First Season

Chapter 13

As promised, here's the next chapter...enjoy!

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Lavinia couldn't sleep that night. Her stomach was roiling at the prospect of playing rounders in front of so many members of the ton. She knew that so much relied on the way she played and that she had never played against anyone other than her brothers. As dawn approached she managed to slip into a frenzied sleep full of dreams and ideas of what would happen during the game.

"Good morning, m'lady," Anne said as she entered Lavinia's room. "Is everything alright?" she was immediately concerned at Lavinia's appearance. Her hair was almost frizzy from all the tossing and turning and her eyes were framed with heavy black bags. Lavinia had managed changing for bed herself the night before therefore Anne was unaware of her involvement in the game of rounders.

"Oh, Anne," Lavinia whimpered, finally succumbing fully to her fears. Anne immediately joined her on the bed and wrapped her arms around her.

"Whatever is the matter?" she asked.

"I am to play with my brothers today," Lavinia explained.

"But how?" Anne gasped. "You can play extremely well but it is inappropriate for a lady to take part in sports, especially not in front of society."

As Anne helped Lavinia get dressed in a simple calico day dress, Lavinia described what had happened the night before. Anne was outraged.

"Who could have done this to you?" she demanded to know, until the answer came to her.

"Judith." she hissed the word with such menace that Lavinia pulled back a little.

"What? No, Judith wouldn't do this to me, she's my friend," Lavinia defended.

"What kind of friend allows a young lady to walk home alone? What kind of friend allows her aunt to give her friend an ultimatum to ruin her reputation? This is Judith's fault," Anne concluded.

Lavinia thought back to her and Judith's conversations throughout the season so far. She had certainly changed from the childhood friend she had always known and looked up to. She had become fixated on Caleb and had looked at her in betrayal when Lavinia had mentioned him. She had also encouraged Lavinia's outing and friendship with Mr Colin Black who had turned out rather badly and then, like Anne had mentioned, she had allowed her to walk home alone and could possibly have been the cause of her new challenge - a game of rounders in front of everyone. Anne was right, Judith was not acting like a friend to her, she was acting like a rival.

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Caleb stood next to Lavinia on the 'pitch' that Thomas and Henry had set out earlier that morning as she anxiously knotted her hands. He desperately wanted to reach out and wrap them in his to offer her support but he knew there was nothing he could do without damaging her more. So he simply stood by her, trying to block her from the view of as much of the ton as he could and intervene whenever her brothers tried to put her near Colin.

They had both agreed not to tell them as they knew they would be angry, however now, Caleb wasn't sure that it had been the best idea. Lavinia hadn't been on any more outings to Caleb's knowledge and so her brothers still thought of Colin as a suitor for their sister. He could only hope that they would see that their attachment was now non-existent and leave them be. But until that time, Caleb would do whatever he could to protect her.

The teams were instructed to line up in the centre of the field, facing each other, as the captains of each team would flip a coin to see who started in which position. As they walked, Caleb spotted several debutantes that he recognised whispering behind fans and pointing. Disgusted, he looked away and focused more on the team in front of them.