So I have until Wednesday to complete this book which is a bigger challenge than I had thought but I will definitely try my best.

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Several days passed and Lavinia was ordered to stay in her room the whole time and rest as much as possible. Charles would join her for dinner and ensured that she had everything she needed, but he would not let her out. Her almost fainting at the ball had been widely circulated but they had dampened the rumours of fever and had passed it off as tiredness after a busy few days of a debutantes' first season.

Lavinia was growing mad at being stuck in her room with nothing to do. She was perfectly fine and even the bruise on her cheek was barely visible. The doctor had visited and removed the stitches he had put in her head and declared her fit to walk around, but Charles would not hear of it. Instead, she spent her days playing cards with Anne and having small naps more out of boredom than tiredness.

The second day of unwilling bed rest, Anne opened Lavinia's door with a large grin on her face as she tried to conceal a package behind her back. Lavinia's interest was peaked at this uncharacteristic mischievousness in her maid.

"What is that Anne?" she questioned. "What are you hiding and why are you so happy about it?" Lavinia crawled along to the foot of her bed to get close enough to see what she had.

"Oh, nothing, m'lady," Anne replied as nonchalantly as she could, but the grin remained. "Perhaps just a little something from an admirer..." she hinted her eyebrows raised.

Lavinia's mind was racing. Had Colin ignored Caleb's threats and contacted her anyway? But she had told Anne everything that had happened with Colin the night after the ball so why would she be happy?

"Who?" Lavinia replied, honestly confused.

"Lord Caleb Alder perhaps," Anne gave in. She produced the parcel from behind her back and sat it down on the bed in front of Lavinia before stepping away to avoid her arm that had flown to cover her mouth in surprise. What could Caleb have possibly sent her this time? Was the dress not more than enough? The parcel was wrapped in plain brown paper and it was tied together with string. Under the string was a note which Lavinia pulled out and read out loud to Anne.

Dear Lady Lavinia,

I have heard from your brother that you are confined to your room and are not to be disturbed, so I send you something to keep away the boredom and monotony of a single room and to open up your imagination.

I look forward to hearing your opinions.

Forever yours,

C

Still rather confused at his evasive clue, Lavinia proceeded to tear open the parcel. Three books fell out onto her lap. The top one she recognised instantly, the leather bound pages and the gold embossed front declared it to be 'Sense and Sensibility', written by 'A Lady'. The other two she had never heard of before, but she would read anything Caleb recommended.

Sitting back on her pillows and taking the tea Anne had poured for her, Lavinia picked up where she had left off and read all day.

***

After three days, Charles finally allowed her out of her room and she had her meals with her Aunt in the dining room and after three more days she had finally convinced Charles that she was fully recovered and fit to continue her season properly. He was still cautious, though, of her being out alone and so he accompanied her everywhere she went and tried to make her avoid Judith as he was still angry at her part in his sister getting hurt.

"It is a beautiful day out," their Aunt remarked one morning at breakfast. "You must both spend some time outside today and take in the fresh air."

"I would like that Charles," Lavinia said as she spread butter on her toast.

"We could go to Hyde Park," Charles agreed. "I'll send for Caleb and we can make a day of it." He finished his breakfast and left to organise their outing. Lavinia changed into a plain lilac day dress that had minimal lace and a white ribbon that tied around her waist.

Lavinia waited in the front parlour for Charles to arrive so that they could go. Her heart fluttered at the thought of seeing Caleb again and she was excited to be able to discuss the books he had so kindly lent her. She hadn't mentioned it to Charles, she knew he wouldn't like the idea of his little sister liking his best friend so she kept it quiet.

But did she like him? Had he not ruined her dress and treated her in a patronising way and now he had been spying on her? But she could forgive him of these things. He had changed around her these past few weeks. Looking out for her and helping her and treating her more like a lady than a little girl.

'You are my best friend's sister' came his voice to her mind again. Why could he not see her as anything more?

Wrapped up in these thoughts, she jumped when the door opened and Charles told her he was ready to go. They had decided to walk as the weather was delightful and the park wasn't far. As they walked, Lavinia noticed the road where she had almost been abducted and realised her mistake in following the road and not turning left. She kept the directions in her mind just in case, though she knew Charles would never let her walk home alone again.

"I have a surprise for you," Charles said after they had been walking for a while. Lavinia looked up in surprise at her elder brother, he could never keep surprises for long.

"Really? What is it?" she asked curiously.

"I cannot possibly tell you or else it would not be a surprise," he said teasingly.

Lavinia pinched his arm she was holding and turned her head away in a huff. "Then I shall not speak to you until you tell me," she said.

Charles just chuckled and they kept walking towards the park. They were almost there when he finally spoke again. "The surprise is straight ahead," he told her.

Looking forward again, Lavinia couldn't see anything out of place until they crossed the road. A tall man with dark brown hair dressed in a suit and cravat stood next to the gates of Hyde Park and, when he spotted them, a smile grew across his face.

"Edward!" Lavinia exclaimed in delight when she noticed her older brother and she wrapped her arms around his waist. Despite their relationship being less than hers and Charles', they were still rather close and Lavinia had been missing Edward's way of talking sense into Charles when it came to Lavinia. He would never had made her stay in bed for almost a week.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, rather puzzled. It had been decided that Charles would look after Lavinia during their season as Edward could not leave work and he also had no appetite for London's events.

In reply, Edward simply looked to Charles and Lavinia understood. Charles had clearly written to him and told him about what had happened. Lavinia just rolled her eyes anyway, too happy about seeing Edward and being outside to be angry with Charles. Caleb had been behind Edward when they had met and the four of them entered the park. Edward and Lavinia catching up and Caleb and Charles following them behind.

"How are you Lavinia?" Edward asked. "How are you feeling?"

"I am perfectly recovered," Lavinia assured him. "Charles had me in my room for almost a week so I am simply delighted to be out again."

He chuckled. "It must have scared him a lot," he became serious again. "You need to be more careful, you cannot go around London yourself, especially when you are a young woman who is new to the area."

"I know Edward, I promise not to do it again," she promised. Edward was satisfied that his warning would be enough for her and so they moved onto new conversation. "How are you enjoying London then? I hear you are already a success in securing an outing with a Mr Black?" he hinted.

"London is splendid and the dinners and balls are simply fantastic," she said.

"And Mr Black?" he pushed a little more. Lavinia did not know what to say about him. She would not be seeing him again if she could avoid it but if she told her brothers that they would want to know why.

"We are simply acquaintances," she replied vaguely. "We share a few similar opinions on poetry and art however I believe we have exhausted all our conversation."

"I see, and is there anyone else that you are interested in?"

At this, Lavinia's first thought was Caleb, but pushing down the betraying thought and trying not to blush she simply shook her head. "No, I have not met very many others."

"We can remedy that," Caleb's voice called from behind her and she turned in surprise.

"What do you mean?" she asked, but Caleb simply looked beyond her towards the centre of Hyde Park where several more young gentlemen were sitting on the benches that surrounded the water feature there.

"Thomas!" Caleb called out as they got closer and a tall man with long, messy blonde hair turned at the call of his name.

"Caleb, Charles," he greeted them with a smile and a strong handshake.

"Thomas, may I present Lady Lavinia Bradley, Charles' sister?" Caleb introduced her. "Lady Lavinia, this is Mr Thomas Jackson, the most intelligent law student at Oxford."

Thomas blushed as he took Lavinia's hand. Another gentleman scoffed at Caleb's description of Thomas. "Most intelligent law student? You clearly forgot about me Caleb," a shorter man with a pointy nose commented with a laugh.

"Of course I didn't," Caleb said nonchalantly. "Lady Lavinia, this is Lord Henry Thomson."

Lavinia stretched out her hand again for him to take it. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance," she said politely.

"What are you two doing here anyway?" Charles asked them.

"The country life was not what we wanted after a whole year at Oxford," Henry scoffed. "All the action and everyone interesting is here."

"It's good to see you anyway," Caleb said. "Shall we?"

They began walking around the park. Caleb and Henry, Charles and Edward and Lavinia was left with Thomas.

"How are you enjoying your first season Lady Lavinia?" Thomas began.

"I like it very much, thank you," she replied. "The season's events far outdo anything we could ever have at Chatsworth."

"There is nothing like a London season," he agreed. "I have heard you have been ill however?"

"No, not really. A cold, that is all. Charles insisted on bedrest but I feel perfectly normal again," she smiled back.

"I am glad to hear that," he did sound honestly happy.

"So you study law?" Lavinia confirmed, wanting to hear more about him.

"Indeed I do," Thomas said. "I am in my final year with Henry."

"And what's it like? Oxford?" Lavinia asked. "Charles doesn't talk about it whenever he's on holiday."

"It is a large and imposing place, but full of history and knowledge. The work is difficult but necessary and there are many students like us. The three of us shared a dorm in our first year and we haven't looked back."

"That's lovely," Lavinia commented, she liked the bond of their friendship. It was the kind she had wanted with Colin or Judith but Judith hadn't spoken to her since their day shopping and Colin had clearly wanted something more that she wasn't ready for. "Why did you choose law and not medicine like Charles?"

"Justice is important to me, there are far too many people who are allowed to roam the streets and commit crimes without being punished. I train to keep those who live according to the law, safe. I'm also not very good at biology," he admitted rather sheepishly.

Lavinia laughed a little at his confession. She had never been very good at arithmetic herself with her governess and so she understood why he wouldn't choose a course based on something he wasn't good at.

It was approaching midday and it was at this point that their party gathered again under some trees at the edge of the park on picnic blankets Charles had brought along with a large picnic. Their two guests agreed to join them and the sandwiches and grapes were passed around. Lavinia was again sitting next to Thomas as they ate.

"So what did you do in your spare time at Oxford?" she asked, continuing their conversation.

"There wasn't much free time, but the three of us made a great team for rounders. We were unbeatable for our first two years at least and still difficult to beat today," he said rather proudly.

She could believe it though. Thomas' height would be an advantage for their fielding and her brothers were extraordinarily fast. They had, of course taught her how to play and although they had almost always beat her, she knew she played well compared to most.

"Oh the good old days of rounders," Henry interjected. "How I wish we could play it here. This park would be perfect."

He then proceeded to point out the perfect pitching range and areas to set up posts.

"I brought my bat and ball from Oxford," Thomas suggested. "Why don't we play?"

"But what about the ladies here, Thomas?" Charles said. "We cannot be playing a game while they all walk around the park."

"We can invite them too," Thomas suggested. "That way they can enjoy some entertainment as we enjoy the sport."

Charles thought for a moment before he nodded his head. "A game of rounders it shall be," he agreed and they shook on it.

Invitations were sent out that afternoon for more young gentlemen to play against and the ladies of the ton to watch, two days hence.

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I would have done cricket, but I don't have a clue about the rules of cricket so rounders it is.

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