Lavinia rose to her feet slowly, careful to keep her movements as ladylike as possible. She didn’t want to show him any carelessness while she was feeling so upset. “For your information,” she said, “my sister was raised with governesses.”
“And you weren’t?”
“They were meant to be for both of us, but of course they paid all their attention to her. Why wouldn’t they? She was the pretty one, after all.”
His lips pressed together in a narrow line. He said nothing, but Lavinia had the impression that something she had said had angered him.
“And your father didn’t say anything about that? He never tried to remind them that they had been hired to attend to both of you? Didn’t he know what was happening?”
“He knew,” Lavinia said. “And the answer to your question is that he didn’t care. He had no interest in making sure we were treated equally. I don’t think anyone ever tried to keep it a secret from him that Edwina was the one with a future, with prospects. I believe they told him outright that the sensible thing to do would be to focus all efforts on her, and I think after hearing that, he agreed.
“Our governesses paid the barest amount of attention possible to me. I wasn’t taught what to do at a ball. I wasn’t taught how to charm a gentleman. So it isn’t my fault that I’m not blessed with my sister’s charms. She was instructed in how to be charming. I wasn’t.”
“I see,” the duke said.
“What are you looking at me that way?” Lavinia demanded.
“You’re a bit more spirited than I’d realized,” the duke explained.
“I suppose that isn’t very ladylike either.”
“It isn’t, actually,” he agreed. “But it isinteresting.That’s an attribute you might be able to use to interest a man.”
“You’re saying I should tell gentlemen what’s really on my mind at all times?”
He laughed. “Perhaps not atalltimes,” he said. “I would say there is a time and a place for it. But it’s a matter of knowing when you should behave that way and when you shouldn’t, to be sure.”
“And next you’ll tell me that this was a time I shouldn’t have done it. Is that right?”
“On the contrary,” the duke said. “I thought it was brave of you to speak up as you did, even though I am a duke. Many ladies would have been frightened to speak to me that way. Perhaps most ladies. They would have nodded and saidyes, Your Graceand never bothered to let me know that my assumptions about them were wrong. And I see that my assumptionswerewrong, Lady Lavinia. It’s not through any fault of yours or any flaw in your character that you don’t know how to conduct yourself. You simply weren’t given proper opportunities to learn.”
Lavinia blushed. It wasn’t exactly a compliment, and she couldn’t take it as such. Still, it was the closest she had ever come to having someone tell her that there was nothing wrong with the way she was, and it was a good thing to hear.
“It’s easily remedied, then,” the duke said. “You don’t need to bechanged. You simply need to be taught. And you’re a clever lady, I can tell that about you already. I believe you’ll learn quickly.”
“Then—then you believe there’s a chance I’ll become the right sort of person by the time this party ends?” she asked. “We only have nine more days, after all. Can I really hope to meet someone and fall in love by then? Is it really possible to change so much in such a short time?”
“Anything is possible,” the duke said. “And yes, I believe you can do it. But it won’t all happen tonight. Give me tomorrow to make a plan for you, and meet me back here tomorrow night at the same time. Then we’ll begin to make the changes you need to make and transform you into the sort of lady who might have a chance at finding herself a match over the next few days.”
CHAPTER 13
“You’re late,” Seth said the following evening.
“I apologize, Your Grace.” Lady Lavinia crossed the room and settled into the armchair by the fire. Seth was pleased to see that she had remembered yesterday’s lesson—she wasn’t picking at her gown, and she moved with considerably more grace than she had even one day ago. Seth had to admit that he was rather pleased with the progress she had already made.
Still, her being late was not something he could simply ignore. “Explain where you’ve been, please.”
She looked at him, eyebrows lifted. “Explain where I’ve been?” she repeated. “What are you asking me? Do you mean to imply that I have some duty to present myself here, just because you’ve summoned me? That by not arriving promptly, I’m in violation of some sort of rule?”
“These are etiquette lessons,” he reminded her. “You’d do well to remember that. And what that means is that, among other things, you should demonstrate proper etiquette with me. When you promise to be somewhere, youdohave a duty to present yourself at that place at the promised time. So yes, you should have been here.”
“I’m only five minutes late,” she pointed out.
“It’s not a matter of how late you are. If you truly couldn’t make it at the promised time, your best recourse is to provide me with an explanation. I shall be happy to hear it.”
She sighed. “I was nervous in the halls, Your Grace,” she said. “I was worried I might be caught, and it caused me to move more slowly than I might have.”
“Why were you nervous? Did you see or hear someone?”
