His gaze zeroed in on me, a darkness percolating there that froze me to the bone. “What are you doing?” he growled.
“I just heard the clamor,” I stammered and lifted my plate. “I came up to get a snack.”
Frederick towered over me and crossed his arms over his chest. “And where is Arielle?”
I shook my head. “You know she’s a free spirit as much as I do.”
He glowered. “Except I told her she needed to spend time with you. You’re to be her husband, and if she’s out at the club by herself constantly, it could look bad for our families. You wouldn’t want that, would you?”
I swallowed hard. Was this his attempt at pushing me to rein her in? If so, he’d chosen the wrong fiancé for the task. Not only was Arielle the whimsical sort to do what she wanted, but I’d never been a domineering personality. If that were the case, I wouldn’t have ended up in this predicament.
“No, sir,” I responded, even if I didn’t have the slightest idea what he wanted me to do about his daughter. If anyone would have sway with her, he would.
“Besides, too much time in this place will make you idle,” he said, glancing over me. “You and Arielle need some excursions away from here.”
My heart thudded harder. What had inspired his sudden concern? The conversation with Jacques lay heavy in my mind. If Frederick was breathing down my throat, my window of escape had minimized if not vanished. All those hours and days when the family had barely been around, squandered.
“I’ll make sure it happens,” Frederick said, an edge to his tone that I perceived as a threat. There was something about him, a darkness in his eyes, tension in the air in his presence, that had made me uneasy from the start. My stomach twisted, and all I could do was bob my head with a nod. I clutched my plate and took the silence as a cue to dismiss myself. Walking by him felt like striding by a crocodile in the wild, where you were aware that at any moment, they’d snap their jaws and devour you.
The moment I stepped into the hall, breath filled my lungs again. Shuffling had sounded earlier, implying someone else had been here. I’d heard voices.
But not another set of footsteps.
My heart thrummed as I stared down this corridor, one that had become achingly familiar in the past few months. One I’d traveled time and time again to go paint. I walked in that direction, looking to put some distance between Frederick and myself. Arielle had been around this morning, but after her phone rang, she’d flitted off to another social occasion, the same way she always did.
The closer I got to the studio, the slower my footsteps grew. A sound drew my attention at once, coming from the other roomthat Ursuline had showed me early on in my time here. From the music room.
A faint piano melody reached my ears, and excitement simmered through my veins. Only one person I knew played the piano in this house, and they were the one I’d been desperate to see for well over a week now. The one I’d dreamed of every night, who I ached for.
The familiarity of the melody stopped me in my paces. I’d heard it before. Somewhere.
Somewhere important.
Then they began to sing.
Their rich low voice swept through me like a caress, and with the steady saturation of a rainstorm, the realization rolled through me of where I’d heard that melody, that voice before.
I’d barely been conscious, but someone had held me. They’d sung the song while I ached all over, trying to recover, after somehow making it out of the storm at sea alive.
After someone had saved me.
My heart thrummed at a hummingbird’s pace. Could it truly be?
I stopped in front of the doorway. Their back was to me, but they played the piano with a fervor that enthralled me, their voice seductive and so memorable it engraved itself on my very bones. They continued to sing, the lullaby I’d awoken to on the shore what felt like a lifetime ago.
The memories crashed into me—of being tossed around by the ocean, of the slow, sure drag to the depths, of the panic, the fear, the choking realization that this was the end.
And then of safety. Of the warm sunlight and the immense calm.
Of being in their arms.
No wonder they’d felt familiar from the moment we met.
“It was you,” I murmured, unable to help myself. My heart expanded to the point it threatened to burst out of my chest. “You’re the one who saved me.”
The slight slipped key and hitch of their shoulders offered the only indication of their surprise as they continued to play and sing in their strong, steady voice. I leaned against the doorframe, the surprise cascading over me. Of course Ursuline would’ve been my savior. They’d been rescuing me over and over again, whether in large or small ways. Guilt prickled through me.
And I’d pushed back at them after we’d kissed.
