I laughed. What a pair we were. “Brilliant. I can play that one with both hands.”
He grimaced. “I may only be able to manage one.”
“Perfect,” I whispered, then spun on my stool and stood to announce us. David, ever the gentleman, despite making me play the pianoforte in front of an audience, stood with me. I cleared my throat and, in my most ostentatious voice, announced our duet. “My fiancé and I will playThe Notes of C, for Three Hands.”
With a nod to each other, we turned, sat, and counted off, both with words and a slight bobbing of our heads. The scale might have been simple, but our concentration was intense.
We bounced to the rhythm of each of our notes as we pounded through the first five. David had forgotten to cross his thumb beneath his fingers, so our sixth note ended up coming slightly late and unsynchronized. By the eighth note, we’d found our rhythm again, and with a sideways glance at each other, we started back down the scale together.
We made no mistakes on our way back to C, and when we hit it, we both jumped up heroically and took a bow.
Mama sat stunned, but Julia politely clapped at our performance.
“Should I play more?” I asked after David and I took the opportunity to bow a few more times. “I think I remember most of the notes to ‘Polly Put the Kettle On.’”
David gasped and put a hand to his heart. “Most of the notes of ‘Polly Put the Kettle On’ would be a delight.”
I cocked my head to one side and nodded. “Then go sit, and I shall entertain you.” I shooed him away, and he obliged me by sitting on one of the empty sofas.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Tate,” Mama said from the sofa next to his. “I’m afraid my husband and I were rather indulgent with Anna. She always preferred to be out of doors rather than sitting at the pianoforte.”
“Please do not apologize for that,” David replied. His voice was soft, whispering to Mama, but loud enough that I knew he wanted me and Julia to overhear. “You must remember I first met your daughter out of doors. And if the cost of her joyful spirit and kindness to others is a lack of musical accomplishment, then it is a price worth paying a thousand times over.”
My heart lifted at his words. How did David always manage to say exactly the right thing? When he actually did get engaged, his fiancée would be a very fortunate woman.
I, on the other hand, would enjoy my fortune while I had it.
When my fingers touched the keys, the notes of the melody came back to me. After faltering only twice during the chorus, the only part of the song I could remember, I started again, this time adding my voice.
As unpolished as my pianoforte skills were, my singing was much worse. At least with an instrument, I could simplify my playing to a level where I didn’t make many mistakes. But I couldn’t get my voice to land on the same notes as the keys, no matter how hard I tried, so Ididn’t. Instead of hiding my complete lack of musical understanding, I let the words burst out of my mouth in unrestrained song.
Mama gasped once again, and if I wasn’t mistaken, a snort came from the general direction of where David sat.
Julia didn’t make a sound. At least, not one I could hear over the cacophony of my own racket.
I finished the chorus without missing any words, and even before my song died on my lips, Mama clapped in a frantic beat. But because I was a glutton for punishment, I started the chorus over and sang it once again.
This time, Mama started clapping even before I finished the last line, and I decided to let her out of her misery. I slid off the stool and gave a low and elaborate bow. David stood from his seat and clapped even more enthusiastically than Mama had when she’d been trying to make me stop.
Julia was less exuberant, but her eyes sparked as she looked between David and me.
“Would anyone else like to play?” I asked archly. “Or should I favor you all with ‘Hot Cross Buns’?”
Mama jumped up. “I don’t mind playing—that is, unless Miss Tate would like to play.”
David’s eyes sparked with amusement. “I’d happily listen to Anna sing ‘Hot Cross Buns.’”
Mama made an odd strangling sound in her throat but gulped it down as quickly as she could. Julia glanced at David, a question in her eyes. He gave her a nod of encouragement.
I walked to where David stood, and his fingers curled around mine as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
I smiled my encouragement to Julia and prayed my voice didn’t betray the warm sensation David’s hand was causing to climb up my arm. “Don’t hesitate on my account. I may not play or sing very well,but I do appreciate beautiful music. And I have no pride in this matter for you to concern yourself with.”
Mama didn’t miss the easy way David had reached for me, and I could see the way his smile and tender touch calmed her fears. I waited for the warmth of his hand to dissipate. It was a calculated decision on his part, but even knowing he held my hand only in order to show Mama we were happily engaged did nothing to make me enjoy his fingers curled possessively around my own any less.
David tugged on my hand with a quick pull, and I tumbled into his side. Mama looked pointedly away. “Someday, I will hear ‘Hot Cross Buns’ from your lips.” He spoke with more breath than voice, making certain Mama wouldn’t hear.
I placed my other hand in the crook of his elbow and rose just enough on my toes to bring my mouth to his ear. “Hot,” I said the word slowly. “Cross,” I said after a brief pause. “Buns,” I finished in a jaunty, whispered fashion I would think any engaged young lady would be proud of.
