Margaret - Peggy, Peg, (Maggy, Meggy, Moggy, Madge (Scotland))

Martha - Patty, Matty (northern England/Scotland/Ireland/US), Patsy (southern US)

Mary - Polly, Mally (northern England/Scotland), Molly (Lancashire), Pally (Yorkshire)

Rebecca - Becky, Becca

Sarah - Sally

Sophia - Sophy

Susannah - Susan, Sukey, Susy, Suckey (southern US)

Men's Names

Alexander - Aleck/Alec/Allick/Ellick, Sandy - NOT Alex#

Anthony - Tony

Benjamin - Ben(ny)

Charles - Charley, Charlie (Scotland)

Edward - Ned(dy), Ted(dy) (Ireland)

Francis - Frank(y)

George - Georgey, Geordie (Northern England/Scotland)

Henry - Harry

James - Jem(my), Jamie (Scotland), Jim(my)$

John - Jack(y), Johnny, Jock(ey) (Scotland)

Joseph - Joe(y)

Richard - Dick(y)

Robert - Bob(by), Robb(y/ie) (Scotland), Robin

Samuel - Sam(my)

Thomas - Tom(my)

William - Bill(y), Will(y)