He laughed. “I thought I might have seen you upstairs playing.”
“You would like that, wouldn’t you?”
He shrugged. “Not nearly as much as you would.”
He was so frustrating! And all Sophia wanted to do was prove him wrong somehow. What could she do to show him that she was not the meek little thing he had her pictured as? That had to be something!
An idea came to her when she was told that supper was ready.
Sophia sighed with relief to hear it, because once she ate then she could retire to her room and this day would be done with. But as she prepared to present herself at supper, she stopped short, and a realization came to mind.
Why do I have to sup now? Technically, I can do it whenever I please. Gabriel is expecting me to join him, so wouldn’t it be best to do the opposite of what he expected? To do as I please.
Her pulse raced as she hurried through the manor and toward the music room. She stopped at the doorway; her sights set on the pianoforte. It called her to in its beauty, and she could already feel the music within.
As she moved toward it, she laughed as she pictured Gabriel downstairs waiting for her, likely wondering where she was. This might not have been the most wild act of rebellion evercommitted, but for Sophia it was akin to setting the house on fire and then dancing in the ashes.
She sat at the pianoforte and reached for the sheet music that sat on top. She then paused as her hand extended, a thrill shooting through her when she realized that for once, she did not have to read off the music sheets. That in this instance, she could play what she wanted.
And that’s exactly what she did.
Sophia closed her eyes, exhaled deeply, and let the music flow from her fingertips. She played scales, nothing too exciting, but she infused it with familiar melodies of songs that she knew. She let the music guide her, not thinking for a change, not worrying about pacing or poise or any of that nonsense. Shefeltthe music, rather than trying to control it.
Her heart sang. Her smile grew. The room vanished. She became one with the music in ways that she never had before – ways that her mother would never allow. It was thrilling to do, and for the first time ever she began to understand what Gabriel had been talking about when he accused her of having no heart.
“That was beautiful,” a voice spoke from the doorway.
She gasped and spun about and nearly fell from the stool when she saw Gabriel leaning against the doorway. His arms were folded. He wore his usual smirk. But his eyes glimmered in the soft candlelight, no humor there, but something else…
“I…” She looked away. “I did not realize you were there.”
“Would it make a difference?” he asked her.
“No,” she said quickly. “I mean… no, it would not have.”
He smiled. “How did it feel? Playing what you wanted, rather than what you have been told to want. I imagine it felt pretty good. One might even say freeing.”
Her heart fluttered. “It was fine.”
“Only fine?” he laughed.
“It was not technically perfect…”
“Probably not,” he agreed. “But to my ears, it is the best you have ever sounded.” His smile grew as he studied her, and she felt exposed. “More of that please. I like it when you play from the heart.”
With that, he pushed himself up and walked away.
Sophia was panting heavily. Her body was running warm. And her chest expanded so that she could feel her heart thumping as if to its own rhythm. Most importantly, she was smiling.
She liked to believe that she did not care what Gabriel thought of her. And she liked to believe that she was doing this for herself.But to hear him compliment her sent a pulse through her body, and a desire to do so again. She wanted to impress him.
So it was that she turned back and started to play a second time. And, as with the last time, she played as she wished, not as she had been taught.
There was no mother to correct her, no father to judge her, and no expectations to hold her in place. It was such a small thing in the grand scheme of her life, but to Sophia it felt huge. Finally, she was starting to experience that freedom that she had been promised.
Finally, she was starting to see the upside to this marriage.
CHAPTER 15
