She shook her head, her dark hair glistening in the golden light that seeped through the open door behind them. “I’m playing like someone who’s forgotten most of the notes.”
“You can pretend, Luzi, but I know full well that you played every note to perfection.”
She sighed. “I don’t know how I played. I was lost in the music.”
“As was I.” He turned around, leaning back against the balustrade so he could see her eyes. “Where are your parents?”
And then he wished he couldn’t see her eyes, at least not the sadness in them before her gaze fell to the tree-lined walk below. “They were uninvited.”
Blood rushed to his face. “What?”
“They received a letter yesterday rescinding their invitation.”
The hairs on the back of his neck stood as rigid as the soldiers who’d escorted Hitler into their city. “But they didn’t rescind your invitation?”
“No, they needed someone to play. I almost refused but...”
“Your mother?”
“She thinks the music will carry us away from here.”
He clenched his fists, anger erupting inside him. “It’s wrong, Luzi.”
“I know,” she said, her voice small. “But what are we to do?”
“We fight it.”
“Not on our own.” She turned and stepped away from the railing. “I must return to my seat.”
“A few more minutes,” he begged. “I don’t know when I’ll see you again.” His parents would insist that they leave before the musicians finished playing, at a time deemed fashionable by his father.
She smiled at him. “I’ve no doubt it will be soon.”
And then he heard the melody of flutes inside the hall, followed by two violins playing “Village Swallows from Austria,” a piece written by Josef Strauss to accompany the Viennese waltz.
Luzi stepped forward, her smile gone. “They’ve started without me.”
“It’s too late to join them now,” Max said, reaching for her arm.
She shivered, rubbing her hands together. “Herr Krause will be livid.”
He watched the women inside the ballroom lift the hems of their long dresses, preparing to dance. It was a political waltz for their city, meant to communicate freedom for all.
“Please, Luzi,” he asked again. “Just one dance.”
She closed her eyes, as if listening for the answer in the music.
“We’ll pretend that we’re an empress and emperor,” he said. “Sisi and Franz Joseph.”
“Only part of a dance,” she finally relented. “I must return to my seat before they begin the next song.”
“Part of a dance, then.”
She slowly picked up the hem of her dress, and he took her hand. “Let’s show them how to waltz.”
It seemed to him as if the gates to heaven opened up, joy raining down as the angels themselves sang in his mind. Luzi was in his arms, following his lead as they circled the floor to music that once defined all of them in this room.
If only they could dance all night together.
