A dream. It had been a dream.
She smoothed a hand over her face, damp with perspiration, and brushed away the tendrils of hair that had escaped her thick braid.
The fifth dream. It was time.
Her bed was high off the floor, and her feet thumped onto the Aubusson rug as she launched herself from under the coverlet, in desperate need of the chamber pot. Heedless of immodesty, Victoria pulled her sweat-soaked chemise up and over her body and felt the relief of cool air on her clammy skin.
Five dreams in less than a fortnight. That was the sign. She would go to Aunt Eustacia today.
The remnants of the dream dissolved, replaced with a hum of anticipation and a tingle of apprehension. Victoria looked at herself in the tall, cloudy mirror. The warning had come.
Today she would learn just what that warning portended.
Chapter One
Miss Victoria Grantworth's Two Debuts
Vampires.
The Gardellas were vampire hunters.
Victoria was going to hunt vampires.
"Victoria, dear…" Lady Melisande's gentle voice held the barest hint of reproach. "You may commence with pouring."
Victoria blinked and realized that her mother had been sitting with her hands folded perfectly in her lap, whilst their two guests waited with empty teacups. "Of course, Mother. I apologize for my woolgathering," she added as she raised the ivory teapot. Her mother's favorite, brought from Italy by her mother when she wed with Herbert, Lord of Prewitt Shore, was painted with images of Roman cathedrals.
Fortunately, the two guests at hand were Lady Melly's oldest and dearest friends, and they would not be offended by her daughter's lack of attention.
Three weeks ago, Victoria's biggest concern had been which gown to wear to an evening's event. Or whether—heaven forbid!—her dance card might not fill up.