“Why?” His voice remained even. “What did you hope to accomplish?”
“I knew you would hear others who weren’t as talented, and thus, by the time your name was called, I hoped you would have gained the confidence needed to play for us.”
She held her breath. Instead of looking irate, however, he started to laugh. Finally, he took her arm and tucked it under his. The warmth and strength of him took her breath away.
“Is that why you humiliated yourself with your piano performance? In order to bolster me?”
“Why, yes.” And then she shook her head. “I knew it was bad, but was it truly dreadful?”
“Beyond dreadful. It was painful to listen while you picked out the notes. You nearly succeeded in your goal, by the way.”
“Did I?” she asked, relishing his body alongside her own as they continued to climb toward the plateau.
“If you had gone on much longer, I might have had to push you aside and at least play three notes in a row without pausing.”
“Your intrusion would have been welcome, I assure you. I couldn’t have continued if I had looked behind me to see the faces of my captive audience.” She ought to be mortified at how poor her musical abilities were given her companion’s great talent, but his lack of arrogance left her unbothered. “The two times I have seen you playing, you were doing so from memory. Can you read music?”
“I can,” Lord Hewitt said. Then he raised an eyebrow at her. “And a lot better than you, by the way.”
She laughed, taking no offense as, clearly, he meant none. “Have you written out your own music so others can play it, too?”
The man beside her stiffened, changing from relaxed to tense in the space of a heartbeat.
“That’s the last thing I want to do.” His tone was terse.
Lord Hewitt was a mystery, and the only way to understand a mystery was to ask questions. “Why?”
“That is not your concern,” he snapped. Then he shook his head, apparently releasing whatever tension had got hold of him. “I apologize for sounding harsh. Yet while I am mentally capable of keeping my music in my head, I shall continue to do so.”
Curious and more curious,she thought.
“Careful,” he said, drawing her past a small gully and around some chickweed bushes interspersed with purple marsh orchids. “We’re almost there.”
“I would just as soon our destination were far away and that we had hours before I had to get back in the saddle. The best horse is harnessed to a swift carriage.”
“You don’t like to ride?” he asked.
Brilliance realized it was a mark against her and perhaps even a deterrent to securing Lord Hewitt’s fond admiration. Gentlemen, especially noblemen, appreciated women who could ride with them in Hyde Park.What could she say?
“I don’t mind it,” she hedged, determined not to lie to him, “and it’s possible I shall grow more comfortable with practice. Today’s ride was a little long, and in truth, I found it rattling. Nerve-racking, if you will. Probably the way you feel about performing in public.”
He didn’t say anything to that, but after a thoughtful moment, he patted her arm.
“If we can ride out again this week, you may, as you said, feel increasingly at ease as you gain experience.”
What a generous offer!She hoped it was because he wanted to be with her, not because he wanted to spend more time riding horses.
“I would like that,” she said. “To be honest, I would like any time we spend together, be it on horseback, walking in the tall grass as we are now, or otherwise.”
Vincent halted at thetop of the rise, looked up at the blue sky with its few puffy white clouds, and smiled to himself. LadyBrilliance was unlike any female he’d ever met. He had spent the entire morning in the presence of Lady Georgiana, and the difference between the two ladies was stark.
While Lady Georgiana was pretty with a practiced skill for conversing upon many topics, she was also coy and flirtatious. And where Lady Brilliance was concerned, the former was downright vindictive. Lady Brilliance, on the other hand, was forthright and honest in a direct, effortless way that most people, in his experience, simply were not. It left one far too vulnerable, but she seemed unaware of that. Or brave enough not to care.
Moreover, her emotions, sometimes even her thoughts, were plainly apparent.How did she go through life being so transparent?
“There you go again,” he said finally, looking into her indigo eyes.
“Where am I going?” she asked.
