Fruit of the Golden Vine Read Online Free PDF Page B

guests dining, and Father looks like he’s in a benevolent mood.”
    Irena laughed as one of the sons darted past her with a steaming tray of pork. “Careful, there!” She tugged her skirts around her. “Ada, I’m going to tell Mother to come down for dinner. I’ll also find Rafael and Silvana and tell them the same.”
    “If you like. I’ll help Bruna with the serving if she doesn’t mind me getting underfoot.”
    Bruna wiped her glistening brow. “I wouldn’t object, Mistress Ada. One woman and two lads shouldn’t have to cook for ten.”
    “I wish we had more servants to help you.” Adelina took a ladle and approached an aromatic pot of soup. “What’s this?”
    “Leek and pumpkin, dear.”
    “Ooh.” Adelina ladled the flecked broth into a series of silver tureens. One of Bruna’s sons pushed by with a bowl of dried dates in his hands, and she snatched a piece of fruit as he passed. “What’s the dessert tonight?”
    “Fig pudding.”
    “Oh, wonderful.” Adelina sipped from the ladle. Just enough salt. “What would we do without you?”
    “Eat like the rest of us sorry lot, I assume.” Bruna shouldered one of her sons aside. “Out of the way, you. And Ada, behave yourself! Must you taste absolutely everything?”
    Adelina smiled as she placed lids on the tureens. She enjoyed that the servants of the house treated her without deference, whereas in the presence of the rest of her family they scraped and groveled. She was never averse to helping clean or cook—it only seemed right, given the amount of work the servants did relative to the paltry wages Father paid them.
    With the help of Bruna’s sons, Adelina loaded the trolley with steaming platters and gleaming tureens, and together they wheeled the food into the dining room. Everyone had arrived. On the men’s side of the table, Father, his companions and Rafael hunched together in a conversation broken by loud laughter and cheering. On the female end, Mother sat with pious stiffness, her eyes not leaving Silvana, who sat opposite her. Irena sat beside Mother and listened to Felise as she prattled and waved her hands, no doubt retelling some imagined adventure.
    Both Silvana and her brother still wore their casual traveling garb, a fact Mother no doubt found reprehensible. She was dressed in her usual grim black dress—not a hint of lace—while Irena and Felise wore matching white dresses with pink frills. Felise already had a stain on her bodice, the little beast. The men, of course, had dressed as they pleased, in expensive garments worn with a casual disregard that Adelina could only envy.
    Adelina navigated the table, placing tureens and transferring food to plates. Father grunted as she set a tray of dates within reach.
    “You’re a good girl, Ada,” he said. “Never too proud to put in a helping hand, even when it’s not asked for.”
    “Anything to seem a little less respectable, Father.”
    Father chuckled and patted her arm. His cheeks were flushed and his eyes merry. Presumably he’d downed at least a glass of wine before dinner. “You have my blood in you, there’s no denying it. It’s made a devil out of you, but it still makes a man proud.” He nudged Marconus. “What do you think, Marco? She takes after me, don’t you think?”
    “Undoubtedly,” said Marconus. “She has much of your distinctive character.”
    Adelina refrained from stabbing Marconus with a butter knife. He’d intended to offer a compliment, after all, and it was what Father wanted to hear.
    Father tugged on Rafael’s sleeve. “Eh, Rafael. Adelina here—what do you make of her? As a man of the world, speak. Do you think that one day she’ll make some man happy?”
    Rafael smiled at Adelina. Unattractive as she found him, it was hard not to be charmed by the gentle humor lighting his eyes. “I certainly believe she’ll make somebody happy,” he said. The implication behind his vague phrasing was obvious to Adelina, and she