Dance for a lifetime.
“I feel as if all of Vienna is watching us, Max.”
“Not us.” He grinned down at her. “They only have eyes for you.”
She smiled back at him, radiant. “Sometimes I think you must be blind.”
“No, but I only have eyes for you too.”
The music was coming to a close; he could feel Luzi releasing her hold. He didn’t want this to end, but he guided her toward the orchestra and then reluctantly released her. Herr Krause glared at him, and the moment the music stopped, Luzi found her place.
But no one’s glare could erase Max’s smile. He’d danced with Luzia Weiss, and she had smiled back at him.
CHAPTER 8
LUZI
VIENNA, AUSTRIA
MAY 1938
The conductor’s lecture lasted until long after the guests were gone, chastising Luzi—rightfully so—for dancing instead of joining the other musicians on the stage. Then Herr Krause dismissed her with a wave before he marched across the floor.
Luzi lifted her violin case and walked slowly toward a side door that led down into the courtyard. One of the flutists was supposed to drive her the seven kilometers home, but it seemed that Daphne had left with the rest of the orchestra. Only the waitstaff remained behind, bustling around the ballroom as if they didn’t see her, hadn’t heard the conductor screaming about her negligence.
But still she smiled at the memory of her dance. For a moment tonight, it had felt as if she were in a dream. As if all of Vienna were celebrating her coming out as a debutante, an event that would no longer happen next year or probably any year—at least for her.
Were the aristocrats, along with the Gentile bourgeoisie, whispering about the Jewish girl in Max Dornbach’s arms? Or did they wonder why she wasn’t playing her violin? Most of them knew her parents, and many of them knew her name as well, but these days, she doubted if they wanted her dancing among them.
Her mother would be irate at the conductor for keeping her so late, at Daphne for leaving her behind ... and at Luzi for succumbing to Max’s charms. She didn’t doubt that Max cared for her, but her mother said that much of Vienna was closing their doors to the Jewry here, and she wanted her daughter to be known above all else for her music.
As long as Luzi could lose herself in her music, everything would be fine.
The door at the bottom of the Rathaus staircase opened into a rectangular courtyard boxed in by a portico. The scent of spring—flowers and grass—wafted through the arched corridor on the other side, from the park that separated city hall from the University of Vienna.
Spring—the warmth of this season made her heart full.
Her violin case clutched in both hands, she lifted the bow in her mind and began to play a piece fromDie Jahreszeiten—Joseph Haydn’s oratorio about the seasons. The music sent sparks of light through the dark yard, chased away the miserable thoughts that wanted to repeat—da capa al coda—in her head.
Al fine.
She’d already rehearsed what would happen when her mother found out about her dance. Now she needed to focus her thoughts on reaching University Ring, the road beyond the park.
Her heels clicked against the stone pavers in the courtyard, like the hooves of horses that pulled the grand carriages around this city, her mind teasing her with its tricks in the absence of music. There was nothing to fear....
Like the swift flick of a match, the bitterness of cigarette smoke invaded the scent of spring. Luzi bristled in the dim lantern light, searching the portico on both sides of her for a face. It must be one of the staff, she told herself. A waiter or custodian who’d come outside to smoke.
Still she walked faster, to the corridor across the plaza, leading into the park. On the other side ofRathausplatz, she’d hail a taxi to take her home. Or catch the tram if it wasn’t too late.
Her gaze focused on the chamber of light beyond the courtyard as she began replaying the music about seasons in her head.
Something shuffled on her left, and a shadow grew where the lantern light spilled on the ground. Her first thought was to retreat into the hall, but the door had locked behind her. So she rushed forward, focused on the arch above the corridor, on the sliver of open space on the other side of these walls.
A man stepped out of an alcove, and fear clenched her chest, talons pressing through her skin. At first she couldn’t see his face, but then she recognized him. It was Ernst Schmid, the man once employed at Max’s home.
Did he know that she was playing tonight? He might have seen her name in the newspaper announcing the event.
Luzi turned away, trying to pretend he wasn’t there, pressing one heel after the other on the stone even as her mind yelled forher to run. But where would she go? It wasn’t like the last time he’d found her—this time no one was around.
