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Lovely. So glad you are still posting, even though you are thinking about the chaperone situation.

I half expected Lavinia to challenge Cedric on his French after learning that he had a French mother and had spent time in France. Her internal reasoning that he might not want to remember those time was a good foil for that - at the moment. But, she should realise that language skills learned at an early age do not disappear, and having bad memories of France would not mean a bad French accent - only that he would not want to talk about his time there.

More soon please.

What a lovely chapter, Chris .

Finding out more about each other, spending time together. Their conversation on the way back was wonderful. You could really tell that they 'get' each other. They've experienced some of the same things, responding in the same way. There is a lovely chemistry simmering between them--just below the surface. And there is a comfort, too, between them.

I'm really enjoying watching their friendship bloom. And I'm curious when others are going to notice that 'something' is there betwen them .

Excited for more!
Laura

You're back, yay! I was waiting eagerly for an update
Those two are so cute together I'm a bit sad their trip is already finished...
I have a question (it's been a few chapters actually): when Lavinia goes horse riding, does she wear some kind of trousers, or does she ride side-saddle?
Maybe it's a weird enquiry, but I'm having a hard time imagining her on a mount, and since you've shown such a great attention to historic accuracy so far...

Thank you! Yes, I'm planning to post all that I have of this story, which includes an epilogue and then go back to add the chaperone to the earlier chapters you've already read. She'll be added in, where appropriate, from part 21 onwards. Hope that won't confuse anyone. :-)
I love these discussions and hearing other people's insights! You see, to me, I would think she'd wonder why Cedric's French isn't better when he's had a French man servant all this time. Of course, we have to remember that in the story she's only really starting to get to know Cedric. He was away most of the first two weeks of her stay at Kentham.
But, for Cedric's awkward French I took as my model my husband who was born in the Netherlands, then learned English by immersion in Canada after his parents moved there when Bob was not quite 6. He grew up in the U.S. with Dutch parents who spoke half Dutch/half English at home, but his own Dutch is rather like the level of French that Cedric displays to the world. Bob's older relatives tease him for his "American" accent and when he writes to his aunt in The Hague, he has to use a Dutch dictionary. I'm sure that if he could spend a year in The Netherlands it would come back to him because it was his first language. To hear him speak English, though, you would never know that he wasn't born here. There is no trace of a foreign accent. So I felt that since Cedric was in France less than a year and then was raised in England, it was believable that he would have remained at about the level of a beginning speaker.
Thank you for starting this discussion! :-)

Thank you! :-)
Yes! Those are the very things that I loved in the show, too, and what I never tire of thinking and writing about. :-)
Ah, yes ... Jacques has noticed it--in Cedric anyway. Now that the Earl is out of the way there will be more opportunities for them to be together so, who knows! ;-)

:-) That made my day!
Not weird ... it's a good question. Yes, she is definitely riding sidesaddle. If you recall the opening sequence with the robbers, they pick her up and tie her to Horace's saddle which is later referred to as, "the unfamiliar men's saddle". Later, when the Earl has invited her to ride with him again, she goes upstairs to change into her "riding habit" which is what they used to call the long skirt, the form-fitting jacket, and hat (sometimes this included a veil) that women wore to go riding. I can only imagine how awkward that must have been, but I guess it's all in what you're used to. Thanks again! :-)