[Previously: Lavinia and Cedric have finally spent some quality time together--conversing, sharing a bit of teasing and a short dance. While Cedric knows, and has known for a while, that he's attracted to Lavinia, she hadn't yet seen enough of him to have formed an opinion. Although, there had been moments when she'd felt an unconscious response to his presence, there had been no way for her to evaluate this because of his extended absence on the business of the Earl's estate. Does she have enough information now to help her form an opinion?]

*

The next morning Lavinia breakfasted in her room. She had much to think about and craved solitude in which to do it. Cedric's smiles and Cedric's laughter had managed to intrude upon her dreams of the Avenger with much more ease than had all of Lucius' splendour, wealth, or attentions. So she felt it incumbent upon her to try and sort out her feelings for all three men.

It had been simple enough to return to the party without the Earl learning of her tête-à-tête in Cedric's office; she had merely to sit talking in one of the salons with a couple of his elderly guests until he came in search of her, thereby making it seem as if it were there, and not elsewhere, that she'd spent the intervening time. Just why she'd felt it necessary to hoodwink him in this manner, she couldn't have said. Perhaps it had had something to do with her memory of the time in the stable yard a week earlier. Whatever the cause, she'd done it without qualm, or regret.

Propped up in bed with her hot chocolate, toast and boiled egg, Lavinia pondered her situation and wondered how it would all end. The Masked Avenger still held a place in her heart, of that she was certain. He'd saved her life and been exceedingly kind to both her father and herself--she could never forget that. She had felt amazingly drawn to him, and yet ... she'd come to realize that he was surely unattainable. Given the work he had chosen, he couldn't have a normal family life, nor was he likely to have one anytime soon. She couldn't see herself becoming Madame Masked Avenger, with a couple of petite Masked Avengerettes running about the house. The very thought of it made her want to giggle.

She supposed there was always a chance that he could come out of hiding, although that was far from a certainty. She was grateful to him, but more and more her daydreams about him seemed to be nothing more than that ... dreams. Not once, in the two weeks since her arrival at Kentham, had he tried to contact her.

Perhaps he was always as gallant with the ladies he saved as he had been with her, which made her wish she'd never given into that impulse to toss her handkerchief to him. If he'd truly cared for her, surely he would have found a way to visit her, or at least write to her. But he hadn't and she wasn't at all sure she now wanted him to, which made her rather sad. It was as if a door had been shut and bolted before she'd had a chance to discover what was on the other side. She had to admit, however, that she wasn't as sad now as she might have been a week ago, and she also suspected that she knew why. Her highwayman had been supplanted, not by the rich and magnificent Earl of Kentham, but by his poor, hard-working nephew, and there she stopped ... stunned.

Just how serious were her feelings for the Honourable Cedric Laneworth? And, what did she want to do about them?


*

Disappointed not to see Lavinia over the breakfast cups, Lucius was yet indulgent, knowing full well that ladies often needed a morning to recoup their strength after an evening of dancing. He'd always prided himself on his forbearance in such matters with the weaker sex.

He'd been perturbed last evening when Lavinia had failed to return as promptly as she'd promised after having her gown repaired. But she'd smiled so graciously upon him when he'd found her chatting with Lady Eliza and Mr. and Mrs. Eklington, that he couldn't bring himself to be angry with her. In a way he was even pleased with her, since it demonstrated that she could get along well with the local people--it would stand her in good stead once she was his Countess.

She'd granted him the second dance his ego craved and she'd seemed to positively glow: her eyes shining even more than before, her laughter even more lilting, and he was pleased to think that he could evoke such a response from her. He was not to know that her blushes and her sparkle were in memory of a secret dance, and a more welcomed handclasp than his own. He'd gone to his bed confident of her feelings for him.

He and the professor were the only members of the household at the board that morning--Cedric had sent his apologies, saying the long trip home had tired him and brought on one of his headaches. Professor Le Mersurer expressed his sorrow that so young a man as Cedric should suffer from such dreadful headaches, but Lucius waved aside his concern saying offhandedly that he understood his nephew had been sickly from childhood, assured him that rooms were being prepared for that afternoon's arrival of Lord and Lady Fordney, then politely inquired about his guest's plans for the day.


[I know this is a rather short post, but it closes out the dinner party and serves to introduce the next phase of the story. There will be two parts next time. :-)]