title: I Dream of My Lady in Red
author: Freda, Paula
description: I Dream of My lady in Red by Paula Freda Book cover photo copyright Freda Design Studio (Thomas M. Freda) Where had he seen her? He must have, somewhere. You just don't dream up someone, at least not as clearly and vividly as he had. Could a human mind do that, create a face and a body so real, that made him tenaciously rummage through his memories to find her? Was she real, or a figment of an overactive imagination? He was, after all, a writer who created characters for his action-adventure and mystery stories. But those characters took time to develop. Not like this lady in red. She was alive somewhere. He was certain of it.... Adriana was the first female in her family in two hundred years to ever scoff at the idea of a debutante ball, and the wearing of the red dress, She did not give credence to the belief handed down over generations, that the dress held magical powers. Giving in to her mother's entreaties at least to try on the dress, her thoughts were on the suitors who would vie for her hand in marriage should she comply with tradition. She wanted to be loved for herself, for her spirit and her mind, and not for the beauty of the body that was transitory, or for her inheritance. As she knelt to pick up petals that had fallen from the rose clipped to the side of her hair, she did not see the ray of sunlight that streamed through the window sash, and encircled her in a halo. The antique free-standing mirror reflected her surreal image....