“Very well,” Lavinia said. “But don’t think I’ll forget! I want to hear about this gentleman.”
“And I’m sure you shall.” Edwina reached up and knocked at the door, putting an end to their conversation.
A footman answered her knock and showed the two of them into the sitting room. Lavinia received an unpleasant surprise. She’d hoped that Seth would be there along with his mother, but the dowager duchess was alone, and she fixed Lavinia with apenetrating stare that told her she was unafraid to disapprove of her son’s choice.
“So,” she said. “Lady Lavinia. Here you are.”
“Yes, Your Grace,” Lavinia said. “Thank you so much for having me here today.”
“I suppose you must be very proud of yourself.”
“Proud, Your Grace?”
“Everyone knows my son was hesitant to marry,” the dowager explained. “Somehow, you managed to persuade him to change his mind. When no one else could talk him into it, you were able to do so.”
“I assure you, Your Grace, I never had any intention of talking him into anything,” Lavinia said. “I care for him very deeply, and I imagine he could tell that I felt that way. That’s all it is.”
“I’ve heard a great deal about you from my friends,” the dowager said with a frown. “Everyone talks about what an odd young lady you are. Everyone says you don’t quite know how to conduct yourself in public. What do you say to that?”
“It’s never been my greatest skill,” Lavinia agreed.
“If you’re to be a duchess, it’s a skill you’ll need to have,” the dowager lectured her sternly. “It may have been all right for you to say to yourself in your life thus far that conducting yourself in public simply wasn’t something you were very good at, but if you marry my son, that will be very different.
“You willhaveto be good at it. You’ll have to know how to make a good impression on the people around you, and you’ll have to know how to convince people to like and respect you. If you can’t do those things, I’m afraid you won’t make a very good duchess. What do you say to that?”
“Well…” Lavinia faltered for a moment. “I’ve spent a fair bit of time with your son,” she said after a moment. “I think I’ve done a good job absorbing the lessons he has given me.”
“Lessons?”
“Well, not lessons as such,” Lavinia amended quickly. She could hardly express to the dowager duchess that she had been meeting Seth in secret, after all. “But he’s helped me to see things I can do—little ways I can alter my conduct in public so that I’ll fit in more easily with theton.”
“That’s not the kind of thing a lady can learn in the course of a few weeks or months,” the dowager sniffed. “It takes a lifetime. I don’t mean to blame you for the way you are, Lady Lavinia, but you haven’t had a mother to guide you.”
“We may not have had our mother, but we’ve had a perfectly good upbringing all the same,” Edwina said rather hotly.
The dowager glanced at her and then returned her attention to Lavinia. “I’m sure you’re a sweet young lady, Lady Lavinia, and it’s clear that my son has been charmed by you. But all the same, I have to think about what’s best for the dukedom. I have to think about who our new duchess is going to be. My son, for all his virtues, has no experience at making a choice like that.”
“And you think he’s chosen poorly,” Lavinia realized.
“I think he’s made his choice too quickly. He’s followed his heart instead of being sensible, and I can’t bring myself to accept that it’s the right thing for the dukedom or his father’s legacy.”
“I suppose I’ll just have to convince you,” Lavinia murmured.
“My sister will make a wonderful duchess,” Edwina said firmly.
The dowager frowned. “I admire your loyalty to your sister, of course,” she assured Edwina. “But that doesn’t mean it can’t be misplaced.”
“Your doubt may also be misplaced,” Lavinia said. “I might surprise you.”
“Well, I certainly hope you do.”
“We thought the duke was going to be here today,” Edwina said. “Isn’t he coming?”
“Edwina,” Lavinia admonished, but secretly she was grateful to her sister for asking the question—she wouldn’t have felt able to question the dowager duchess so directly while she was trying to make sure she appeared polite and perfectly behaved.
She had never in her life been more mindful of her hands, trying to make sure she didn’t fidget at all even though she was unbearably nervous. She couldn’t afford to be anything less than perfect today.
“As it happens, you’re right,” a voice from the doorway spoke up, and Lavinia’s heart leapt. She would have known that voice anywhere—it was Seth.
