“No, I don’t have the slightest idea,” Lavinia said.
“It hardly seems fair,” Edwina objected. “After all, you were supposed to have the length of this party to figure it out, weren’t you? You were supposed to have all this time to make your decision. It wasn’tmuchtime, to be sure, but Father promised you this last chance. Now he says he’s had another plan all along, and you don’t even know what it is. Aren’t you angry?”
“I should be, I think,” Lavinia said. “But it’s hard to feel any anger toward Father about this.”
“Well, I don’t see why. I think I would be furious with him if it was me! He’s hardly given you any time as it is.”
“I don’t know,” Lavinia said. “It’s just hard to imagine it actually happening. I know he’s making a plan, and I know that eventually I’ll find out what it is, but until that happens, what can I do? What power do I have over any of this?”
“You were promised twelve days,” Edwina reminded her. “That means you have ten days left. Don’t forget that. Just because Father has another plan, that doesn’t mean that your ten days are gone.”
“I think it does mean that,” Lavinia said. “I think that if this is what Father really wants, there won’t be anything I can do about it. I could go to him tomorrow with the name of the gentleman I wished to marry and I don’t think it would make any difference.”
“Perhaps not,” Edwina said slowly. “But perhaps it would, Lavinia. I don’t think you ought to give up so easily. If you found a really good man, someone he couldn’t possibly say no to, then he would have to consider your choice.”
“So now I have ten days not only to find a gentleman I wish to marry and who wishes to marry me, but who is in possession of qualities that will impress Father more than those of whatever gentleman he has already selected? Surely you see how this is beginning to be an impossible task, Edwina.”
“And yet you’re not angry with him!”
“Resigned, I think,” Lavinia said. “But also…Edwina, Father was right. Therewassomething different about today.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know,” Lavinia admitted. She hesitated, on the verge of telling her sister everything—but she couldn’t do it. She wasn’t sure how to explain the attention the duke had paid her so far.
If Edwina were to hear about it, she would probably think the duke had some sort of romantic interest in Lavinia, and nothing could be further from the truth. Lavinia didn’t think he even liked her much. She didn’t want to spend the next ten days with her sister nagging her to see whether anything had developed between herself and a gentleman for whom she knew she was nothing more than a passing interest.
She didn’t want the marriage her father was trying to arrange for her, it was true—but she did want his approval, and that was something she could get. She didn’t want to find herself locked into a marriage she hatedandwith the disapproval of her father. At least she had the chance to get something she wanted out of all this.
Edwina was still waiting for an answer. “I found today easier,” she said. “I found myself able to talk to gentlemen. It wasn’t that I didn’t feel awkward, exactly, because I did—but I also felt as if I could handle my feelings of awkwardness. It doesn’t exactly surprise me to know that Father felt I did a better job today than I have in the past. I could feel that too.”
“Well, whatever you did to make today different, you’ll have to make sure to do it again,” Edwina said encouragingly. “And if you do, Lavinia—you never know. It might not be too late at all. You might be able to find someone you want to marry, rather than giving in to our father’s plans for you.”
“You seem as if you don’t want me to do what he wishes.”
“You’re my sister, Lavinia,” Edwina told her earnestly. “You know I love you more than anything. I want you to be happy, that’s all. And I don’t think Father’s wishes are quite the same. Not that he wants you to be unhappy, of course—it’s just that I think he’ll be satisfied as long as you have a husband, and I think you want something more.”
“I’d like to fall in love,” Lavinia admitted quietly. “If I’m going to go through with all this, I’d like it to be with someone I love. That’s the only way I would ever choose it for myself.”
“Well, why can’t that happen?” Edwina asked her.
“You’re very optimistic,” Lavinia smiled. “I’ve always liked that about you, Edwina. But in only ten days? It doesn’t seem possible to me.”
“I think you’re giving up because you’ve discovered that Father has other plans,” Edwina said. “And I don’t think you should, Lavinia. I think you should keep fighting for the future you dream of. I’d hate to see you lose it. I know it seems unlikely, but you do still have those ten days. Don’t give up. Not until those days are gone.”
Lavinia drew a deep breath and released it slowly. She would have liked very much to believe that her sister was right, and that there was still a chance for her to find love.
Her father wanted her to keep doing what she had done today. What she had done today was listen to the duke’s advice.
But there wasn’t much to that advice.Wear green and be confident. It wasn’t the kind of thing a person could do all the time. And eventually, society would grow accustomed to seeing both her newfound confidence—such as it was—and the color green, and both would cease to make any sort of impression on anyone. Today had been a good day—it was true—but she couldn’t count on that experience carrying forward into the future.
For the first time, it occurred to her that it would be a good thing to get more advice from the duke. He clearly knew a lot about how people ought to conduct themselves in society to have the effect they desired. He was someone who would be able to help her.
But their score was settled. She couldn’t ask him for anything more than he’d already done. Or could she?
CHAPTER 7
“Your Grace, may I have a moment of your time?”
