Lost Through Time (On Hold)

I

May 24, 1780

The only sound that could be heard over the pouring rain was the horses hooves beating against the dirt road. Adelaide had never been this far from home before but her father insisted she join him on the business journey to London. The chill of the air reminded her of the nights back home in Romania, the only difference was, she couldn't hear the wolves.
It started raining as they made their way past the Thames, the usually busy streets cleared as the weather worsened. Adelaide shivered off the stiffness in her spine, her corset bunching. Her face must of given off some of her discomfort as her father finally looked up from upon the documents he'd been spending almost the entire carriage ride studying, "We'll be there soon Adel." with that he resumed back to his papers.

"That would be great if I knew where there was." She whispered to herself.
She stared out the window into the murky waters, ducks spotted some of the surface, lazily wading around. Soon the river turned away from her gaze as their carriage headed uphill towards a large grand manor house.
The house itself looked as if it had just recently been built, the paint was pristine despite the storms ambition to make it look otherwise, and the lawn was perfectly trimmed which added to it's grand spectacle unlike most of the cobbled together Tudor houses around London. A large set of double doors completed it's foreign Romanian look looming before it's new arrivals, along with two almost skeletal door knockers resting eye level. A knock came on the carriage door before the driver opened it, "Master Roman Dragos, Miss Adelaide Dragos," he bowed his heads towards both of them as he knew their high-class status in Romania and was in slight uncomfortable fear of Roman. "I humbly welcome you to your new summer home." The driver flourished his hand at the manor.

"We have a summer home?" Adelaide questioned, still fixing her gaze at the house that almost rivaled her own back home.

" It has been under some renovations for quite some time now my dear. I wanted you to come with me to see it." Roman gave his daughter his famous 'million-watt' smile he was so known for. He seemed happier here.

"When will mother be joining us?" She asked.

Unlike her father, her mother, Ioana Dragos, was a tamer soul. She had met Roman through an arranged marriage set forth by her own father. Ioana fell in love with Roman's determined nature and charm, and never saw the negatives in him, or anyone else for that matter. She was a caring, freeing soul towards those she loved and the only thing she loved more than Roman Dragos, was her little Adelaide. She encouraged her young daughter to take control of her own destiny no matter the risk, helping her to be wary of her future unlike her own mother. Not that she regretted marrying the most dashing, and most successful man in all of Romania, after all it gave her the gift of Adelaide, it's just that the arrangement of her meeting with Roman never had the spontaneous feet sweeping nature that she dreamt of, so by that she wished for Adelaide to find someone who wanted her for who she was and not simply because she was an object of desire.

Roman simply shrugged off his daughters question and pointed up the grand staircase.

"You can have your pick of the bedrooms, just be sure to stay out of my study and the basement, they are strictly prohibited unless I say otherwise." He walked briskly through an adjacent door and disappeared.

Sighing Adelaide hiked up her muddy skirts and went exploring for her bedroom. Upon finding a room she liked she opened the balcony door, stripped off her corset and promptly collapsed falling fast asleep on the soft down comforters.

Adelaide had longed to go outside and explore London and its culture, the rain had held those thoughts back for the past week. But no more she thought I must escape my lonely home. Even though the rain had stopped, the droplets that remained along the Tudor homes and bridges didn't help much in terms of Adelaide's venture to the marketplace, and the gusts of wind that accompanied the sunless morning made her long for the sunrise she got yesterday across her balcony. She tried to hike up her scarf, supporting it with one hand as she gracefully used her other hand to grasp at food items and jewelry that caught her eyes. The marketplace became one of Adelaide's favorite places to go, she loved the locals that infested the pathways. They made her feel at home as one of their own, even offering her jobs despite knowing the Dragos title that lingered on her like curse.

The breeze became more prominent throughout Adelaide's trekking, the grip of her scarf wasn't strong enough to handle it and her favorite silk scarf began to blow away across the market almost traveling above Adelaide's head. "Oh shoot!" she muttered as she tried her best to catch up to flowing fabric in the air. As it continued to flow through the air like a wave in the Thames, a stranger's hand began to meet it and grasp it from the air. Adelaide soon followed, almost out of breath. The man inspected the scarf with its silk red color and silver threads interwoven, and looked up upon the relieved face of Adelaide. " I take it this is yours?" asked the man.