“Also by the sea,” Agnes murmured.“Do you wish to travel?”
Miss Walden bit the corner of her bottom lip.“I don’t think I would care to follow the drum and live in a tent,” she said slowly, looking between Gert and Agnes.“But I think I would very much enjoy traveling in coaches and staying at inns and hotels if it meant being able to visit the Continent and see places like the Paris Opera House.”
“Even if it means traveling with a gaggle of schoolgirls?”Agnes chuckled.
“Especially with schoolgirls.”Sophia shot a look filled with humor at Miss Ebrington.“They keep me alert and are always full of surprises.”
Miss Ebrington, still deep in conversation with Matthew, failed to notice.
“Congratulations, my dear,” Gert said.“I can only imagine how much this has been weighing on your mind, the uncertainty of your future after you leave here.”She shot a meaningful look at Vincent.
Baffled, Vincent glanced at Miss Walden and back to Gert.Was he supposed to be involved or understand something about Sophia’s future after she finished Gert’s memoir?She would likely finish within a week or so, then be on her way to holiday somewhere before taking up her new job in Exmouth.Or Dover.
It didn’t matter.As soon as Matthew returned with his special license and wed Miss Ebrington, Vincent would be on his way to Italy, to meet Nonna Vincenza.He likely would not return to England for months.
His gut twisted again.His chest constricted to the point that breathing became difficult.
Why should the thought of going to Italy distress him?He’d been looking forward to this journey for most of his life.
“I can’t decide,” Xavier said, closing the door on the cabinet.“Vincent, why don’t you play your new composition for us?”
Aunt Gert looked up from petting Henry.“New?”She leaned forward in her chair.“An original composition?”
“Er, yes.”He’d rehearsed it several times, struggling to concentrate, what with remembering that his collaboration session with Sophia had ended with kissing her.And how much he wanted to kiss her again.
He lumbered to his feet and headed toward the pianoforte.As he was passing Sophia on her way to trade places with him on the sofa, he caught her hand.
“Play with me,” he said softly.
She raised her brows, a smile dancing at the corners of her mouth.
He gestured over his shoulder at the harpsichord.“A duet.The counter melody you were playing earlier.”
He saw her intake of breath, her mouth beginning to form the refusal.
“Please.”He squeezed her fingers.
His heart stopped beating until she gave him a gentle squeeze in return.“Very well.”
They took their respective seats.After he gave the signal with a nod, they began playing.
All conversation halted, Vincent noticed from the corner of his eye, even Matthew and Miss Ebrington, everyone paying close attention to the performance.
By ten bars in he forgot there was an audience.Had eyes only for his hands on the keyboard and for Sophia.She silently communicated with him when she was going to go off on a tangent, and he softened the pianoforte to better allow the harpsichord to be heard, then went back up tofortissimowhen they played in unison.
His heart swelled.His original piece—crafted with Sophia’s help—was up to the exacting standards he’d set for himself.It sounded even better with her accompaniment.
He could spend a lifetime composing and playing with her.He might even learn from her how to be a better composer, as her skills clearly exceeded his in that category.
And he didn’t mind that at all.
They finished in perfect unison with the dramatic pair of chords, grinning at each other.
He wanted to sweep her into his arms and kiss her but she was all the way across the room.As he stood from the bench to join her, however, he became aware of the applause.And cheers.
He blinked to clear the haze in his mind, and bowed.
“Well done, my boy!”Gert called.She held her hand over her chest and possibly sniffed back a tear.“That is exactly what I’ve been hoping to hear.I knew you were capable of creating such moving music as that.”
