History

What can one say about Adella Sturridge (nee Dubois)? Everyone who knows her falls into the habit of calling her Della to her face and ditzy Della behind her back. Her father, Phillip, was a cousin removed several times from the 4th Earl of Ripon. Her mother was Lady Adella Robinson, after whom she was named. Della never met her mother; they were two ships passing the mortal coil in opposite directions upon her birth. Phillip never remarried. His heart always belonged to his late wife. His love language was extravagant gifts, the best tutors, and seeing that his daughter should want for nothing. Sturridge’s experience fell short of how else to show affection to a daughter, and most of his time and energy was dedicated to his son, Della's older brother, Frederick. He was the future of a line, and she was a constant reminder of his loss. Anyone else might have said the bitterness in him stopped his heart. Della romanticized it all. Her father had finally joined his beloved wife, and Della was happy for them both.

Before his passing, Della worked hard to make her father proud. He bought her pretty things, and she became pretty to match. Her father introduced tutors to challenge her mind, and Della learned. There is some debate about whether she earned the marks her instructors gave her or if they gave her passing marks to appease her father and keep from upsetting the girl. Perhaps Della did not learn her lessons well but learned never to let her upset show. She did not want to sadden her father or anyone else. Sometimes, the unfortunate things Della did or said made her father laugh. If she could not be brilliant, Della was determined to be entertaining.

Not all his laughter was joy, but Della did not know the difference. Sometimes, all her father could do was laugh to save face. She did foolish things at social gatherings that were inelegant or ignorant. Della once mistook a Duchess’s maid for the Duchess, having never met her. Everyone laughing at a young lady bowing and scraping to a maid in a fine gown like she was royalty was insufferable. There was no correcting her. Once informed of her mistake, she did not repeat it but replaced it with something equivalent or worse the next time they were out. Some still scoff at the time she accidentally spilled wine on a bride during her reception. Mistakes like these were events not easily erased from the public eye. When his health started to fail seriously, Phillip saw his 16-year-old daughter married to 30-year-old Draven Sturridge, 5th Earl of Ripon.

Draven was nearly twice her age, and she often blamed his lack of romantic interest in his wife on the idea that he saw her as a child because of the difference in their ages. Draven was more interested in his lifelong best friend than his wife. He entered their marriage with two sons, Charles & Edmund, whom Della treated like her own. It was the only way she would ever get to be a mother; after a few failed attempts to carry to term, her husband abandoned the notion of a third son. Draven distanced himself, and few questioned it. The young countess saw it as her husband setting her as free as he could without creating a scandal. His London residence became hers in all ways but legally, and he and his best friend would retire to the Ripon estate after the social season, as would his sons until they were old enough for boarding school. Della has since come to understand and respect the present arrangement, even if she does not like solitude.