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to rescue her. This had happened before to his lovely but delicate wife, Julia. Some vicious brat of a girl had forced her to sing a song. Not thinking anything of it, he had merely waited for her to dazzle him, as had the mob of people surrounding Julia. He hadn’t known how frightful she could become of crowds, how timid, how paranoid, nor did he have a clue of the damage it would cause to his wife’s fragile mind.
    Damnation, he wouldn’t stand idly by this time!
    But before he could think of a distraction, Erva began to sing. Her voice was calm, steady, and thoroughly exquisite. After a few lines, Erva plucked the piano to accompany her elegant yet haunting song. The tune floated through many notes, always ending on a slightly sad tone. It was about a woman scared for a man, the man was her friend, and he had done something to enthrall a crowd, but the woman was nonetheless worried. Then the woman confessed how she felt about her friend. She loved him.
    Will swallowed as Erva’s flowing voice turned breakable, but not as his Julia’s had. This was vulnerability for the song, the lyrics. Erva’s voice reflected the sadness and fright of the words she sang. Not because she was forced to perform.
    He’d never heard a more tender song. It reminded him of the dark ages, of medieval knights, of wanting to live in another time far from now. How Erva reminded of times of yore. How he wanted to be a knight for her. Noble and strong. How he hoped she was singing about him and no other.
    One day with the woman and he was utterly smitten.
    He hadn’t felt this way since...Julia.
    No, as much as he’d been infatuated with his wife, this was different. He’d been so young when he’d met Julia, not necessarily thinking of mutual compatibilities, but attracted to her charismatic charms that only he was privy to. With Erva though, there was no need to protect her from the crowd. They hushed and watched reverently as she performed her haunting song. Lady Anne cried, and she wasn’t the only one. People began to silently draw closer to Erva. Even perverted Major Brighton had come into the room and watched Erva with mouth ajar.
    The song twisted into a piano solo for a couple minutes, and Will watched fascinated as Erva’s body slightly rocked back and forth to the rhythm. Her lithe form, although he guessed she wasn’t trying to be a seductress, cast the last of the die. He wanted her. He wanted her badly. His body felt tight, his solar plexus exploded with...desire. His groin contracted, yet what humbled him the most was how his heart ached.
    She closed her eyes as she sang even louder, more confident, yet heartbreakingly sad. She sang that she worried she was not the one for her love. By God, but she was. It had been ten years since Julia’s bitter death, and he’d assumed he’d never feel anything ever again. Her passing had been too much. It had broken his heart and soul. But he could have sworn he saw from the corner of his eye, his wife’s ghostly form reflected in a window, smiling at him, pointing at the strong woman behind the pianoforte. Only, when he checked the glass, there was nothing but reflected candlelight flickering.
    Lord, his eyes stung with the thought that his wife wished him to watch Erva, to revel in her as the crowd around him was. He blinked and cleared his too tight throat. He’d forever love Julia, but couldn’t help wonder if she had a hand in placing Erva before him.
    Erva finished the song on an unforgettable note—sad, poignant, strong, and noble. The odd thought skittered through his mind that she was rescuing him. Erva was the knight. Her tactics had been effortless, but had pierced the dragon he’d carried with him for years. It might not be enough to kill the beast within, but it was a start he’d never seen coming. He’d had visions of dying soon, still heartbroken, still alone.
    But now...
    The crowd cheered as if Erva were the reputed prodigy Mozart himself. She stood slowly from