Page 43 of A Curse of Hope and Shadows: Part I
“Adeline’sgoodat things?” Elliott interjected. “Are you sure?”
Adeline hurled a dishcloth at him.
“Your sister is an excellent reader, a skilled seamstress, a patient and calm woman, and a fine chess player,” Dimitri insisted. “And I’m sure much else besides.”
Adeline looked a bit red in the cheeks, and she would not meet his gaze.
“Thosearetrue,” Elliott continued after a stilted pause, “but she’s also a bit clumsy. And not in a sweet, endearing way. In a ‘is she actually a health hazard’ and ‘should we let her hold that baby?’ sort of way.”
“I have never dropped a baby!” Adeline hissed.
“There was that one time—”
“She launched herself out of my arms! It doesn’t count! And she wasfine!”
Dimitri bit back a laugh. “I’m going to be a little more careful when you’re holding hot tea around me…”
Adeline glared, seizing the sack of potatoes on the table and pouring them out so roughly that several of them rolled away. It did not do much to help her case.
The entire family, minus the baby, were put to work preparing the meal. It had been a long time since Dimitri had visited the kitchens, and even longer since he’d paid attention to what was going on in them. Not a scrap of food was wasted; peelings and skins were taken to be boiled for stock, and any rotten parts taken for composting. The two young boys ferried things to and fro while the relative adults peeled and cut. Even Dimitri was put to work slicing the potatoes Adeline peeled, trying not to focus on the feel of her hands over his as she instructed him, or the curious warmth they left behind afterwards.
Despite being warned of her clumsiness, Adeline’s fingers worked as diligently over the potatoes as they did over the countless garments he’d seen her stitch of an evening. He’d noticed she occasionally tripped over her own feet before, but when she focused on something, shereallyfocused.
He was almost jealous of those potatoes.
She took his wonky slices and went to add them to the pot Elliott was stirring, the kitchen swelling with the gorgeous scent of onions and rosemary. His eyes followed her as she crossed the room and plopped the potatoes in the shimmering waters.
She let out a sharp shriek as the water leapt against her hand.
“Ouch!”
Elliott dropped his spoon to help her, but Dimitri had already jumped to her side. “Adeline—”
“I’m fine, I’m fine, it’s just a surface burn—” she said, running towards the sink.
“Do you need some aloe vera?” Leonie asked brightly as if she’d been waiting for this.
“No, I don’t need—”
“I’m going to fetch you some aloe vera.”
Leonie disappeared into the back room. Dimitri turned on the tap and held Adeline’s hand under the sudden stream.
“I’m all right,” she insisted.
Dimitri took a silk handkerchief from his pocket and pressed it against the scalding skin. “Keep a compress on it,” he insisted, dimly aware of Elliott’s hovering gaze but caring far more for Adeline’s, how close she was to him, how his distorted cheek was almost pressed to her soft, perfect one.
“Got the gel!” Leonie yelled, bursting in-between the two of them. She smothered the cool liquid against the redness of Adeline’s skin, making her wince before tying the handkerchief around her palm. Dimitri’s embroidered initials were pressed against her lifeline.
Adeline promptly declared that there was nothing more to be done, and returned to clear the table.
With everything in the pot and the table cleared, everyone went out into the garden to make the most of the fine weather. The two young boys summoned a set of wooden blades to fight with, and while Dimitri was initially cast in the role of the monster to be slain, Phillip and Louis changed their minds when they discovered he was actually a capable swordsman and a willing instructor. He hadn’t fenced in years, but it was not a thing easily forgotten, even with his shoddy balance.
Adeline barely sat down until lunch. She busied herself hanging out clothes, playing ‘peekaboo’ with Edie and running around fishing her out of all the places she wasn’t supposed to be. The boys clamoured for her attention, asking her to watch their clumsy swipes and bandage non-existent injuries. Leonie prattled to her about what she’d read last night in her textbook while Edie was almost attached to her side whenever she wasn’t climbing into something she shouldn't be.
Even at lunchtime she was barely still, getting up to refill cups of water and clear-up spillages, all the while chatting and smiling and laughing. She never once got short or cross with anyone, only barking at the boys once when they got up from the table without clearing their plates away.
It was the most lively meal he’d ever experienced, and the food all the more wonderful for him having had a hand in making it. It reminded him of some dim childhood memory of dining with the servants as a boy, but it was better, being amongst people his own age.
