Hi everyone! So this is my first attempt at writing so please bear with me a bit. This chapter is very explanatory but hopefully you'll get the gist of it and enjoy the story as it goes along. I'll try and update semi-regularly as it's summer and I'm hoping to get it finished for the end of summer.

I'd like to thank @winded for making offering and making such a beautiful cover and for @Aphroditess also for the one set as the media for this chapter!

So please comment as much as you can and correct any mistakes I've missed.

(Edited: Due to editing I may have missed out some of the changes I've been making. Please point out any mistakes in the story or names etc. Thank you!)

Thank you and enjoy!

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"Happy Birthday, m'lady."

Lavinia groaned and rolled over to her other side, avoiding the bright morning sunshine cutting across her room. Her hair was tangled around her face and her mouth was parched from hanging open all night. She was seventeen today,and although she had always officially been a lady, she was expected to act like one now.

Lavinia was a very accomplished young lady and had completed finishing school earlier in the spring. Her musical abilities were already widely talked of among her parent's friends and connections and now that she was seventeen, and would soon be beginning her first season as a debutante, she was sure that they would be in high demand. It was with these thoughts of dread that she promised to herself that she would enjoy today. The sun was shining, it was her birthday and she could tease and annoy her brothers all day and they wouldn't be allowed to retaliate.

"Lady Lavinia, you must rise now," Anne insisted as she brought a large box around to the bottom of the bed and set it down on the trunk. Realising that her mother must have ordered her a new dress she sat up quickly and in doing so knocked her elbow on the bedpost. Fighting back the tears she rubbed it quickly while taking a little more care as she got out of bed and sat at her dresser.

Anne picked up the brush and began to smooth out Lavinia's hair. It was her favourite feeling to have her hair brushed and she began to chatter away to Anne. Her maid had been her closest friend since returning from finishing school and they were like sisters.

"Where did the dress come from?" Lavinia asked.

"It arrived only yesterday, apparently it took a long time to make and it looks very expensive. Your mother asked me to hide it in my room and only bring it out this morning but you're not allowed to wear it until the ball tonight." Anne answered, grinning excitedly as she pulled Lavinia's hair into a bun on top of her head.

"May I see it first though?" Lavinia wondered, ready to jump up.

"Of course," Anne replied, taking a step back to avoid being hit by Lavinia's elbow. She laughed a little at Lavinia's request. Lavinia was the lady, not her. She may do whatever she pleased. Her friend and mistress was a little clumsy however. Her first day working for her, Anne had gone to bed with a bruise in the ribs and a bleeding nose as Lavinia had tried to help unpack her clothes and had accidently elbowed her side and dropped the lid of the trunk closed as Anne's head was still in it. She had apologised profusely for her clumsiness and had allowed Anne a sleep in the next day, so Anne had readily forgiven her. She did not have the patience to hold a grudge against anyone, least of all her mistress whom she would see each day. Instead, she had learned how to avoid potential injuries.

Lavinia rushed over to the box and pulled off the lid, letting out an audible gasp as she took it all in. The gorgeous white silk glowed in the morning light and gold lace was intricately embedded in the bodice. The sleeves were shaped down to the elbows and finished with golden lace cuffs. The skirt was simple, the way Lavinia liked it, with the material shimmering all the way to the floor like a resplendent waterfall.

"Isn't it just beautiful?" Anne gushed and she watched with amusement at Lavinia's shocked excitement. Despite her coming from money, Lavinia had never been one to take such luxuries for granted.

Anne's smile dropped however when she saw Lavinia turn with her face all scrunched up.

"Beautiful?" she asked. "It is absolutely stunning!" she exclaimed.

Anne laughed alongside her and then dragged her back to the dresser. "Not until later m'lady. Your mother left me with very strict instructions. You are to enjoy your birthday with your family and spend time with your brothers. Master Charles is taking time off from his studies at Oxford and Master Edward is going to actually leave the study for a few hours."

"Heaven forbid Edward ever leaves his work," Lavinia joked. "He might actually find something fun to do with his life."

Edward, Lavinia's oldest brother, had taken over his father's role as Duke of Chatsworth since their father's death five years earlier. Their father had left the estate in a rather abominable state with several unsuccessful investments and a great unwillingness for change. Edward had spent several years building the estate back up again and putting the land to good use so as to avoid their imminent destitution. However, despite their ongoing jokes at his expense, Edward knew of his family's gratitude for what he had done and, because of this, he worked hard so that no one else had to. He took on the role of father to his younger siblings, provider for his mother and protector of them all.

Anne had prepared Lavinia's clothes and Lavinia began to dress. She had always refused from a young age to be dressed, the maid was only there to tie her up and fix her hair. Lavinia knew she looked plain. Her hair was a dull blonde and her eyes an uninteresting brown. Occasionally she could see herself mildly attractive, but her features were too plain for her to stand out anywhere.

Once ready, Lavinia descended the stairs and entered the dining room. Her brothers stood up and her mother was opening her mail. Charles pulled out her chair next to him and she sat down, grabbing a piece of toast as she did so.

"Lavinia!" her mother snapped at her. "You are now seventeen! You cannot go around acting so unladylike," she scolded.

Lavinia mumbled an apology and waited until her mother looked away. Rolling her eyes and sticking out her tongue at her mother's downturned face made her feel slightly better and her brother choked with laughter on his orange juice beside her. Patting him on the back, she decided to begin her day of teasing. It was a Bradley sibling rule that whoever's birthday it was could tease the others and the others could not retaliate or disagree with her.

"So, dear Edward, how is LG?" She began innocently. It had the desired effect, her mother's head snapped up and Edward glared at her. Charles simply choked again and Lavinia patted him on the back once more.

"Who is this?" their mother demanded.

"No one mother," Edward muttered. LG was, in fact, no one. It was the sibling's codeword for the 'ledger' which Edward spent most of his time with. However, their mother was not part of this secret and Edward could not retaliate nor disagree.

"I am assuming it is not no one if Lavinia has brought her up," she replied. "Who is she and why have you not let me meet her?"

"You have met her mother," Edward dared. He was getting dangerously close to breaking the rule. It worked on his part though. Their mother then spent the next ten minutes thinking through every female acquaintance of theirs who may have the initials LG.

"It is a shame that you have to spend your whole day away from her," Charles joined in. "How awful for you to have to spend a single day with only your family for company. Where are we going today Lavinia? Anywhere nice?"

"You are only glad to be away from your studies at Oxford, Charles," Edward counter-argued before Lavinia could respond. "Not everyone's days are quite so boring as your own."

Charles simply rolled his eyes and continued to spread jam onto his toast, nodding his head to Lavinia for her to answer.

"Well, as I am seventeen now we are going shopping since I am in dire need of a new coat and I no one is ever free to come with me," Lavinia explained, much to her brothers' annoyance. They were always conveniently 'otherwise engaged' whenever she suggested they go shopping and her mother didn't enjoy the venture into town either and so she usually had to wait for a special occasion, such as her birthday, to drag someone with her.

"Lady Gardiner?!" their mother exclaimed. Lavinia and Charles snickered as Edward's face turned a deep red.

"No, mother," he tried to reply calmly. "How would I manage to see her every day? She lives three counties over and I have only met her at the past two seasons. That is hardly enough time for anyone to know someone well enough for any kind of relationship."

Before she had a chance to respond he stood up and stalked out of the room glaring at his younger sister for ruining his day. The two of them were five years apart in age and had never got on very well. Their personalities were too alike with their fiery tempers and their great love for teasing. As he had grown older and taken over the running of the estate after their father's death, Edward and Lavinia had grown apart and Charles had become their advocate several times after their many outbursts. Charles however sided with Edward on one particular account every time. The safety of Lavinia. No matter how frustrated she could become with what she deemed 'over protectiveness' they both did not want to see her hurt and so they often joined forces to help her.

***

The Bradley siblings all met after breakfast outside in the carriage that would take them into Chatsworth town. Edward sat opposite Charles and Lavinia as the carriage pulled away from their drive and the short journey began.

"What's London like in the summer, Charles?" Lavinia asked. Her curiosity had not been satisfied by two short winters in London with her aunt. She had always wanted to see the beautiful city in the shimmering sunlight and filled with finely dressed ladies and gentlemen of the ton.

"It's a horrid city full of barbarous thieves," Charles replied in a pleasant voice causing Lavinia to giggle loudly and slap him on the arm.

"Charlie, you always do know how to tease me," she answered back with a roll of her eyes. "I know fine well that London is a lovely place, I want you to describe what it's like during the summer season."

"You're right, it is a lovely place," Charles conceded. "The buildings are tall and the streets are full. The shops are as boring as they are in Chatsworth but much bigger. The balls are full of dazzling young ladies that are willing to dance with any young bachelor and any young bachelor is willing to choose only the prettiest."

Here, Edward decided to put his brother right. "Looks are not everything in a young gentleman's book," he added. "Intelligence and wit are also important qualities."

"But you don't know that until you've danced with her," Charles argued.

"Therefore you should give every girl a chance and dance with them all," Edward explained his point.

Lavinia had already lost interest in her brothers' argument over what they look for in a girl and watched out the window. The day was a fresh one, the gardens they passed were just beginning to bloom and the spring was just beginning. The day hadn't fully heated up properly yet and Lavinia was glad she had donned her heavier coat.

They arrived in Chatsworth within the half hour and Lavinia jumped out the carriage before her brothers, forgetting her decorum as a now lady of age. She knew her brothers would not tell her off, but she had to start putting all her training into practice if she wanted to keep her reputation clean.

Waiting politely on her brothers to descend from the carriage, Lavinia looked around the small village. The buildings were much smaller to those of the city and there were definitely less people, but Lavinia liked the quaintness of the village. She had grown up here, using any excuse to visit it and it was, and always would be, her home.

"Where would you like to visit first?" Charles asked kindly. He knew this would be long day and that there was no point in being in a mood for it.

Instead of answering, Lavinia simply put her hand around her brother's arm and led them down the street. They passed several small shops with window displays boasting of the latest fashions in London and Paris. Lavinia and Charles shopped for bonnets, earrings and necklaces while Edward wandered off.

In Edward's mind, a lady wasn't a lady until she owned a proper pair of white, silk gloves. Allowing his siblings to walk on ahead of him, Edward held back a little until they entered the bookshop. He knew they would spend at least twenty minutes in there which would give him plenty of time. Slipping back into the dressmaker's, Mrs Dalton was surprised to see him again so soon.

"Has Lady Lavinia forgotten something, sir?" she asked politely, looking around frantically to see if she could spot whatever it could be.

"No, not at all Mrs Dalton" Edward quickly assured her. "I was wondering if you might help me a little."

Mrs Dalton's eyebrows rose in surprise. She had known of Edward for a long time, he often visited with his sister and mother and he had always seemed rather severe and sure of himself.

"As you know it is Lady Lavinia's birthday and I would like to buy her a pair of white, silk gloves for her first ball tonight," Edward explained. He was still sure of himself, Mrs Dalton conceded, but now he was looking for help and he had come to her.

"Of course! Of course," Mrs Dalton exclaimed, dropping the scissors and the ribbon she had been cutting and picking up a catalogue from behind the desk. Edward stepped closer to see a little better.

***

As the Bradley siblings ate some afternoon tea in the café in the Chatsworth Hotel, they began to talk amiably and freely in the absence of their mother. They loved their mother but her tendency to turn every conversation into a lecture or interrogation meant that they often filtered their topics when she was around. After a half minute of silence while they ate Charles began the topic he was most eager to see his sister's reaction to.

"So your season is soon to be upon us, Lavinia," Charles remarked mischievously. "How soon are you expecting to find a husband?"

Lavinia flushed red and threw a glare in his direction which he chose to ignore. "I am not ready to get married yet Charles and you know it. Besides, this is just my first season, it's your third, how long are you going to take?"

"We all know that Edward and I have just been waiting for you to be old enough so that we could look after you out in the oppressing society of the ton," Charles remarked. "I could have been married several times over had I chosen to and Edward...well...he has been far too busy with LG to notice any of the pretty girls around him."

"And you have been far too busy causing trouble with Caleb to act appropriately around any young lady of society," Edward said. "I do wonder how long mother will let you carry on as you do. You really do need to find a wife now that your studies are almost over."

Caleb Alder had become close friends with Charles from their days at Eton. They had both been mischief makers and had certainly made their mark on the school – literally and figuratively. He had visited on several occasions, however Charles had spent more time staying at his manor in London than Caleb had visited Chatsworth House and so, despite being introduced, Lavinia was unsure whether or not she would recognise him if she met him again.

"But where is the fun in that?" Charles exclaimed. "What am I meant to do as an old married man? It is much better to be a bachelor and being able to dance with whomever I please and have very few responsibilities except those I have with my family here than to be tied down to a house, a wife and a profession."

"You chose your profession, brother" Lavinia reminded him. "Mother was determined that you study law and yet you persuaded her to enrol you for medicine. And you will also choose your wife, mother cannot choose for you and you know I will be happy with whomever you choose if she indeed makes you happy."

Charles smiled at his younger sister. "You however," he said, "will be a spinster until Edward and I find someone worthy for your hand in marriage, and since there is no one who is worthy enough in our acquaintance as of yet and it is unlikely for us to find someone who is not fickle in London, you will be a spinster for the rest of your life.

"We will however," he continued on, "consider the companionship of a dog and a horse to keep you company as we cannot have you turn into a lonely old hag."

Glaring once more at her brother she decided to change the subject to the books they had bought and both Charles and Edward joined in wholeheartedly. As the day went on, the Bradley siblings continued to enjoy the pleasures of the village until they had to return home in time to prepare for Lavinia's Birthday Ball.

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So that was the first chapter, please let me know what you think by commenting and voting.

Thank you for reading and I'll upload the second chapter soon!