Page 1 of The Pureblood Daughter
Chapter One
“Good morning, miss,” calls agently lilting voice, rousing Adelina from her restful sleep.
Resisting the urge to groan, Adelina sinks deeper into her covers, pulling the plush blankets up to her chin. Soft footsteps cross the wooden floor, and she squeezes her eyes tight as the curtains are opened.
Despite her body’s protests, she forces her eyes open, wincing at the brightness of the room. The sunlight is warm and yellow, and it makes the glass perfume bottles on the vanity glitter.
“Come now. Lord and Lady Gray are already in the dining room,” Adelina’s lady’s maid, Rose, says from the foot of the bed. Her apron is stark white, her light brown hair pulled up and off her neck in a tight chignon. She has a small smile on her lips, her cheeks rosy, and her morning cheerfulness makes Adelina feel nauseated.
Before Adelina even sits up in bed, she notes the shaking of her hands as they grip the covers. In her dreams, she’s liberated of her mystery illness, free to do as she pleases, whether that’s kissing handsome men in darkened ballrooms or skating upon the pond on their country grounds in the deep winter. But in her waking world, those dreams vanish into harsh reality.
“Where’s my—”
“I’ve it here for you, miss,” Rose says. She disappears into the hallway and returns a moment later carrying a tray. On it is a white teacup painted with royal-blue flowers, and Adelina perks up at the sight. She sits up in bed and reaches with trembling fingers for the cup.
The tonic, while displeasing in taste, is the only thing that helps Adelina from her bed in the mornings. She drinks it slowly, and though her lips at one time puckered from the disagreeable taste, she’s used to it now.
“Thank you, Rose.” Adelina places the teacup back on the tray and closes her eyes as the liquid travels down her chest and settles in her stomach. It warms her from the inside, and the trembling in her fingers lessens before she’s placed her bare feet on the floor.
Rose sets the tray on the vanity, then moves across the room to the wardrobe, opening the doors wide to reveal a collection of dresses in varying pale shades. “Now,” she says, turning to Adelina with a flourish, “shall we get you dressed?”
By the time Adelina steps into the dining room, dressed in a lilac gown with her long brown hair twisted into a loose plait, the shakes that plagued her upon waking have ceased.
Her parents look up from the dining table and offer her matching smiles.
“Papa.” Adelina pads lightly across the dining room and presses a gentle kiss against her father’s clean-shaven cheek, then takes a seat between her parents at the long dining table.
“You look well, dear,” Lady Gray says after her brown eyes finish their usual morning assessment of Adelina’s countenance.
“I’m fine, Mama. You mustn’t worry so much. I’m no longer a child.” Adelina arches a dark brow at her mother as the footman pours her a cup of English tea and prepares a plate with which she’ll break her fast.
“Forgive me for caring after the health of my only daughter.”
Lady Gray purses her lips, and Adelina feels her mother’s eyes on her as she lifts the teacup to her mouth. It’s always the shakes her mother looks for, the telltale sign that her condition is getting the best of her. But her hand is steady, and the tea makes its way past her pink lips without note. Adelina puts her cup down with a smirk and reaches for the silverware gleaming in the sunlight.
Crisp footsteps click in the tiled hall, and Adelina looks up as the butler steps into the dining room. He carries a tray with a single letter, which he offers to Lady Gray with a bow.
“Thank you, Simon,” she says, fetching the letter and holding it up in the light.
Simon smiles at Adelina, his typical morning greeting, before turning on his polished heel and moving swiftly from the room.
Lady Gray opens the letter, and her brows rise toward her golden hairline as she reads.
“What is it, Mama?” Adelina asks, a ripe red cherry resting against her parted lips. “Another ball?”
The thought makes her chest squeeze and her stomach twist. Though she’s been out in society for two years now, having debuted when she was seventeen, her weak constitution often dissuades her from the dance floor and prevents her from participating in the lively events of the season, therefore keeping her away from the eligible bachelors looking for wives with whom to start their new lives.
Many nights Adelina has lain awake, imagining herself twirling across the floor in the arms of a man she may someday call her husband, but this dream has yet to come true. If she’s not strong enough for a night of dancing under candlelight, how will she ever gather the strength to keep a household running smoothly or bear and raise children?
Adelina yanks the cherry from the stem and pushes the thoughts from her mind.
“Yes,” Lady Gray says finally. She sits up in her chair, and her gaze lands on Adelina. “Hosted by theRosettis.”
Lord Gray lowers his newspaper, the pages crinkling in the quiet of the room, and Adelina and her mother look at him with wide eyes. It’s not often that dining table conversation can prompt him to lower his paper, even for a moment.
“The Rosettis?” One of his bushy brows rises dubiously.
“Yes, dear.” Lady Gray passes the letter to him, and he scans it with an expression Adelina can’t quite place. Disinterest? Irritation?
