Princess Adeline of Wales

Chapter Twenty-Six: The Winter Dance

17th of December 2003 - Marlborough College

Feeling the material of her dress, Adeline smiled to herself pleased at what she had chosen to wear to the dance; she had been surprised when her father had insisted in coming with her to shop especially considering how poor his taste in clothes was. 

Charles had insisted and had been most pleased with the dress that Adeline had selected, it suited her and he hadn't minded the cost especially since it made her happy. 

Her dark hair was tied up neatly and Adeline swallowed the lump that formed in her throat at the thought of her mother; she stared at herself for a moment wondering if her fashion forward mother would have approved. 

As a little girl, Adeline had always adored the clothes that her mother had worn; she always looked amazing and never seemed to have a hair out of place. 

A part of Adeline doubted that she could ever live up to the legacy that her mother had left behind even if she knew that her mother would want her to be herself not a copy of what she had been. 

Shaking her head, Adeline blinked back the tears that burned her eyes and moved away from the mirror; she let out a breath while she waited for Mary and Melissa to finish getting ready to leave. 

It was hard to believe how fast the winter break had come and Adeline was determined to make sure that she made the most of the holidays since both her brothers would be home for a short period of time. 

William was returning from Scotland where he was studying and Harry was coming back from Australia where he was doing his gap year; it would be the first time since August that the three of them had seen one another. 

"What do you think?" Melissa asked twirling around in her dress, a massive smile on her face as she showed off the dress that she was wearing. 

It had taken her weeks to find the perfect dress for the dance, things were different now and Melissa knew that the chances for school events were running thin in the time that they had left.

"You look really nice," Adeline complimented her, a massive smile appeared on Melissa's face at the compliment that she had been given; she opened her mouth to say something when she noticed what Adeline was wearing. 

A frown formed on her face wondering how Adeline hadn't inherited her mother's fashion forward genes when she looked so much like her father's side of the family. 

"Is that what you're wearing?" Melissa asked trying to keep her tone light but failing, she turned away from Adeline and checked herself in the mirror; at least one of them would look nice at the dance tonight instead of completely hopeless. 

It was a shame and Melissa was certain that Adeline could have found a nicer dress, it looked like something her own mother would have worn for a charity event. 

"I think Addy looks pretty," Mary piped in offering a smile at Adeline, her dress suited her and Melissa was just being petty; the dress was a little different from those that she had seen while shopping. 

It made Adeline stand out instead of looking like everyone else and Mary wished she'd found something like this instead of the dress that she was wearing which made her look a little bland next to Adeline and Melissa. 

"We need to take a picture," Melissa announced before Mary could say anything else, she moved to get her camera recalling that her parents had made her promise that she would take tons of picture to show them. 

Mary rolled her eyes and peeked at Adeline, she honestly had no idea how the other had managed to put up with Melissa for so long. 

"Let's get this over with... we can't be late," Melissa insisted trying to hurry them up once she had the camera, she had planned tonight perfectly and there was no way that it could go wrong.