“Bridgerton” team teases the future of Violet and Marcus' sweet romance

"I love what a slow burn it is," showrunner Jess Brownell tells EW.

WARNING: This article contains spoilers from Bridgerton season 3.

Romance isn't only for the youths!

On season 3 of Bridgerton, Lady Violet Bridgerton (Ruth Gemmell), ever-patient and loving mother to seven children, got the beginnings of her own love story. When Lady Danbury's brother, Lord Marcus Anderson (Daniel Francis) arrives in town for the season, he's immediately drawn to Violet and the two begin flirting at various balls and gatherings.

"She catches his eye immediately," says Francis. "There's an immediate spark of attraction and intrigue there. Her grace, her elegance, and also the fact that she isn't behaving in the same manner as many of the matriarchs in the ton, or the widows looking for a new husband. She doesn't come across with that energy at all, and so that's intriguing. We've seen Lady Bridgerton for essentially three seasons, and we see how loving and how generous she is. She's an adorable character. So he gets that sense of her pretty immediately, and he's drawn in."

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For Violet, however, it's a bit more of a gradual approach — at first, she merely appreciates the opportunity for a bit of light flirtation and doesn't think seriously about it. "She's enjoying flirting," says Gemmell. "That's the initial thing. Where her interest is peaked is when they have a conversation in one ball where he talks about family and he talks about his own children. He talks about the loss of his wife. There is a mutual understanding. Family means everything to Violet, so she's intrigued. There's something about a meeting of minds, and a meeting of minds in two mature people, as opposed to the first flushes of something, that intrigues her."

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Eventually, Marcus comes to her home and asks Violet if she would be open to exploring something with him. She is — but she feels she must get her affairs in order first, most particularly Francesca's (Hannah Dodd) marriage to John (Victor Alli) and the seeming rift in Penelope (Nicola Coughlan) and Colin's (Luke Newton) marriage.

There is also the fact that Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh) offers Marcus a chilly reception and seems dead set against him courting Violet, even accusing him of taking everything from her. "Marcus is oblivious as to why his sister is so frosty," explains Anderson. Eventually, Agatha reveals that she still resents her brother for preventing her from escaping her horrible marriage when she was trying to run away. Adds Anderson: "He doesn't fully understand what Agatha endured. He was a child when she left. If we think about how difficult it is, even now as grown ups, to be able to put ourselves into other people's shoes — a young a boy seeing his sister whisked away, in what was custom at the time, would have no comprehension of what it really meant."

But by the time of the Featherington ball, all ends well. Agatha forgives her brother and all the Bridgertons' marriage woes are resolved for the time being. Agatha even gives Violet her blessing to pursue a relationship with her brother (though Violet vows that she will always choose Agatha over a man).

Gemmell says this assent from Agatha is essential to the romance having any chance of continuing. "She means it when she says no man will ever come between us," she notes. "She absolutely means that. Whatever road this takes, Violet will be tentative because her children and her friendships mean the world to her. Those friendships have got her through the worst times of her life. She's just enjoying feeling alive. That's what she's doing."

For Francis' part, he doesn't see the fact that Violet is Agatha's best friend as an obstacle, but he believes Marcus does welcome his sister's approval. "Having Lady Danbury's blessing is definitely important to him," he reflects. "He hasn't just come down to find love, he has come down for her as well."

But with Agatha's approval secured, Violet and Marcus share a dance at the Featherington ball. For Gemmell, it was an opportunity to finally learn to dance after standing on the sidelines of the party scenes for two seasons. "I've been hankering to do that," she says. "I thought I had it down quite well and then on the actual take, I f---ed up quite royally. I thought it was a rehearsal, and I got it wrong so I started messing about, but they've cut it quite neatly, thankfully."

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Mistakes in choreography aside, we're left to wonder — will this relationship continue to blossom? Both Gemmell and Francis say they don't know, noting that "we'll have to wait and see." And Gemmell is definitely eager to avoid any of the spicier scenes her costars have filmed. "Ruth would like to skip that, thank you," she quips. "I might show an ankle here or there."

But showrunner Jess Brownell promises that there's more in store for this sweet romance. "I love that relationship," she says. "I love what a slow burn it is. For Violet, who hasn't dipped her toes in the dating pool for so long, she needs a very slow burn."

Bridgerton season 3 is now streaming on Netflix.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.