Did he stand away from the piano?
“What were you planning to warm up with? Scales?”
Teddy gave a bitter laugh that made her insides twist. He was an altogether different person when he was on stage with his orchestra. Now she understood perfectly well why people thought him volatile at the best of times. She was glad to have never experienced this side of his personality.
“I have no patience for your antics today, and you are repeatedly late for rehearsal. This is the last time, Mr. Hendlesmith. Leave. You are not invited back.”
“De Burgh, be reasonable.” Now, when even she knew it was too late, the pianist’s tone of voice came across as contrite and he went so far as to slam the cover over the piano keys.
“This is me being reasonable. If you wish to work with anyone in London again, you’ll leave without another word. Otherwise, I suggest you pack your bags and head to Vienna. I fear they will not be so welcoming of you when you cannot show up to rehearsals, let alone performances, on time.”
“I’ve had it with your holier than thou attitude. You cannot ask me to leave because I’m done with your lectures and reprimands. You treat me as if I were a child, never able to please you regardless of what I do. Good luck finding another pianist. Few will work with you after your last less than spectacular orchestration, and you know it for truth.”
“Good-bye, Mr. Hendlesmith.” There was silence for some time between the musicians and Teddy. She heard the pianist leave, the front door to the opera house whooshing shut with a draft of cold in the man’s wake. “Take ten minutes everyone.” Rosa could hear Teddy’s.
She sat back in her chair, wondering what Teddy planned now. He had plenty of time to find another pianist. She could name a handful living in the London area who would be thrilled to work on this piece.
The soft tread of Teddy’s shoes grew louder the closer he came to the box. Then she could smell his clean scent when the curtain was drawn back. “I’m sorry you had to witness that. I knew I shouldn’t have hired Klaus. Our last project did not go well.”
“You’ve nothing to be sorry for. He won’t be successful in this business if he cannot learn to control his outbursts to the maestro. And tardiness will get him nowhere.”
“I’ve a favor to ask.”
She did not like the direction in which this conversation was headed. And the last thing she wanted was to refuse him anything, but she knew she would not be able to say no to him should he ask. Though she would try to.
“Do not ask it of me. It isn’t that I refuse to play, but that I cannot play with an orchestra. I haven’t played with anyone in more than eight years. Before my accident, I rarely played in an ensemble larger than four.”
“Just today, Rosa.”
They both knew it would be for more than a day.
“Teddy—”
“I wouldn’t lie to you, Rosa. Just a couple of days until I can hold trials for new pianists.”
She sighed and pulled her gloves off. Thank goodness for the long, belled sleeves of her dress. She couldn’t believe she was going to do this. Oh, yes she could. She’d been eager to work with other musicians for far too long now. And spending all this time with Teddy made her want a piece of her old life back.
“My wrists are a tad sore, but I should be able to play for a while. Movement will be good for them.”
He took her hand and assisted her to her feet.
“My musicians have had very little in the way of hearing the piano parts with Klaus’ continued absences.”
How sweet that he was still going to give her a speech for his reasoning. Couldn’t he see she was willing to help? She wouldn’t have agreed otherwise.
“You helped me with this piece, Rosa. I know you can play it well. They are not virtuosos. Just men trying to make a little money on the side with their musical talent. I do have another musician in mind for the opening night of this piece. But for now, you know that the piano supports this concerto and the players won’t truly understand their roles until they hear the whole of it. I’ve no one else to turn to on short notice. I know you can play it from heart, better than I.”
“They will not take kindly to a veiled woman in their midst.” A necessary point. But it would be taken better than her blindness.
“They have no choice, love. I promise to start auditioning another pianist come morning. It shouldn’t take more than a week to secure one.”
She checked her veil again. Not that she thought any of them would know her. It was a matter of preserving her privacy and hiding the bruising and cuts on her face. What if they thought Teddy responsible for it?
“You can warm your fingers and the keys while they finish break.”
Tomorrow, or the next day, there would be someone else to play the piece. While she should be honored to play for him today, she was worried she’d disappoint everyone present.
His fingers twined around hers as he guided her down the hall and toward the stairs. She heard a few voices, so not all of them had gone for fresh air. The voices grew quieter, one by one, the closer she got to the stage where they were set up. Teddy’s presence at her side was reassuring; she’d never falter under his guidance. She stood taller, knowing they scrutinized her, assessed her from the veil to the clothes that were of the newest fashion, but not something a young miss would wear as it was too bold and cut too low for a lady.
“Stairs to the stage are right in front of you. Four of them, a lip on the top step.”
He whispered so the others would not hear. Did he hope to salvage her dignity by pretending she could see where she walked?
They finally stopped. It seemed all was silent around them, as the other musicians no doubt wondered what their conductor was about.
Standing behind her, he grasped her hips. She felt the press of his hands even through all the layers she wore, as he guided her over to the bench.
Running the back of her hand over the keys, she counted how many octaves the piano had. Six. A fine piano indeed and much like the one her father apparently wanted to give back to her.
She spread out her skirts so they weren’t bunched up in the middle and tested the weight needed for the damper. She turned her head so it appeared she glanced over her shoulder, knowing Teddy stood to her left. “You requested something worthy of a great Érard.”
“I think it too easy a task for you.” Teddy’s chuckle seemed a contradiction to the direct, no-nonsense de Burgh he’d been but moments ago with the other pianist.
Turning back to the piano, she played chords in A-flat major. Keeping her tone soft, slow, and soothing, she decided on a beautiful piece of love and dreaming. Something to calm the harsh tone that had invaded the room before she’d descended from the private box.
Liszt’s Liebesträum came out clear and clean through the piano. She embellished some of the runs, exaggerated the volumes between pianissimo and forte to further test the ability of the instrument she played on. Not a weak note to be had, not a clunker of a key. It must have been well tuned before the practices had started for Teddy’s ensemble. When she made it to the end of the piece, she held the final chords with the damper and let the sound die away on its own, finally lifting her hand from the keys when the strings ceased to sing.
Other than someone clearing his throat, it was quiet around her.
Teddy leaned in close to her. “Brava, darling. Now to introduce you to the ensemble. There’s not a man who wasn’t ensnared in the web of beauty you created. And in less than five minutes of being at the piano.”
Before she could ask him not to introduce her by name, he stood with a click of his heels and called everyone to the stage to get on with their practice. “Rosalie Montgomery will be standing in as our pianist until I secure another. As you heard, she’s quite accomplished. She’s helped me with the arrangement and knows it as well as I do.”
She stood and gave a slight bow of her head. “I’m thrilled to have this opportunity to work with you.” She sat back down, h
oping her name didn’t seem familiar to anyone. Maybe because they didn’t yet know she was blind, they hadn’t made the connection.
No one voiced an objection to her presence. Instead, members of the ensemble stood and gave their names. A shame she didn’t know what instrument each one played.
“All right, let’s start from the top.” Then he was tapping his baton on the podium.
She was glad he didn’t ask if she wanted a cue for her entrances. She’d figure it out herself and embellish any mistakes.
But, as he told the orchestra, she knew all the pieces and only fumbled over two passages when playing with the full orchestration. No one seemed to notice, and if Teddy had, he hadn’t said anything. More importantly, she didn’t know the last time she’d enjoyed playing so much as she did now.
SHE PLAYED BEAUTIFULLY. THERE HAD been many curious gazes as he’d brought her up on stage. But those men, most of whom he’d worked with before, would not see her as a woman of ill repute. He well knew she worried they’d think her no more than his mistress.
She was so much more and didn’t even realize it.
From the moment her fingers had caressed the keys on the Liebesträum, she’d enthralled every man in the opera house with her harmonious spell. Then, the way she’d played his concerto had left him speechless. He saw the looks of wonder on the men around him. The curious glances they gave her during the solos, the awe when her fingers played not a note out of place as the rest of the players struggled with some of the passages they were still learning. And she did it all without sheet music to guide her. Right enough, she’d worked with him for a couple of weeks perfecting the final version of this piece.
But she still amazed him.
He turned his gaze to his veiled beauty as he handed off his gloves to the butler. “I just realized I should have asked, but I wasn’t thinking when I gave instructions before we left earlier.”
“Instructions for what?” She released the frog closure on her pelisse. He slid it off her shoulders before the footman could help her.
“I’ve gone and had your things sent to my room. If you’d like me to set you up in your old apartment, I’ll arrange it at once.”
“I prefer your arrangement.”
He breathed a sigh of relief and waved off the footman after handing him the pelisse. He was finally alone with Rosa, though he doubted either of them had much more on their mind than a late afternoon nap.
“Good, because I might have put up a fuss,” he teased.
“I don’t want to be alone.” He could hear the fear still present from last night. While he knew it might take her some time to heal, every day that she held that fear he wanted to search out Johnson and beat the bloody hell out of him all over again.
“You won’t be for as long as I can help it.” He touched the edge of the veil, wondering if he should remove it or let her.
“In fact, I’d like to go up now if that’s all right. I know there are few servants here, but I’ll not have them staring at the evidence of my assault.” That was why she made no move to take off the black swath of gauze. “And I want this veil off. It’s suffocating and itches.”
“I’ve sent the footman off. We are quite alone.”
“I heard the door shut behind him.” She was already removing her veil and hat.
When she was done, she pressed her face against his chest, leaning into him—in exhaustion, no doubt. With his chin resting lightly atop her head, he noticed the familiar scent of lilacs was absent because she’d bathed with his soap last night. “Thank you for everything today, Teddy.”
“Believe me when I say this: It was all my pleasure.”
He slid his hands down her arms and around her waist to draw her in closer. He didn’t want to let her go. But he knew eventually she would want to leave again. When her hands stretched shyly over his, he smiled. “I enjoyed having you at rehearsal. You finally got to hear what you’ve helped me create.”
“You exaggerate.” She dropped her hands away to cover a yawn, then walked out of his arms, and held her hand out to him. “I want to lie down for a while.”
“I will arrange to have dinner brought up in a bit. Do you want to go ahead of me? Or do you want me to join you?”
He walked her over to the stairs. Once her hand found the banister, she turned back in his direction. “I’d like to head up now if you don’t mind. I think I can find my way.”
“I will see you soon.”
She took the stairs slowly. Was she sluggish because she was tired, or because of the added aches from yesterday? Waiting for her to turn the corner, he went directly to the kitchen to give his order for dinner and asked for a tray of tea and snacks to be brought up as soon as it could be prepared.
He took the stairs shortly after, hoping to give her a little extra time to settle in. Maybe he should have put her in her own room. She might have felt more comfortable, despite what she’d told him about not wanting to be alone.
When he reached his sitting room, her veil was set upon the sofa, her sensible walking boots kicked under it. Following the trail of clothes to his bedroom—her gloves, shawl, even her corset were thrown over the bench at the end of his bed—he found her snuggled deep in the mountain of blankets and pillows.
She was sound asleep. He couldn’t seem to stop watching her. The swelling on her lip had gone down significantly with the aid of the healing ointment he’d put on her yesterday and again this morning. The bruise on her face had darkened to a purplish-green and spread beneath her cheek. Hopefully it would be gone in a few days. She looked fragile and too delicate curled up in his bed.
A knock at the door brought him out of his reverie. He opened the door and was greeted by Rosa’s maid.
“Stop frowning at me. Your mistress sleeps. Let me take the plate of biscuits and you can take the tea back downstairs; she didn’t get enough sleep last night.”
Rosa had been restless last night, but it had been for more reasons than Johnson’s attack. And when they’d finally gone to bed, her dreams seemed fitful, as she had tossed for the remainder of the night. It had kept him awake, as well, and the need for sleep had finally caught up with him, not that he minded.
The maid’s eyes searched his, then she spoke in almost a whisper. “She’s had a hard life. You can’t get involved and make her want more than what she’s got if you are planning to leave her in the end. If that’s the case, you should let her go now.”
Not wanting to reveal the depth of his attachment to Rosa—not until Rosa admitted that she wanted more—it took him some minutes to respond. “Your mistress asked to come here after Johnson’s attack.”
“Same reasoning still goes.” The maid stuck out her chin stubbornly.
What a bold woman this maid was. But he respected her dedication to Rosa.
“Your concern is misplaced.” He rubbed his hand over his face and set the plate on the console table inside his room. “We’ll ring for tea when we’re up.”
With a curtsy, she turned and left, though she didn’t look happy to have him end the conversation. Closing the door, he loosened his necktie and the cuffs at his sleeves, took his vest off, and headed for the bedroom. It was time to catch up on sleep.
Keeping on his smallclothes, he slipped into the bed behind Rosa, gathering her close, one arm wrapped about her middle, and the other tucked under the pillow where she rested her head. With a light kiss to her temple, he settled in to sleep.
The next awareness he had was of her heated breath fanning over his bare chest. He reached out for Rosa, but she evaded his capture, tsking at his attempt. He smiled and tucked his arms beneath his head and curled his fingers together so he wasn’t tempted to reach for her again.
“Did you sleep well?” He yawned the words.
“Yes.” Her tongue circled the flat disk of his nipple. He shivered at the pleasurable feeling it roused in him. “Very well. Is it dark outside?”
He focused on the window on the north side of the room. He’d
forgotten to close the curtains before climbing into bed with her. “The last rays of the day have stretched their golden fingers along the sky. Night will fall soon.”
“You should have been a poet I think.”
He chuckled at that. “I prefer my music, love.”
The endearment caused her hands to stop their exploration for a moment, then she tucked her fingers under the edge of his smalls and pulled them below his hips. He helped her by lifting up his pelvis and kicking them off when they were around his knees. She climbed atop him, her thighs on either side of his, her pantalets gone. His cock stood to attention, brushing the soft curls at the juncture of her thighs.
Her hand clasped the base of his cock, uncapped the head with a little pull to the skin and then she seated herself fully on him. He closed his eyes and took in a shaky breath. She didn’t move once sheathed.
Pulling himself up to a sitting position, he wrapped his arms around her, his head rested against the curve of her breasts. The tie on her chemise had come loose at the middle, his every exhalation made the satin ribbons dance away from him, then come back to tickle his lips as he inhaled.
Bunching up the material of her chemise to the small of her back, he slipped his hands beneath, first cupping the glorious cheeks of her backside, then massaging the length of her warm back. He couldn’t get enough and wanted to touch her everywhere. Her movements above him were slow and languorous even as she rode him, taking him in and out of her body at a pace that left them both breathless. He couldn’t help but press up harder every time she thrust down.
Unable to control his ardor, he grasped her shoulders to hold her tight, to still the movement of their bodies. “I’m going to let off far too soon if you continue.”
“I don’t mind, Teddy.”
“I do. Just hold still a moment. I don’t want this to end before I’ve got you next to me flesh to flesh.”
“Mm, that sounds like a fantastic idea.” Her voice was sultry and husky, full of desire.
Tempted by You Page 18