Read Online Intermezzo by Eleanor Anne Cox - Free Book Online Page B

just goes and stays for hours on end.” Mrs. Soames would have liked to have said more on this peculiar and unnatural behavior, but she saw that his lordship was already perilously close to real anger and she knew that, even under ordinary circumstances, he would not have tolerated the housekeeper passing judgment, in any significant way, on her betters.
    Once relieved of his fears for Adela’s safety, Waterston was, in fact, experiencing an overwhelming repugnance, almost nausea, at the thought of using John Coachman’s nephew in this way. Of course, she must be protected and he knew that he could still force a footman on her as well as a carriage. Instinctively, he realized that to do so would be unjust. Miss Trowle had as much a right to freedom, freedom of movement, as he did himself. A footman would necessarily inhibit that freedom and Miss Trowle suffered already from a superfluity of inhibitions.
    Mrs. Soames was asking, “Shall we continue to send Matt the Mole, my lord?”
    Reluctantly he answered, “I suppose we must. But be certain he does not go beyond the entrance to the cemetery. There, at least, Miss Trowle must be assured her privacy.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “And Mrs. Soames, henceforward I should like to be kept informed of all Miss Trowle’s excursions.”
    “Very good, my lord.”
    Almost a week later, at tea during an unusual lull in the conversation, Charles turned to Adela. “Miss Trowle, I am curious; are you still interested in a career as a concert pianist?”
    “Of course I am, my lord.”
    “Despite the fact that you are no longer reduced to penury and starving in a garret?”
    “I have never starved , sir, and I am a professional musician. I am interested in becoming a great professional musician.”
    “You are already one of the finer pianists of my acquaintance and your style is almost unique. Still, I cannot think that a profession of any sort is appropriate for a lady .”
    “Thank you, my lord, but being an instructor for Rebecka is a profession, sir.”
    “Yes, yes, to be sure, but you are not an employee here. You are after all a cousin.”
    “A cousin on wages, sir.”
    “Miss Trowle, you are an exceedingly difficult woman. And I don’t know how I became involved in this dispute. I was about to offer you a modest opportunity to display your talents as a professional musician—a public performance of sorts. But you are sorely trying my patience.”
    Adela screwed up her eyes. “What sort of an opportunity, sir?”
    “Skeptic! Nothing out of the ordinary, I assure you. In three weeks I will be having a ball to honor the new Austrian ambassador. Sophia will act as hostess and there will be dancing. I had wondered if you, Miss Trowle, would be willing to provide the music. I am aware that you have done similar work in the past; nevertheless, I am not at all certain that your playing, on such a public occasion, is entirely suitable, and I would certainly understand your refusal of my offer.”
    “But I have no intention of refusing. I am honored, sir, to have been asked and I would be delighted to play.”
    “It is settled then.”
    Adela nodded and then added, “I do not think that the single piano would be sufficient, my lord. My friend Richard Brewer is a gifted violinist and I’m certain he would be quite willing to join me. We have worked together before, although not for such a tonnish affair.”
    Lord Waterston hesitated a moment, studying her face, and then said, “If you wish to, engage this fellow.”
    “Very good, my lord.”
    “And please to remember, Miss Trowle, that you are a lady and my kin—you are not a musician for hire in this house.”
    “Thank you, my lord,” Adela answered meekly. Although being a musician at a ball was not the height of her ambitions, there would be important people there, nearly all of whom were accustomed to organizing musical evenings in their own homes. It would be a splendid opportunity for both Richard Brewer and