Fairfax watched Jane across the room, obviously deep in thought. Finally he deemed it time to call on her to play. Miss Jamieson was coming to the end of her third song.
"Miss Matthews," he said,raisinghis voice so that it would carry across the space between them, "will you play for us?"
Her face brightened. "Oh, I would love to," she said. "The pianoforte has a beautiful tone."
"Will you select some music?" he asked.
"No," she said. "I play all my favorite pieces from memory. Of course, it is a while since I have played seriously. I fear my fingers will be somewhat stiff."
"We will forgive a few mistakes,"Sedgeworthsaid with a smile. "Come, Jane. Miss Jamieson has told me that you are very good. You have not confessed any such thing to me, of course."
She pulled a face at him as she seated herself on the bench. She sat for a few moments, Fairfax noticed, very straight-backed, her head bent, her hands loosely clasped in her lap. Both he andSedgeworthstood behind her. Miss Jamieson had wandered across the room and was looking at a large canvas hanging on one wall.
Jane lifted her hands to the keys finally and began to play. It was a Beethoven piece that Fairfax could not identify. She did stumble over a few notes at the start, but then she played without error. And she played with feeling. She clearly loved deeply the music her fingers produced.
"Your cousin did not exaggerate,"Sedgeworthsaid with admiration when she had finished. "You play extremely well, Jane." He sat down at the end of the bench next to her. "Why did we never hear you in London?"
"I do not play for an audience," she said. "Except this evening, that is."
"An audience?" he said, laughing at her. "Do you call your cousin and me and Fairfax an audience?"
She rose to her feet. "I want to hear Lord Fairfax play," she said.
Sedgeworthwandered across to join Honor before the large canvas while Fairfax seated himself and began to play, also without music.
"It is a Constable, is it not?" Honor said, not turning around. "It is quite glorious the way he captures nature."
"Yes, I believe it is,"Sedgeworthsaid. "How did you know?"
"Oh," she said, "friends of Papa's have one that I saw last year. I was enthralled by it. He has a very distinctive style."
"You are a fraud, you know, Miss Jamieson,"Sedgeworthsaid, amusement in his voice.
She looked back at him, eyebrows raised.
"How much have you studied about painting?" he asked.
"Me?" she said, eyes wide with innocence. "You know me, sir.A perfectninnyhammer.I leave all—"
"—the reading and thinking to men," he completed for her. "Yes, you have said so before, my dear. Yet you recognized and seemed quite knowledgeable about aHolbeinand a VanDyckin the portrait gallery yesterday. And when teasing Jane and me about our future travels this morning, you revealed some knowledge of the Sistine Chapel that one would not expect a 'ninny-hammer' to possess. Before you blushed and looked self-conscious, that is. I believe you are a fraud."
"Well," she said with a bright little laugh, "I have always been interested in painting. Just one of my odd little amusements, you know."
"I wonder," he said, looking at her so penetratingly that she tittered and looked self-conscious again.
"Don't tell anyone," she said, "I had a governess once who criticized my watercolors by saying that they were too passionate. I would never attract a husband, she told me, if I appeared too knowledgeable or too emotionally involved in any activity. And she was right. Look at all the admirers I had in London. Jane did not have near as many. Oh!" Her hand flew to her mouth.
"And do you value any of those admirers?" he asked. "If you were to ask me, I should say that if all their brains were mixed together, one healthy one could not be produced."
"But it is very pleasant to be so popular," Honor protested.
He looked at her with mock reproach until she giggled. "Well, anyway, it was fun for a while," she said.
"Have you seen the other Constable?"Sedgeworthasked her.
"Here?In this house?"Honor asked. "Where is it?"
"In the library," he said. "You did not follow the rest of us in there yesterday. You said something about books boring you, I believe."
