Chapter 1
No one could put their finger on exactly what made Delphinia Preston different from the other gently bred young ladies who’d come out that Season. It wasn’t as if she possessed two left feet. She was as light-hearted as any of the other debutants. She had beautiful manners and sang like an angel.
But it was a rare person who felt at ease in her presence.
Mostly because one never knew when she’d voice someone’s secret thoughts or let slip something that she had no reason to know.
Some said her strange ability was due to the fact that on the night she was born, the sky rained down a shower of stars. Less charitable, albeit more practical gossips whispered that perhaps her mother had taken a gypsy lover. Maybe the quirky flashes of insight Delphinia received were as much an inheritance from that dusky fellow as her dark hair and slate grey eyes. Or it might have been because those unusual eyes of hers rarely missed the subtle flicker of a glance or a slight tightening of the lips and Del was simply an astute judge of human nature.
Whatever the reason, she always found herself draped with silks, fitted with a turban and veil and relegated to the fortune teller’s booth whenever the Daughters of the Golden Garter staged benefits for the Orphans of Soldiers who served in the War of Colonial Rebellion. The event at the Seabrooke estate had raised more money than any other since the Daughters began their crusade last year, but that didn’t mean Delphinia was happy about her part in it.
I’d have much rather been assigned to the booth selling kisses for sixpence , she thought irritably as she pretended to gaze into the faux crystal ball before her. Then I’d have been able to do good while simultaneously doing ‘bad.’
There were any number of young bucks at this house party she’d have happily kissed for no payment at all.
Instead, she was cooped up in a red silk tent with a glass bowl upended on the linen-covered table to serve as her gazing ball. Delphinia glanced up at Lady Judith Malden, her latest customer. The girl was knotting a handkerchief between her fidgeting fingers. When Del didn’t offer a prognostication right away, Lady Judith frowned.
“What do you see, Madame Zola?” Lady Judith asked, using Delphinia’s assumed name.
“Do not be so hasty to peer into the tomorrow,” Del said, her voice thick with a false Slavic accent. She always took care to disguise herself by altering her voice, especially if she knew the person whose future she foretold at these events. There were already enough rumors about her uncanny abilities. “The future, it is not always what we might wish.”
The debutant dropped her gaze to her white knuckles and nibbled her lower lip so furiously Del took pity on her.
“I see a mountain. No, wait. There are two of them in your future along with a ferocious beast. A great cat.” She waved her hands before her as if dividing an invisible mist. Everyone knew Lady Judith had set her cap for Lord Dumont, whose heraldic crest featured two peaks behind a lion rampant. “Yet the beast will come to heel most handily.” Del put a hand to her ear. “I hear a wedding march.”
“I knew it!” Lady Judith fished in her reticule and came up with half a crown instead of the required shilling. “Keep the extra for the orphans, Madame Zola. This news is worth every farthing.”
Lady Judith hurried out of the tent, anxious to share her good fortune with her friends.
Del sighed and deposited the coin in the pouch beneath the table. She hadn’t told her anything remarkable. Anyone might have made the same guess. If she really were to predict the future, Del might have had to tell Lady Judith that Lord Dumont would break her heart by flaunting his mistresses, or gamble away her dowry, or that their first born child wouldn’t see its second birthday. All were likely possibilities.
It was easier to tell people what they wanted to hear.
Del still told the truth
No one could put their finger on exactly what made Delphinia Preston different from the other gently bred young ladies who’d come out that Season. It wasn’t as if she possessed two left feet. She was as light-hearted as any of the other debutants. She had beautiful manners and sang like an angel.
But it was a rare person who felt at ease in her presence.
Mostly because one never knew when she’d voice someone’s secret thoughts or let slip something that she had no reason to know.
Some said her strange ability was due to the fact that on the night she was born, the sky rained down a shower of stars. Less charitable, albeit more practical gossips whispered that perhaps her mother had taken a gypsy lover. Maybe the quirky flashes of insight Delphinia received were as much an inheritance from that dusky fellow as her dark hair and slate grey eyes. Or it might have been because those unusual eyes of hers rarely missed the subtle flicker of a glance or a slight tightening of the lips and Del was simply an astute judge of human nature.
Whatever the reason, she always found herself draped with silks, fitted with a turban and veil and relegated to the fortune teller’s booth whenever the Daughters of the Golden Garter staged benefits for the Orphans of Soldiers who served in the War of Colonial Rebellion. The event at the Seabrooke estate had raised more money than any other since the Daughters began their crusade last year, but that didn’t mean Delphinia was happy about her part in it.
I’d have much rather been assigned to the booth selling kisses for sixpence , she thought irritably as she pretended to gaze into the faux crystal ball before her. Then I’d have been able to do good while simultaneously doing ‘bad.’
There were any number of young bucks at this house party she’d have happily kissed for no payment at all.
Instead, she was cooped up in a red silk tent with a glass bowl upended on the linen-covered table to serve as her gazing ball. Delphinia glanced up at Lady Judith Malden, her latest customer. The girl was knotting a handkerchief between her fidgeting fingers. When Del didn’t offer a prognostication right away, Lady Judith frowned.
“What do you see, Madame Zola?” Lady Judith asked, using Delphinia’s assumed name.
“Do not be so hasty to peer into the tomorrow,” Del said, her voice thick with a false Slavic accent. She always took care to disguise herself by altering her voice, especially if she knew the person whose future she foretold at these events. There were already enough rumors about her uncanny abilities. “The future, it is not always what we might wish.”
The debutant dropped her gaze to her white knuckles and nibbled her lower lip so furiously Del took pity on her.
“I see a mountain. No, wait. There are two of them in your future along with a ferocious beast. A great cat.” She waved her hands before her as if dividing an invisible mist. Everyone knew Lady Judith had set her cap for Lord Dumont, whose heraldic crest featured two peaks behind a lion rampant. “Yet the beast will come to heel most handily.” Del put a hand to her ear. “I hear a wedding march.”
“I knew it!” Lady Judith fished in her reticule and came up with half a crown instead of the required shilling. “Keep the extra for the orphans, Madame Zola. This news is worth every farthing.”
Lady Judith hurried out of the tent, anxious to share her good fortune with her friends.
Del sighed and deposited the coin in the pouch beneath the table. She hadn’t told her anything remarkable. Anyone might have made the same guess. If she really were to predict the future, Del might have had to tell Lady Judith that Lord Dumont would break her heart by flaunting his mistresses, or gamble away her dowry, or that their first born child wouldn’t see its second birthday. All were likely possibilities.
It was easier to tell people what they wanted to hear.
Del still told the truth
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