“Practicing herwhat?” This was the first Leonard had heard about any such thing. “Where did she acquire a violin?”
“She purchased it a few days ago. It arrived at the house just this morning,” Mrs. Mills explained. “I think she was eager to get started with it because the moment it was delivered, she went straight to the conservatory—Your Grace?”
Leonard had turned and stalked off toward the conservatory, leaving Mrs. Mills behind. As he got closer, the sound of the violin grew louder. It was clear to him that Prudence was holding the instrument for the first time. She obviously had no skill or experience with it.
He threw open the door to find her sawing away at the strings. She beamed when she noticed him and, mercifully, stopped what she was doing, holding up the bow.
“What do you think?” she asked him. “I thought it might be nice to learn something new.”
“What do I think?” he repeated. “I think you did this deliberately to vex me; that’s what I think.”
She stared at him. “What?”
“You couldn’t wait until I leave for the country to take up your new hobby? You’re doing this to punish me, to make me regret the fact that I told you not to sneak out again. And I’ll tell you here and now that it isn’t going to work.”
Prudence laughed. “I didn’t take up the violin to punish you,” she told him. “But I won’t be at all surprised if you force me to send it back and forbid me from playing any instrument at all. Do you want to know what I think?”
“Please, enlighten me.” This was going to be good, he could tell.
“I think you’d have left for the country already if it weren’t for you desire to control everything I do,” she said. “You disguise it well—as being worried about your reputation and mine—but in reality, I think you’re just afraid of anything happening that isn’t strictly under your control. You don’t want me to make any decisions for myself, not because you’re worried they might bethe wrong ones but because they wouldn’t beyourdecisions. You can’t stand the idea of anyone other than you being in charge of anything, can you?”
Leonard felt as if he was about to boil over. “Well, I can control one thing,” he said. “I won’t have that instrument played in the house for the rest of my time here. If I hear it again, I’ll take it away and have it sent back to wherever it came from.”
Prudence glared at him. “In that case,” she said, her voice tight, “you really can’t leave soon enough.”
“Well, on that, at least, you and I are in agreement,” Leonard assured her and turned and left the room before his temper could get the better of him.
CHAPTER 16
Leonard believed, for the following twenty-four hours, that he had achieved at least some measure of success with his difficult wife. She didn’t come to his study during that time, and he was able to focus on his work. There was no more violin playing. In fact, he didn’t hear from her at all until the following afternoon when he went to the library and found her sitting in front of the black pieces on the chessboard.
“What’s this?” he asked her.
She looked up at him. “Let me guess—I’m not allowed to be here either?”
“It’s the library. Of course, you can be here.”
“Don’t act as if I’m out of my mind to think otherwise,” she said. “Every time I move, it seems as if I’ve violated some rule of yours.”
“It’s not like I’m being unreasonable, you know,” he said. “The things I have asked you not to do are exceedingly reasonable. Like not dressing in the garb of a common man and sneaking off to pubs for instance.”
“And telling me I’m not allowed to play the violin?”
“You’re in my house. That noise irritates me.”
“It’s my house too, isn’t it?”
“I haven’t said you can never play the cursed thing, only that you have to wait,” he reminded her. “Does it trouble you so much to have to wait a short time before you can learn the instrument? What do you need those skills for anyway? You’re already married.”
“What does being married have to do with anything?”
“Well, isn’t that the reason a lady learns to play an instrument?” he asked her. “So that she can impress potential suitors with her skills? That was my understanding.”
“So, you think that now that I’m married, I have no more need to learn any new skills?” she asked him. “My whole life has been about reaching this point—marriage to a man who has no real interest in me. And now that I’ve achieved that, I can languish and do nothing with myself until the day I die?”
It was odd. Her words were fairly usual for her. Argumentative. Confrontational. But the tone was completely different. She didn’t sound as if she was challenging him. Instead, she was very quiet. Her gaze fell to the chessboard in front of her, and she touched her finger to the top of a pawn as though contemplating moving it, despite the fact that there was no one sitting opposite her.
She was trying to sound as if she was angry with him, but Leonard realized suddenly, she wasn’t. Not really.
