“Whyever not?”
If the Windermeres had a mantra, that would be it.Whyever not.
“You have talent,” said Juliet.
Valentina saw no choice available to her but to agree.
“I’ll inform Amelia to add you to the performance list,” said Delilah.
“As the final performer,” added Juliet. “She’ll be the best.”
After Delilah and Juliet left to finish their own preparations, Valentina had a moment to think, and in an instant, a decision came to her. She might be displaying her talent tonight for all the aristocracy…
But she wouldn’t be doing it alone.
So, she’d slipped into Archie’s bedroom and taken a few sheets of music. The Mozart she would need, and another, too.
Now, she gripped the case tightly. She’d refused to let a servant take it with her cape. Its cargo was too precious to let out of her sight. If everyone thought her an eccentric Italian contessa for carrying it, let them.
As she walked with Delilah and Juliet through the spacious mansion bedecked in all manner of sculptures and paintings, fine woods and marbles, again a sense of awe threatened to overwhelm her. She was a guest at a duke and duchess’s musicale. She didn’t think she would be telling her family. Mama wouldn’t approve, as she disapproved of aristocrats in the general sense.
Actually, that wasn’t entirely true.
After their meal this afternoon—was it only eight hours ago?—she’d caught Mama gazing upon Archie with an expression suspiciously close to approval.
And the thing was Archie hadn’t been his usual, overly charming self. He’d been relaxed and showed genuine curiosity about the lives ofher family. In the end, she’d felt strangely proud to have brought him to meet them. Though she suspected she would suffer endless rounds of teasing from her brothers about,“That time Valentina brought a nob to Sunday tea.”
Speaking of…
Where was the nob she’d brought to Sunday tea?
She glanced around the room they were passing through.Roomwas too humble a word for this space with its gleaming mahogany floors and crystal chandeliers, which threw golden light onto every surface—be it marble tabletop, a mustache curved into a laugh, or a bare ivory shoulder caught in an ironic shrug. Where she strolled with Delilah and Juliet guests mingled comfortably, while at the opposite end of the room chairs were assembled into straight rows for the musical portion of the evening.
It was a lovely, cultured gathering; everything and everyone proper and in their place. Even so, Valentina thought she might prefer the loose raucous gatherings in Hampstead’s small assembly rooms. What they lacked in perfection, they made up for in fun—a concept with which much of the population of this room didn’t seem to be acquainted. Not like…
Archie.
Another scan of the room found no sign of him, but she’d known it before she’d looked. The composition of the air would be different were he here.
She hadn’t seen him since they’d arrived back at Casa Windermere in the late afternoon. Not since they’d…oh, they’d… Her body heated a few degrees… Not since their—oh, there was no better word for it, so help her—rompin his carriage.
This afternoon combined with last night… A possibility occurred to her.
She might be mad for Archie.
How else could she countenance her shameless behavior?
“You look a trifle flushed, Valentina,”said Juliet.
“Shall we deposit you in a quiet corner and fetch you a cup of punch?” asked Delilah, already escorting Valentina to said quiet corner. “There are even curtains you can hide behind if the situation gets sticky.”
“In fact, you might want to anyway,” said Juliet. “I’ve noted no fewer than five lords risking neck spasms while trying to get a better look at you.”
Delilah and Juliet deposited Valentina in the discreet corner and set to their task. She felt better here than she had since entering this mansion. The people milling about this room weren’t her people.
Then she feltit…
Archie’s presence.
