“I’ve always known that. He’s simply never been given a chance.”
She agreed with the valet and turned to leave. “I’m off to explore the house. Thank you for all you do for Charles.”
He truly wasn’t expecting a compliment and Cathryn could see his face redden ever so slightly. He mumbled something, but she didn’t stay around to find out what it was. She didn’t want to embarrass him more than she already had. He deserved to be complimented. Charles wasn’t easy at times. She knew that, even in the relatively short time she’d known her husband. He wasn’t a man to share his feelings. Even being excited for her chance to play in front of royalty was hard for him. He didn’t understand what all the fuss was about. Instead, now, he said little, leaving himself the ability to absorb what he’d just learned and respond appropriately.
She was confident having moved to their own estate would be a great help to his self-esteem. He was smart, but because of some idiosyncrasies, he’d been deemed mad. There were more epithets, but mad was the easiest one people used. Charles was anything but mad.
*
Cathryn promptly receivedthe music the Prince of Wales and his wife wanted to hear the night of her performance. She had four pieces of their choosing, and two could be of her own. The pieces weren’t complicated or overly long, but they weren’t ones she played on a regular basis, nor did she believe they were compositions the public heard at concerts often. They were what their majesties wanted, and who was she to challenge them? Shewould choose one popular piece for one of her two. The other she wasn’t sure of yet.
Practice became all-consuming for her. She would begin right after breakfast and play non-stop until she was satisfied with how each piece sounded and how well she played them. There was little time for anything else. Everything had to be perfect. If she impressed their majesties, it could lead to her playing for others privately like this soiree or publicly.
She hadn’t given thought that her non-stop practicing might get on others’ nerves, but her parents had raised her that if you were good at something, you perfected it even if that meant disrupting the daily harmonic balance of the house.
In the evenings during dinner, she would listen attentively to her husband tell her about his day and accomplishments about the estate. Cathryn listened, but her mind was never far from her music.
“Cathryn, I’m afraid I have a conflict,” he said, a serious tone to his voice.
“What sort of conflict?”
“I am supposed to do a talk at Oxford the day of your performance for their majesties.”
“We can meet at the house and go from there. I don’t see the conflict,” she said.
“I’m expected to attend a dinner afterwards.”
She mulled over what he just told her. “How long have you known about this?”
“Since yesterday.”
“I see.”
Charles cleared his throat. “I apologize for the inconvenience.”
She slammed her hand down on the table. “This is the most important night of my life and all you can do is offer an apologyfor being unable to attend. I demand you cancel or change the date.”
“I can’t,” he replied.
“Can’t or won’t,” she barked. “For God’s sake, Charles, I’m playing for royalty. I think that trumps anything you might have going on that evening.”
“You’re being selfish, Cathryn.”
She shook her head. “I’m not. If I were in your shoes, I’d cancel.”
“I’ll meet you at the house,” he said.
“Don’t bother. I’m going to go on alone. This way you don’t have to rush.”
“I appreciate your gesture, but I simply can’t cancel.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
He sighed and repeated, “Won’t.”
“That’s rich,” she replied. “You know what? Accompany me if you want, or go do whatever it is you think is more important. I’ll be just fine without you.”
Without another word, Cathryn bolted from the room. Her anger was growing, and she didn’t dare stay and continue the conversation for fear of making the situation worse. She kept walking until she found herself at the door of her bedchamber. Hesitating for a moment, but still angry and frustrated, she opened the door and walked in. She locked the door behind her before crossing the sitting room to the door that adjoined their two suites. She locked that door as well.
