Read Online Miss Merton's Last Hope by Heather Boyd - Free Book Online Page A

all are,” Walter agreed quietly.
    Valentine and Julia nodded, clearly eager for her to accept and keep their guests happy. “Please play for us,” Julia pleaded.
    Although she hadn’t intended to become the center of attention, she stood. “I should be delighted to.”
    If she were playing, she might not have to think of Walter with a family of his own. The idea of him kissing another woman unsettled her a great deal. She chose a long piece and commenced to play, losing herself in the melody until the very last notes. When she finished, Mr. Hartwood was satisfied and he and his wife took their leave.
    “Do stay where you are, Melanie,” Julia gushed. “I do not hear you play enough anymore since we are out so often.”
    Valentine stood and kissed Julia’s cheek. “I’m going to make one last search for that tune I told you about and then it’s our turn to play.”
    She picked another, shorter piece and set about playing. Walter settled in a chair close by and set his hands behind his head. “If I had my way, I’d tear a hole in the wall so I could hear you play more clearly.”
    Her heart filled with dread at his suggestion. “Valentine plays as well,” Melanie reminded him.
    “I need to stuff wool in my ears for those times.”
    Julia huffed. “And here I was thinking you a fair man all night.”
    He winked at Melanie. “God-awful racket he kicks up. It is so easy to tell the difference.”
    “You don’t mean that,” Melanie argued as she fumbled her way through a difficult passage that hadn’t troubled her for a long time. A blush was threatening to cover her from head to toe, all from the compliments Walter continued to shower over her and she did not deserve even one. “Valentine plays well. He would be better if he played more often though.”
    “Not in your league,” Walter insisted. “No doubt about that.”
    Melanie fixed her attention on her sheet music, but she could not seem to perform to her own high standards anymore.
    Valentine hurried in, waving a sheet of music in the air. “Here it is, stuck between the covers of another tune.”
    Melanie drew the piece to a close and stood, keen to allow the married couple free use of the instrument. It was theirs. Her brother and his wife met at the pianoforte and squeezed onto the same stool and Melanie moved to sit and listen.
    “They’ve been looking for that duet all week so they might play together,” she explained to Walter.
    He rolled his eyes. “This should be torture then.”
    “Or amusing,” she replied, hiding a smile. It could be torture, but she’d suffer the pain if it made the couple happy.
    When the playing commenced, she listened for a respectful few minutes, but the pair were making a mess of the passages and talking more than playing. She turned to Walter, unable to remain silent about his surprising purchase. “Thank you for buying my grandmother’s house. It looks lovely now.”
    At first she had thought her father had spent money on the repairs that had brought the house to life again. She couldn’t ever pass it without being filled with longing for those happier times. But it was not her father’s way to spend more than the minimum sum required on any property he owned. She should have known better than to think so well of him.
    He nodded. “The current tenants spend a lot of time in the garden so it’s well tended thanks to the horde of children they have.”
    “A family lives there?”
    “Yes, the Clarksons came to Brighton three years ago and have been exceptionally good tenants.” He sighed. “If only more were like them.”
    Clarkson’s eldest son had been one of her suitors. “You own other property?”
    He nodded. “A dozen houses and shops around Brighton.”
    Her eyes widened at the number. “But that would make you—”
    She glanced away quickly. It would make him a prize on the marriage mart. It was a miracle more ladies hadn’t set their cap for him on the strength of his wealth