My brows drew down. “What do you mean why? In what world do you see me getting to do something like that?”
“Well, it’s not safe, is it?” he said matter-of-factly as he handed me a glass of water. “You’re a girl. You could not travel on your own. Who would look out for you?”
“Women are just as capable as men,” I replied, and sipped. “I bet Lady Zenobia could hand you your pride with fencing, and some of her friends, like Miss Sorenson, could probably wipe the floor with you, using just her fists.”
“But you’re not them, Roz,” he noted, the light reflectingoff the clear lenses of his spectacles in a way that hid his true thoughts. “Besides, Auntie Susu and Uncle Lan would be lost if something happened to you.”
My stomach roiled. “And yet, they’re frantically trying to get rid of me and marry me off by the end of the season. An egregious irony, if you ask me. I’d rather take my chances on the Continent. Maybe I could even become a pirate like Anne Bonny or Mary Read. Did you know they both pretended to be men on the high seas?”
“You would make a dreadful pirate. You get seasick, remember?” Ansel pursed his lips, forehead scrunching in thought. “They only want to see you settled. All parents want that for their daughters, especially in theton.You know how this works, Roz.” He refilled my glass from a pitcher before handing it back to me. “What’s really the matter?”
“It’s not fair,” I murmured. “You get to go off on your adventures while I’m stuck here. All because I have a bosom.”
He snorted. “Not really, if we’re being objective.”
“Ouch,” I said in fake outrage, but it wasn’t as though he was wrong about that either. Most of my stays had been tailored with cleverly lined bust enhancers to supplement my distinct lack of curves. I wasn’tflat,but I certainly wasn’t going to win any décolletage contests.
My utter lack of an ample chest, cinched waist, or curvy hips had always been points of insecurity for me, though my self-confidence had blossomed in the past two years with my dear friend Ela at my side. Poppy Landers used to tell me I resembled a tall, shapeless potato and was lucky I had a pretty face.
I was glad she was gone, ousted for trying to ruin Ela’s reputation. Twice! Poppy was a terrible person with an ugly heart…and she was also the reason I didn’t have many friends, outside of Ansel and Blake and, more recently, Ela and Zia. It was hard to trust people when someone had made me feel small for so long. In hindsight, Poppy had done that on purpose—kept me isolated so I would have no one else but her.
Pink blanketed my cousin’s cheeks. “I beg your pardon,” Ansel said. “Not that you don’t havethem,but that they’re not obvious.” When my brows jumped even higher, he released an aggravated noise, going even redder with mortification. “It’s just, you’re hardly buxom, so if you weren’t in a gown, we could be twins.” His cheeks were practically on fire now. “That came out wrong…Oh, sod it. You know how we used to pretend to be each other as children in the schoolroom? You could be me and not a soul would guess.”
Regrettably, I understood. “I’m only teasing you, I remember.”
But as I sighed, the childhood memory of our underhanded switch also inspired a rather brilliant, albeit completely scandalous, idea. One that made my heart thump with illicit excitement, because I stillcouldbe him…with no one the wiser. If a woman like Émilie du Châtelet could do it, why couldn’t I?
Only the real Ansel would know, and he’d be far away on the Continent, having his fun and living his best life. I could be livingmybest life, too.
IfI took his place at Cambridge University as Lord Ansel Chen.
Facing him, I smiled with every ounce of charm I possessed. “Cousin.Cousin.”
He peered at me, dark eyes going wide, and immediately shook his head. “No. Whatever it is you’ve concocted in that devious brain of yours, the answer is no. Iknowthat look.”
“You didn’t even hear what I have to say,” I protested.
“I don’t have to,” he said. “You’ve got mayhem written all over your face.”
I arched a brow. “Fine, then. I’ll just let it slip to Papa and Mama that their precious nephew is taking a secret trip to the Continent.”
“Roz, you wouldn’t!” He looked so betrayed that I felt a rush of guilt, which I squashed immediately. He would have no such compunction if our roles were reversed.
I wrapped my arm around his. “Let me be you, Ansel, just for the term while you’re gone. You know I’ll probably get better marks than you. It’s a win-win. No one will worry about your whereabouts or contact the duke about your absence, and I’ll get my adventure.”
Ansel’s brows crashed together. I could see him considering the merits of the idea, but then his face fell. “We might look alike, Roz, but we’re not identical. People who are aquainted with me willknow.”
My mind raced, mulling over potential options. “What if you switched campuses for this term? I know it’s quite untoward to move between colleges within a university, but you’re almost done anyway. No one would care, especially if the instructioncame with Papa’s ducal seal. How about…Trinity? It’s close enough to St. John’s. And it’s still under the Cambridge University umbrella.”
Ansel shook his head, looking reluctantly impressed. “You are diabolical, cousin.”
“I prefer quick-witted,” I said, hope soaring inside. “So, you’re in?”
He didn’t answer for a beat, but then he nodded. “Fine, but donotget caught, or it will be my hide as well. Roz, I am serious. This could end badly for both of us.”
“I won’t get caught, I promise. No one will suspect a thing!”
Chapter Two
