Chapter 2 I won't do it!

Chapter two

Arvinia frowned, unable to deny it. In spite of the fact that she, Arvinia, could never be mistaken for Lavinia by anyone who knew her cousin, they were, in general, very similar in appearance. With only a month separating them in age, they were of the same lofty height-fully five feet, eight inches in their stockinged feet and with a willowy slenderness. In addition, they both had the Augustus family traits of dark hair, brown eyes, and captivating dimples in either cheek. There the resemblance ended, for while Lavinia was a beauty of the first water, Arvinia was keenly aware that she was blessed with only passable good looks. Not that it had ever mattered to her that Lavinia had a marvelously short, straight nose, beguilingly pouty rose-red lips, and strikingly beautiful gold-brown eyes (her own nose was decidedly retroussé, her mouth wide and expressive of a keen appreciation of the absurd, and her eyes more nut-brown than golden), for, indeed, it had not.

The truth was Arvinia had never been one to pay undue attention to how she looked. She had always been much too busy looking after her lovable, but totally erratic, family. There had not even been time for her to do more than experience a slight twinge of regret for having to give up any thought of a come-out in London or anywhere else for that matter. Her mom had died when she was ten, and even if her dearest dad had miraculously emerged from his studies long enough to realize his only daughter was of an age to be brought out, there simply was not the money for it. For as long as Arvinia could remember, her free-thinking parent had dedicated himself to working in his laboratory at home,which allowed him little time for mundane matters. With the result that Hollows, the small family estate in Kent, was reduced to a sorry state of affairs. Thus far, Arvinia's hard work and determination had been all that had kept it from going under the auctioneer's block. And now that it looked as if they might actually make a profit off the sheep and the grain crop, the bill collectors were gathering at her door demanding to be paid or they would take her dad to court. She required only a small sum to hold them at bay long enough to reap the spring harvest, and so she reluctantly had made the forty-mile trip to London to see Lavinia, who was the orphaned daughter and sole offspring of the previous Earl of Beverly, and was used to spending far more than that on mere shopping . She had not expected to be asked to sell her soul for the sum. Nor would she, Arvinia told herself firmly.

"I won't do it, Vinia," she said, squaring her shoulders.

"And most especially not for money. Surely you can see how wrong that would be. You must simply tell Uncle George the truth. Perhaps," she added doubtfully. "he will prove to be more generous than you have previously imagined him to be."

"Really?" queried Lavinia, arching a delicate eyebrow. "If he is so generous, then why don't you ask him for the sum that you need? He is, after all, your uncle, too."

"That is not fair, Vinia, and you know it," Arvinia retaliated. "It is not at all the same thing. Dad and Uncle Charles have not spoken a word to each other since dad married my mom against our grandfather's wishes.

"On the contrary, my dearest cousin Arvinia," Lavinia countered, "that only proves my point. Uncle George will do exactly as Grandfather did. They are cut of the same cloth."

It was true. The old earl, not satisfied with merely writing his youngest son out of his will, had further forbidden that his name ever be spoken again. Lavinia's father, upon inheriting the title, had generously signed Hollows over to his impoverished youngest brother, and Arvinia's uncle, George had never forgiven him for it. When he in turn became earl at the untimely demise of his elder brother in a carriage accident, Uncle George had made it clear he would have taken Hollows back had it not been unentailed property. But as it was, there was nothing he could do about it except refuse to have anything to do with his only remaining sibling or that sibling's ill-begotten offspring, a fact which Lavinia, to her credit, had always considered extremely unjust.

She had, in fact, done everything in her power to help her less fortunate cousin whether she was asked or not, even going so far as to suggest Arvinia and she be brought out together at Lavinia's expense. This, Arvinia had refused to do, saying that accepting a loan or two on occasion was one thing, but allowing her cousin to foot the bill for a new wardrobe and everything that went with a come-out in London was too much by half.

"Oh, Vinia," Arvinia murmured, "you know I love you and would do anything for you. But I cannot do this. Please don't ask me to. Besides, its being unfair to the duke, I am nothing like you. I have never even been to a ball. I know nothing of Town gossip, have never met any of the upper-class, and would not know the first thing about making polite conversation. I would disgrace us both. And even if I would, by some miracle, be able to pull the wool over His Grace's eyes, I have nothing suitable to wear."

"That's not a problem!" Lavinia laughed. "All you have to do is be yourself. You are possessed of a keen wit and unexceptional manners. You would charm the duke without even trying. And just think. You would at least have the chance to see what it is like to be in the company of a gentleman who not only has the distinction of being a hero, but is, besides, the catch of the Marriage Mart. As for something to wear, I have already seen to it that a trunk has been packed with all the gowns and accessories you could possibly require." Lavinia averted her face and added contritely. "I beg you to forget what I said earlier about the money. Naturally, I should never begrudge such a small sum, and I have more gowns than I can possibly take to Portugal. They would only go to waste here. Whether you go in my place to Thornhill or not, I want you to have them and the money you need to save Hollows one more year."