Fruit of the Golden Vine (16 page)

“I never expected to feel like this. Not here. Not now. Yet you carry yourself as if your soul was a conflagration, and the moment you first touched me, that flame caught my own. I want to partake of your heart’s rebellion.”

Adelina nuzzled Silvana’s hand, her eyes still closed. “Take me away from here, Silvana. Carry me in your arms as far as you can, and when you tire, I’ll carry you…”

Silvana rested her lips against the delicate curve of Adelina’s ear. “I love you.”

Adelina trembled, and the flush returned to her skin. She reached for Silvana’s face, as if to bring her close for a kiss. In the same second, a footstep echoed in the hallway. The women jumped apart, Silvana straightening her tunic despite it not being disarrayed.

The intruder proved to be that big-jawed footman, whose name had escaped Silvana entirely. He stood outside the doorframe, fidgeting and tugging on his collar, until Adelina rose, folded her arms and said, “Yes, Lothar?”

“Mistress Delfina wishes to invite Mistress Silvana to take chocolate with her in the drawing room.” Lothar toyed with a golden button on his uniform. “My apologies if I disturbed any private matter, Mistress Adelina, but the door was open…”

“Only Silvana? Nobody else?”

“Just her, Mistress.”

“An honor,” said Silvana. “Have a good afternoon, Mistress Adelina.”

Forcing herself not to glance back, she followed Lothar from the room. He walked with a heavy, dour gait and was every bit as silent as the morning he’d escorted them from town.

“You don’t talk much, do you, Lothar?” she said.

Lothar shrugged. “I’m not paid to.”

One flight of stairs and a winding hallway later, Silvana stepped into the drawing room and matched stares with the ever-intimidating Delfina. Lothar shut the door, and his footsteps receded down the corridor. With a somber gravity that befitted her pinched face, gaunt frame, and ominous black dress—a woman forever attending a funeral—Delfina pointed to an armchair opposite her. “Take a seat, if you will.”

“I’d be glad to.” Silvana settled into the chair and studied the two steaming goblets on the table. “Lothar mentioned something about chocolate.”

“Yes. I sometimes take chocolate before dinner. I find it helps the meal settle more easily.” Delfina passed a goblet beneath her nose. “Mine has very little sugar, but I took mercy and had Bruna add to yours an extra teaspoon.”

“I appreciate it.” Silvana cupped the warm goblet as she inhaled the chocolate’s heavy aroma. “I can’t say I have many opportunities to drink chocolate.”

“Oh? But surely a baron with fashionable tastes would keep a supply on hand.”

Silvana held her features still, even as her body stiffened in preparation. So it was going to be that kind of discussion. “We never claimed to have fashionable tastes.” She touched the boiling liquid to her lips. Its bitterness was barely alleviated by the sugar, but the rich spice of the cocoa made it worth the effort. “Wine is usually enough to satisfy us.”

“It’s fortunate, then, that Irena has no taste for chocolate. Nor does Felise. Adelina enjoys it, however. A little bitterness for a bitter heart, perhaps.”

“And what does that say about you?”

“That my second daughter and I are not wholly unalike.” Delfina sipped the chocolate, and her eyes slitted. “Yes, and she’s alike to her father, as well. God works in ways unfathomable. My eldest does as I wish, while my youngest remains too childish to know right from wrong. Alone of them, Adelina knows right and willingly works against it. And yet she is by far the most alike to her parents. It is as if Irena is the daughter I had prayed for, and Adelina is the daughter I deserved.”

“If this is your idea of praise, Mistress Delfina, I hope you never have cause to commend me.”

Delfina tapped a finger against the curved side of the goblet. “Do you intend any deception toward my family?”

It was a good thing Silvana had braced herself earlier, or the lurch she’d felt in her stomach might have shown itself on her face. “I do not. Do you have reason to suspect otherwise?”

“Reason always suspects otherwise.” The steam of the chocolate wavered before Delfina’s face, obscuring her expression. “I suppose you think me a religious simpleton.”

“Religious, yes. Simpleton, quite the opposite.”

“Understand that I am no prayerful housewife clutching at beads and venerating dumb icons. My faith is empirical. Have you the philosophy to know what I mean by this?”

“I wouldn’t want to risk seeming a fool.”

“It means that I base what I know upon my experiences. I know God exists because of my prayers heard and answered. I know because the world around me has the good sense to conform to my faith—with one or two exceptions, such as yourself.”

“I do my best.”

Delfina’s mouth lowered into a grimace. “My eyes and ears are my witnesses to God. And to other things. To those who sit together in a garden, for example, within sight of the manor’s windows.”

Silvana raised the goblet to her lips to conceal their twitching. What had they done in the garden? Goddess below, they’d only sat together, hadn’t they? There’d been no kissing—or at least Silvana didn’t recall any…but God above, what if Delfina wasn’t referring to this morning? What if she meant the night before? But no, her tone would have been different…

“Your eyes are pensive.” Delfina dabbed her lips. “Do share.”

Silvana set her goblet on the table. “I’m merely waiting for your conclusion.”

“You have no reason to form a friendship with her. Though I grant she longs for companionship, she will only be disappointed at your inevitable departure. So please refrain from such intimacies as holding her hand.”

“A harmless enough gesture between women, I’d have thought.”

“Is that so? Would you not think it unusual if I were to take your hand?” Delfina tilted back her head, and her nostrils widened. “My daughter has enough infernal ideas in her head without you contributing blasphemies of your own.”

“As you will.” Silvana shrugged. “I shall keep my blasphemies to myself.”

“Make sure of it. I am told that tomorrow you will be accompanying the horse riding. It’s a boisterous activity I greatly disapprove of, and your presence hardly consoles me. Irena will want to enjoy nature, and Adelina will want to frolic. I trust you will not encourage her boyish behavior.”

“Frolicking is hardly exclusive to boys.”

“That argument we can return to at dinner. For now, I only want you to comprehend that Adelina is not to be led any further astray. As formidable as she can appear, in truth she is brittle. Her temper leads her to act by impulse, to hurt herself and others around her. That is why I try to keep her sedate. And that is why you would be well served by doing the same. Otherwise, you may find—”

A timid rap at the door cut Delfina short. “Yes?” she said, her voice high and hard-edged with irritation.

The door opened, and Irena peeked through. “Dinner is being served, Mother.”

“Very good.” Delfina rose and smoothed her dress. “Come along, Mistress Silvana. Tonight’s theme is your claim that a girl may rightfully frolic in the same manner as a boy. I look forward to hearing how you lay defenses about your latest absurdity.”

“Then I’d best fortify myself.” Silvana drank the remainder of her chocolate in a single draught. “This drink is novel to me, but it suits me very well. It’s just as you say, Mistress Delfina. A touch of bitterness for a bitter heart.”

The following morning, Adelina ran down the hall, shedding sleep as she flew across the patterned squares of sunlight on the floor, and pushed open the door to the kitchen. Bruna smiled as she lifted her floury hands from a mass of dough. “Mistress Ada! You’re in a hurry.”

“Do we have food for a day out, Bruna? Honey, jam, bread, some fruit?”

Bruna dusted her palms together. “So that’s why you’re dressed up in your short pants. Where are you off to today?”

“Orfeo’s estate. We’re all going, Ira, me and our guests. Even Father and Lise.”

“Ah, Master Orfeo. Keep an eye on that man. I have a sister who works in his inn. He’s got a reputation.”

“Doesn’t everyone my father consorts with have a reputation?”

Bruna laughed. “True enough.” She took a handful of buns from the pantry and wrapped them in paper. “Your mother doesn’t like it when you wear those clothes, does she?”

“No, but she likes it even less when I tear my skirts clambering over rocks and through bushes.” Though Adelina loved wearing her tunic and short pants, she was only allowed to do so for sunny private outings. Around the house or in town, she was forbidden to wear anything but a dress. It was a prohibition that grated all the more because Irena never questioned it for herself.

“Back in the day, you looked a bit like a long-haired boy, running about dressed that way.” Bruna admired Adelina’s body, a broad grin on her flour-smudged face. “But there’s no disguising the woman in you now.”

“I’ve got to make sure Lise gets ready in time.” Adelina poked her finger into the honey pot and licked the sticky sweetness from her fingertip. “She’s going to spend the day playing with pups. She’s thrilled.”

“Bless her little heart. She’s an imp, but she’ll grow up a good girl like her sisters, mark my words. After all, you were a terrible imp yourself.”

“I hope I still am.” Adelina put her hands on her hips, and Bruna erupted in laughter. “I’ll come by later for the bundle. Thank you so much, Bruna.”

“It’s no trouble, Ada. While you’re out in the country, have Lord Rafael stay near you. There’s always danger waiting for those who don’t take care.”

“It’s fine. Silvana will look after me!” Adelina capered out of the room and dashed back to the lobby. First the trip to town, and now this—it was an unprecedented amount of lenience. She bounced up the stairs, skidded to a stop outside Felise’s room and knocked twice on the door.

“Come in,” said Felise, her little voice high and petulant. Adelina opened the door. The imp herself was sitting cross-legged on the floor. She still wore her shift, and her blond hair fell in knotted waves over her shoulders.

“Felise, you monster. You’re not even a little bit ready.”

“I’m trying to get this picture right.” Felise gnawed on the end of her pencil. “It’s supposed to be an elephant.”

“You don’t know what an elephant looks like!”

“That’s why it’s so hard to get it right.”

“If you don’t hurry up, we’ll go without you, and you won’t see the puppies.”

“No!” Felise jumped to her feet. “I want to hold them. Will you help me beg so that Father lets me bring one home? Ira has already said she’ll shed tears for me.”

“I’ll grovel as pathetically as I can manage if only you’ll get dressed in time. Come on, get that shift off. What do you want to wear?”

“I want my best hat and that lilac dress with the flowers sewn on.”

“Well, where have you hidden them?” Adelina opened the wardrobe and hunted through the jumbled rows of lace, silk and cloth. “Ah, here it is.” She took down the dress and gave it to Felise, who began wriggling out of her shift. “Surely you can dress yourself by now.”

“Of course I can, Adelina. I’m thirteen.”

“You were twelve just a month ago.”

“But now I’m thirteen.” Felise fumbled into her dress and tightened the last button with a defiant glare. “You see?”

Adelina giggled. “You have the buttons wrong. You did it too quickly.”

“I wasn’t looking!” Pouting, Felise fixed her buttons. “There. Have you found my hat?”

“Yes, it’s here on the hook, silly.” Adelina set the hat onto Felise’s head, covering half of her face. Felise laughed and stumbled around the room with her hands held out, pretending she was blind. “Mind you don’t tread on your pencils.”

“I’m going to learn to paint soon. Mother said she’ll teach me. She said I’m finally old enough she won’t have to worry about me getting the oils all over myself.”

Adelina smiled as Felise blundered into her bedpost. “I’m not so convinced.”

Felise lifted the hat from her eyes. “At least I’m not all mannish like you.” She stuck out her tongue. “Wearing pants like a boy.”

“Silvana wears pants. Is she a boy?”

“No, but she’s mannish too.” Felise crossed her arms. “I saw you kiss a lady once.”

Adelina’s heart lost its beat. “What?” It was impossible. Felise couldn’t have been awake at midnight, and besides, the window of her room looked out onto the vineyard.

“It was before my eleventh birthday. I was playing in a bush, being a jungle cat, and you two didn’t see me. You did lots of kissing, and you were very red by the end of it. It was Ira’s friend, that one with the big eyebrows.”

“You saw us? Lise, you never told anyone, did you?”

“No, because it seemed like it was meant to be a secret. If you wanted Mother and Father to know, you wouldn’t have hidden in the garden, would you?” Felise adjusted her hat in the mirror. “Are you going to kiss Silvana too?”

“I’m not allowed to.”

“You always do things you’re not allowed to. That’s why you get into trouble so often.” Felise straightened the feather that jutted from the hat’s red band. “I do naughty things too, like steal jam, so that’s why I don’t tattle. You’re not like Ira, who scolds me when she catches me. You just laugh.” Felise spun, wobbled to a stop and tilted her head at a dashing angle. “Am I pretty?”

Adelina smiled, her nerves subsiding. “The prettiest.”

“Good. I’m sure Lord Rafael will pick me over Ira in the end.” Felise patted her chest. “I think my bosom is coming. It hurts when I push.”

“That’s nice.” Adelina glanced out the window. The sun was low on the horizon, and the light still carried a gentle tinge of dawn. Plenty of time yet, but the sooner they set off, the more fun they could have. “Let’s go downstairs and see if Father has the coaches ready.”

Felise ran down the stairs ahead of Adelina, who preferred not to risk breaking her neck. As Adelina trotted onto the front lawn, a cool breeze rolled over her, tempering the warmth of the sun. The silver leaves of the great tree beneath the window whispered as the wind wove through them. Adelina closed her eyes for a moment to better hear their peaceful rustling.