“If he didn’t write the music, would you still love him?” Alice asked.
“Of course. It makes no difference to me whether he composes or not as long as I know the truth.” She clamped a hand to her mouth as she recalled hearing the “Essence of Brilliance” when it was a rougher piece and then again last night. “I do know the truth. He wrote all that music. He is an astonishing composer.”
Alice smiled. “And would you have wished for him to bring up a prior betrothal while you were still falling in love, or worse, on the same evening as your engagement?”
“No, but in all the discussions we’ve had about Mr. and Mrs. Castern, he ought to have confessed to once having feelings for her.”
“Men, even your dear brother, need some polishing and a little training when it comes to what we women want to know,” Alice said. “Wouldn’t you agree, Clarity?”
But Brilliance’s sister’s mouth was full of another cookie, and all she could do was nod.
Chapter Thirty
Vincent paced the front hall of the Diamond home. Eventually, their butler informed him that Lady Brilliance was not at home.
He frowned and looked at Mr. Dunley. “Are you saying she isnot at homeas in the lady doesn’t wish to see me, or is she truly not here?”
Mr. Dunley’s placid expression did not alter. “Lady Brilliance is truly not here.”
“But she was expecting me,” Vincent pointed out as if that would change matters. He had been ready to beg her forgiveness for every real or perceived flaw in his character as well as for withholding information he ought to have shared.
Mr. Dunley said nothing more. After all, what could the butler do?
Vincent handed him his calling card and left. In that instant, he believed she hadn’t intended to snub him, nor even to perpetrate a flagrant act of incivility, but had simply experienced a change of heart. He would give her a little time to consider that his previous engagement to Lydia meant nothing to him now.
And when next he saw her, he would explain how he had stopped the legal proceedings for her safety, so they couldspend time together immediately without fear of reprisal from Ambrose.
It all made perfect sense, except he ought to have told her both those thingsbeforeshe found out for herself. Moreover, he could not guess how she’d found out between the Spencer House conservatory and re-entering the costumed assembly in the Great Room.
At home, he found himself at his piano, tinkering before inevitably playing the “Essence of Brilliance.” It amused him that people would think he considered the piece brilliant.
“What people?” he asked himself. No one heard his work except for Brilliance. Her and the hundreds who attended Ambrose’s concerts over the years.Blast the man!His fingers came down hard upon the keys.
He had let his hopes rise that he might regain his latest piece and with it, some small satisfaction from a judge announcing in a court that the music was his.
For the first time in years, Vincent felt a little ... lost. He had grown to accept the thievery and the betrayal over the past three years and had slowly begun to play again while composing once a year for his mother’s birthday. But now, he was unsure whether to keep composing when so many of his “children” were in Ambrose’s nefarious hands. Even his ‘Il Rinnovo,’The Renewal, written as he began to let Brilliance enter his heart. Perhaps, he should give up and stop composing altogether.
His butler, who knew not to disturb him in his conservatory unless the house was on fire, tapped gently, pushed open the door, and stuck his sandy-haired head into the room.
“My lord, there is a Lady Brilliance here to see you,” Mr. Chambers said. “She claims to be your betrothed.”
His heart soared as he rose to his feet. Brilliance still considered herself to be his fiancée.Thank God!Vincent had allbut convinced himself she regretted everything and would never speak to him again.
“Please show her into the —”
“I am here,” she said, stepping around his tall, thin butler and into the room.
As if nothing unpleasant had occurred, she glanced around the room, taking in his sanctuary with her vivid blue eyes — every detail of its disarray including the abandoned brandy glass from the previous night after she’d left him at the ball, the discarded coat and shoes from his costume, as well as the wretched wig. Finally, she looked directly at him.
Her smile allowed the tightness in his chest to loosen.
“You may leave us, Mr. Chambers. And by the way, this delightful lady will soon be Lady Hewitt.” Then the dread seeped into him again. “Won’t you?” he asked Brilliance.
“Yes,” she replied softly.
“Congratulations, my lord, my lady,” his butler said with an expression that stated having a mistress of the house was of no more consequence to his day than if a bag of apples had been left on the front step. Then he bowed to each. “Will that be all?”
“Yes, Chambers. And we thank you for your exceedingly warm words.”
