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The Grand Deception

The Grand Deception

C.Blessing

5.0
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58
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In the time when marriage is formed by alliance. The Duke of Alfreton, a man of power and prestige, was bound by obligation to marry Lady Lavinia,who was betrothed to him when she was ten years old. Yet beneath the veil of courtly expectations and responsibility, Lavinia's heart belonged to another-a love so fierce that she is ready to undergo any suffering in order to be with the man of her heart. Married secretly to Bernard, Lavinia's cousin, the strong and simple Lady Arvinia, found herself ensnared in a web of deceit. Forced to take Lavinia's place, until she is found. She must navigate a world of deception and intrigue, where she constantly lives in fear of being discovered by the duke of Alfreton. But as she goes deep into the deception, so too does an unexpected connection between Arvinia and the formidable duke grows deeper-one that threatens to expose the truth, ruin reputations, and awaken desires neither of them planned for.

Chapter 1 Keeping him dangling

Chapter one

"Lavinia Augustus! You cannot be serious!" exclaimed Arvinia Augustus, staring in open disbelief at the shiny gold ring emblem with the crest of Horatio's; her cousin was holding out to her in the palm of one hand.

"I can't wear that. You know as well as I that the golden ring is a token of your betrothal to Alexander."

"Yes, I know," retorted Lavinia. "And that when it is joined with its twin, which even now adorns the Duke of Alfreton's hand, it will serve as my wedding band," she added in the tone of one reciting a litany. "It would be strange if I did not know."

"Well?" Arvinia questioned, as though she had proved her point. Then, when her cousin showed no sign of relinquishing her outrageous idea, she added, "Faith, Vinia!" Arvinia paced a step and came back. "Alexander believes you are going to marry him! Which means he undoubtedly wishes to take you to Thornhill so that he can make all the arrangements, publish the banns, present you to his family all the things that a beautiful wedding entails. And you want me to go in your place? Good Lord, whatever can you be thinking?"

"Oh, really, Arvinia," Lavinia retorted, as if the request she had just made of her cousin were quite unexceptional.

"There's no need to make more of this than it is. I just want to borrow you for a little while. Is it really so much to ask? Have I ever refused you anything when you needed it? Have I ever asked for anything in return?"

"No," Arvinia admitted reluctantly, though she could think of more than a few times when Lavinia had used that same argument to cajole her participation in a scheme that had subsequently landed them both in trouble. "But-"

"There, you see?" Lavinia interrupted with an air of triumph. "The fact that I mention such things now only demonstrates the extremities of my situation. My future happiness depends on you, Arvinia."

Arvinia threw up her hands in exasperation.

"Now you are roasting me," she protested, rolling her eyes ceilingward. "For God sake Lavinia, why do you not simply tell Alexander the truth?"

"Because," Lavinia replied in the tone of one explaining the obvious, "I do not gain control of Grandma's trust until my twentieth birthday, which is only three weeks away. Until then, I cannot afford to alienate Uncle George's affections. Or had you forgotten he is my guardian? If he found out Bernard and I were married by special license three months ago, he would not hesitate to have the marriage annulled. And, worse, he would exile me to some dreadful place, like he did to Aunt Clara in Hereford, and refuse to let me see Bernard until the poor dear was already on his way to Portugal. Then it might be months, even years, before we could be together again. No, Arvinia, I do not intend to let anything stop me from following Bernard and his comrade when the time comes."

"One shudders at the thought," agreed Arvinia dryly, marveling that anyone, let alone her cousin, whose closest concept of suffering hardship was having her luncheon interrupted by a rain shower, could see anything even remotely desirable in bivouacking with the king's army in foreign places.

Lavinia's eyes sparkled dangerously. "Oh, you may scoff if you wish. But I assure you I am quite serious about this.Oh, do you not see?" she added, a tinge of colour invading her cheeks.

"It is all Uncle George's fault that I am reduced to such a ploy. If he had not unaccountably taken my dearest Bernard in dislike and, furthermore, betrothed me to Alexander when I was a child, none of this would be necessary. As it is, I have no choice but to make it seem as though I have obediently agreed to wed Alexander. When the truth finally comes out, I shall have my competence, and twenty-four hours after that, I shall be with Bernard on the ship to Lisbon."

Lavinia grasped Arvinia's hands earnestly in her own. "I'm only asking you to keep the duke dangling for three weeks, Vinia. That is all the time I need. Then all you have to do is tell Alexander that you have decided you do not suit after all. I shall give you the money you need to save your beloved Hollows, and you need never see the Duke of Alfreton again. You see, it is all very simple."

"Simple!" Arvinia gasped, jerking her hands free as if they had been scorched. "It is despicable. You have a very odd notion of my character if you think I should accept money for such a thing. Why, we should both be beneath reproach. And even if what you propose were not utterly unacceptable, Lavinia, we cannot possibly get away with it."

"I don't see why not," Lavinia demurred with a shrug. "Uncle George and Aunt Alice are gone to Brighton for the waters and know nothing of Alexander's return. They have left me in Aunt Lucia's charge. She, at least, would never dream of putting an obstacle in the way of my happiness."

"Oh, I don't doubt that for a moment," Arvinia retorted acerbically. Lavinia's Aunt Lucia was an irrepressible romantic.

"Well then." Lavinia shrugged, glancing at the mantel clock for perhaps the dozenth time since Arvinia had arrived. "I hardly see where we can fail."

"Well, there is the duke," Arvinia suggested sardonically,gazing at her reflection next to Lavinia's in a great wall mirror. She could not but notice that her cousin's teal blue walking dress and the matching capote perched jauntily atop lustrous brown curls made her own worn and outmoded brown serge carriage dress and hurriedly refurbished beaver with the flimsy feather look even dowdier than usual. "Somehow I cannot think he would ever take plain Arvinia Augustus for Lavinia, London's newest Reigning Beauty."

"I wish you would not belittle yourself, Arvinia. You are anything but plain," Lavinia insisted. "And as far as the duke is concerned, I hardly think he will be a problem. I was only ten, after all, when he saw me last, and you must admit that any description he has of me might just as easily fit you."

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Chapters
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The Grand Deception
1

Chapter 1 Keeping him dangling

09/02/2025

2

Chapter 2 I won't do it!

09/02/2025

3

Chapter 3 Mark my words, Lavinia will be ruined

09/02/2025

4

Chapter 4 I believe His Grace is waiting

09/02/2025

5

Chapter 5 Sorry to disappoint you

09/02/2025

6

Chapter 6 I am not honest at all

09/02/2025

7

Chapter 7 He is more than I expected

13/02/2025

8

Chapter 8 A title and fortune,a powerful inducement

13/02/2025

9

Chapter 9 A man sick bed is no for a refined lady

17/02/2025

10

Chapter 10 You are an extraordinary woman!

17/02/2025

11

Chapter 11 The unexpected visitor

17/03/2025

12

Chapter 12 The sweet ecstasy of his kiss

18/03/2025

13

Chapter 13 Uninvited guest

19/03/2025

14

Chapter 14 The thrill of the wedding

20/03/2025

15

Chapter 15 A terrible actress

21/03/2025

16

Chapter 16 Give it your best shot!

22/03/2025

17

Chapter 17 Love game

23/03/2025

18

Chapter 18 Are you jealous

24/03/2025

19

Chapter 19 Turning the tides against her

26/03/2025

20

Chapter 20 Absolutely breathtaking!

27/03/2025

21

Chapter 21 A beautiful counter attack

28/03/2025

22

Chapter 22 Sowing the seed of doubt.

29/03/2025

23

Chapter 23 A petty attack, a foolish conversation

30/03/2025

24

Chapter 24 The sweetness of victory

31/03/2025

25

Chapter 25 The uninvited guest

01/04/2025

26

Chapter 26 Exposing the forgery

02/04/2025

27

Chapter 27 Missing him more than she thought

03/04/2025

28

Chapter 28 Dealing with fools like her

04/04/2025

29

Chapter 29 Unnerving the enemies

05/04/2025

30

Chapter 30 The Entrance

07/04/2025

31

Chapter 31 Planting the doubt and feeding the gossips

08/04/2025

32

Chapter 32 Uncovering the lies

10/04/2025

33

Chapter 33 I don't want to be without you.

11/04/2025

34

Chapter 34 Everyone has a secret

12/04/2025

35

Chapter 35 Use their trap against them

13/04/2025

36

Chapter 36 A chance encounter

14/04/2025

37

Chapter 37 The accident

15/04/2025

38

Chapter 38 Just a little while

16/04/2025

39

Chapter 39 Do you think she suspects anything

17/04/2025

40

Chapter 40 hope the breeze is not too much for you

18/04/2025