No, no, no, Lavinia! Rule #1 for young maidens is that thou shall not visit a young man's rooms.
I know, I know! <bg>
So, I'm reminded of a scene from
Frederica by Georgette Heyer. The two main characters are talking about propriety and when does a female get past a "marriageable age".
Frederica: "I daresay you never gave it a thought."
Alverstoke: "No, I didn't!"
Frederica (wistfully): "Why should you? Gentlemen aren't troubled with chaperones."
Alverstoke: "I assure you, I have frequently been troubled by them!"
LOL! Writers are frequently troubled by them, also!
Okay, so kidding aside, I was really hoping to not have to deal with a duenna character. Trying to keep my cast as small as possible, I was thinking that since 1. Lavinia and her father are emigres who have fled their home with little more than what they could carry, and 2. her father is with her (as is her maid), then I'd be able to get away with it. Perhaps if I had made it clear that Lavinia isn't an 18-year old ingenue, but a young woman of about 23-24? Yeah, I know. :-|
<sigh> I did have some ideas for the chaperone character, and ways to make her be a bit of comic relief but she was dragging the pace of the story so she got axed between drafts #1 & #2. However, your suggestion is well taken. I will give it more thought. Maybe, now that the rest of the story is at about draft #8, I'll be able to just fit her in here and there and not affect the overall pacing.
Thanks!
Wonderful progress and it can only be explained that Lucius failed her as a suitor.
Oh, yes. I definitely did not want to drag out the will she/won't she with Lucius! While Lavinia (and the readers) don't yet know the full extent of his wickedness, I wanted her to be smart enough to go with her instincts about him
before she learns his full history.
