Colleen Gleason [Gardella Vam The Rest Falls Away (v5.0) (epu

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.“Victoria, did you hear what Winifred said?” Lady Melisande grasped her daughter’s hand.“The Marquess of Rockley is seeking a bride! We must ensure he is invited to your coming-out.Winnie, will your sister by marriage be attending?”“I shall see to it—and that she insist her husband bring Rockley.Nothing would please me more than to see our dear Victoria steal the heart—and purse—of the elusive Marquess of Rockley.” Winifred, who had been widowed a decade earlier and was childless, had fairly adopted Victoria as her own.Between Petronilla, Winifred, and, of course, Melisande, Victoria had three full-time mothers worrying about her marriage prospects.She was more worried about whether the small crucifix she sometimes wore about her neck would be enough to deter a salacious vampire.According to Aunt Eustacia, it would; but as Victoria had yet to come face-to-face with one of the creatures, she wasn’t completely convinced.In fact, that had become her biggest source of distraction in the last days—when would she see her first vampire?Would one simply leap out of the woodwork one evening? Or would she have some kind of warning?A sharp rapping on the parlor door drew the tittering ladies’ attention from discussions of Rockley’s physique and his income.“Yes, Jimmons?” asked Melisande when the butler peered into the room.“I am in receipt of a summons for Miss Victoria to Lady Eustacia Gardella’s home.Her ladyship’s carriage awaits the young miss, if she agrees to attend her aunt.”Victoria set down her teacup with a sharp clatter.More training! And a chance to ask more questions of her aunt.“Mother,” she said as she rose rather more abruptly than she’d intended.The table rattled alarmingly.Fiddlesticks.The last thing she wished to hear was a lecture regarding the smooth, graceful movements a lady must adopt.Especially since Aunt Eustacia’s assistant, a fascinating man named Kritanu, had spent the last two weeks teaching her to move with quick, precise actions.And how to fell a man with the perfect kick.How to take an attacker by surprise by dodging and leaping in a most unladylike manner.Her mother would expire on the spot if she had seen the way Victoria had learned to strike with her arms, legs, and even her head.“I would be pleased to attend Aunt Eustacia, if you will excuse me.”Lady Melly looked up at her, her round face a version of Victoria’s own narrower, more elegant one.“You have grown quite attached to my aunt in these last weeks, my dear.I am sure it gives the elderly lady great pleasure to have your company.I do hope she does not feel slighted when the Season begins and you are dancing at balls or attending the theater every night.”Dancing at balls, attending the theater, stalking vampires.Without a doubt, Victoria was going to be an extraordinarily busy debutante.+ + +At last, the night of Victoria’s debut arrived.The event should have occurred more than two years ago when she turned seventeen, but had been delayed.First by the death of her grandfather, and then by the death of her father.But tonight, having long given up her mourning clothing, Victoria sat at her dressing table looking every inch the proper young miss.Her ink-black hair, a mass of wild curls, had been piled high at the back of her head and pinned to within an inch of its life.It would not dare shift or sag, regardless of the alacrity with which its mistress might dance, curtsy, or otherwise hare about.Jet beads and the palest of pink pearls had been woven into her curls, and the black beads shone and sparkled when she turned her head, whilst the pearls glowed with the same pale hue of her gown.Matching gems hung from her ears, and a rose-colored necklace of pearls and quartz encircled her neck.Dangling from the front was, instead of a cameo brooch, a small silver crucifix.Victoria’s gown bore the faintest tinge of pink, and fell in diaphanous pleats from under her bosom to the tips of her shoes.The skirt was flowing and very nearly sheer; underneath she wore two more layers of translucent ivory.The dress’s low, square décolletage left a rather large expanse of creamy white skin exposed, from choker necklace to the very tops of her breasts.And her gloves, long and virginal white, went past her elbows, nearly touching the tiny puffed sleeves of her gown.Indeed, Victoria appeared every bit the demure, ingenuous debutante that she was…except for the solid wooden stake she held in her hand.It was the circumference of two of her fingers and nearly the length of her arm from wrist to elbow.One end was sanded smooth, and the other whittled to a needle-sharp point.It was too thick to weave into her coiffure, much too long to fit in the small bag that dangled from her wrist.“Under your skirts, my dear.Slip it into the knee garter under your skirts,” Aunt Eustacia told her.She had a face lined with age, but glowing with beauty and intelligence, as if every bit of happiness from all of her eighty-some years shone at one time.Her hair, still blue-black, she wore scraped back into an intricate mass of coils intertwined with seed pearls, white lace, and jet beads.It was a coiffure more appropriate for a girl Victoria’s age than for an aging woman.Yet Aunt Eustacia carried it well; as well as she wore her high-necked gown of blood-red taffeta.She nodded.“Why do you think I gave you the garter? Be quick; your mother is bound to return at any moment!”“Under my skirts?”“You must be able to access your weapon quickly and easily, Victoria.It will be well hidden, and with practice you will learn to slip it easily from underneath and have it in your hand when you need it.”Aunt Eustacia did not wait for her to move.She twitched at Victoria’s skirts, exposing the ivory lace garter tied just below her knee, then watched as her niece slipped the stick between lace and flesh.No sooner had they finished than the door opened, and Lady Melisande burst in, followed by her two twittering companions.“’Tis time, Victoria.Come, come!”“You look lovely, my dear girl.Absolutely breathtaking!” Petronilla gushed, peering at herself in the mirror from behind Victoria and fussing with an immovable curl of her own [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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