‘We are both quite concerned about how this might affect your father,’ her aunt said.
‘My father?’ She certainly wasn’t going to worry about her father, not after he’d made it abundantly clear that he had no intention of worrying about her.
‘I know he hasn’t kept in contact with you, but we’ve always made a concerted effort to know where he is and how he’s faring.’
‘How he’sfaring?’ she retorted. ‘Please don’t waste your time worrying about him, of all people. I’m certainly not, not after all these years.’
‘But Alex, this could affect him financially, not to mention that it will potentially stop him from returning to Greece too,’ her uncle said. ‘We would just hate it if you were to get caught up in any of this, for him to return because he suddenly needs your, well, your assistance. I imagine, knowing his ambition, that he will be trying to do something to reinstate himself, perhaps with the new government.’
‘My assistance?’ she asked, perplexed. ‘Whatever do you mean? How could I possibly be of assistance to him?’
‘Well,’ her aunt said, as she poured herself another drink. ‘Once, when you were younger, he angered your mother terribly by suggesting that he would secure a good marriage for you. Or should I say, a financially lucrative one. One that would benefit him personally.’
‘He thought to bargain with me, as one might a horse?’ she asked, laughing. ‘No thank you, I wouldn’t hear of it.’
Her aunt smiled at her. ‘I think your mother said something along those lines too, only her choice of words may have been slightly more colourful.’
‘The last thing we want to do is worry you,’ her uncle continued. ‘But we also need to be prepared in case your father were to show up unexpectedly. If he asks you to leave with him, or even tries to return to Greece and wants his only child by his side, it would be up to you to decide. We’d support you in whatever decision you chose to make. But your mother was very well known and highly respected in Athens, and he may well intend on reminding everyone of that.’
‘You look so like her, Alex,’ her aunt murmured. ‘Sometimes I have to blink and remind myself that you’re not her.’
Alexandra didn’t need time to consider her words. ‘This is my home now,’ she said firmly. ‘This is the only place I feel welcomed and truly part of a family, so no matter what my father claims to need, I shall not be going anywhere with him, and I shall certainly not be used by him so that he can elevate his position in society.’
Her aunt smiled at her across the table, and her uncle stroked his moustache, but she could tell that they were trying to hide their concerns. They had done so much for her, and continued to do so, and she would never know quite how to thank them for their generosity.
‘What did I miss?’ Belle entered the room with a dramatic look on her face, as if she’d missed an important party. ‘Why the glum faces? Has someone died?’
‘The monarchy has been abolished in Greece,’ Alexandra said as Belle took the seat beside her.
‘Oh, that’s a shame.’ Belle didn’t seem overly interested in the development, which only made Alex love her all the more for her indifference.
‘Do you know if Will is joining us tonight?’ her aunt said.
Both Alexandra and Belle shrugged.
‘Well, let’s start dinner. We can always set another place for him if he arrives.’
Alexandra sat back and listened as Belle and her father began to bicker good-naturedly over something, smiling at her aunt as she sipped her wine and stared back at her. It took a lot to rattle Elizabeth, but something about tonight’s announcement had certainly unsettled her aunt.
When Alexandra thought of her father, it was as if someone was clenching their fist in her stomach. It almost took her breath away sometimes when she thought about him returning for her, although as the years had passed she’d stopped worrying about him doing such a thing. In the beginning she’d been fearful every time the front doorbell rang, but by the time she’d turned eighteen, she’d believed he could no longer force her to leave with him or do anything against her will. She only hoped her beliefs hadn’t been naïve; for if he did return for her now, he would have to take her kicking and screaming, no matter what his intentions.
* * *
The next evening, Alexandra sat and watched the orchestra. Her eyes were fixed on Bernard, unable to look at anyone else as she watched him play. It was like art, the way he lost himself in the music, the way his entire body seemed to live the melody. She looked around when it was over at the other people in the audience, the way they were chatting and laughing as they moved from their seats, and she wondered if they felt as invigorated and alive as she did. Whether they’d truly experienced the intimacy of the music.
Alexandra eventually followed everyone out into the foyer, waiting near the front desk for Bernard to come and find her. She’d been fortunate tonight because he’d been able to give her a ticket—the concert hadn’t been sold out and he’d pretended she was family—so she could observe and learn as much as she could. She wouldn’t tell him that she’d barely noticed the violinists, because she’d been too busy looking at him.
‘There you are.’
She turned and found herself in Bernard’s arms, his mouth finding hers in a soft kiss. Alexandra slid her hands up the front of his shirt and tugged him forwards, looking up into his eyes.
‘You were incredible,’ she murmured. ‘As always.’
The foyer was almost empty now, and Bernard kissed her again before catching her hand and leading him with her. ‘Come on, we’re going to go out for a drink since it’s Saturday night.’
She loved it when they went out afterwards, and she happily stayed by his side as they left the foyer to find some of the other musicians.
‘If it isn’t our resident lovebirds,’ one of them said, letting out a whistle. ‘Young love, eh?’
