‘We can’t all walk away after opening night.I have an opera to perform.People will notice if I am not there.’
‘That is not forever.You could come in a few months.Even in a year.’He slid his palm over her hand and ran his thumb over her knuckles, and even through their gloves, his tenderness trickled into her.
‘A year is a long time.You will forget me.’She deliberately kept her tone nonchalant.‘You have needs, Cassius.And I will not share.’
He turned her into him so that they stood facing one another.‘Iwouldwait for you.It’s not a trial.Not for you.’He folded back her short black veil and tucked it into her hat.Then he stripped off a glove and wiped a thumb across her cheek to catch a tear.‘Something else is wrong.What?’
‘Nothing,’ she said, and pulled away.‘Just the usual worries before opening night.’She rose on her toes and pressed a light kiss to his cheek.Took a breath to soak up his smell, let her cheek brush against his so she would remember the heat of his skin.‘We only have a few nights.Then we open.Then we will take life as we always have.As it comes.’
He watched her, his eyes penetrating, far too knowing.
And yet, he said nothing.
‘Do widzenia, Cassius,’ she said, and wrenched herself away.
Chapter 18
Withaflickofhis baton, Cassius silenced the orchestra.Onstage, the cast pivoted to face the curtains.Odette had changed from her white muslin peasant costume, her hair pinned with a wreath of flowers, into a bright red gown, lush with ruffles and plump with petticoats.She took a visible breath.She moved through each scene of the dress rehearsal with the same energy and verve as she had during piano rehearsal, imbuing every moment with the same zest she brought to every performance.Only a thin black ribbon at her wrist gave any hint that the day before she had said goodbye to one of her closest friends, and that she was grieving.
The show must go on.
Behind the cast, the backdrop changed as stagehands pushed away the wooden peasant houses and the castle replaced them.In this scene, the poor Marietta faced her torturous decision.The evil lord had offered her stability, riches, and comfort in exchange for becoming his lover.The choice would help her family, but she would also have to give up her love for Willem and sacrifice a piece of herself.She would have to become a fallen woman.
The dilemma made little sense to Cassius.
Whywouldn’ta poor girl want to be fed?To avoid going hungry?
The spotlight lit a patch of stage, and Odette tilted into its brilliance.Cassius brought in the strings, the bass, the percussion, and Odette launched into the first few lines of her lament to the moon.
For all its morals, it was a good song.It showcased her range, but also the softness of her voice.The way she could navigate a melody so effortlessly, even though once the sheet music was sold and young women attempted to sing the same refrain, they would sound like cats being tortured.
That was the magic of Odette Delaney.
Cassius pushed his hurt into a movement.Tonight, it felt as though the notes were being wrung from him, and while she sang a song to another lover, all he could hear were her words from the day before.
You will forget me.A year is a long time.Until we meet again.
Something was worrying her, something beyond the death of her friend or the build up to opening night.Odette ran into life with wide-open arms and embraced all of it—yes, sorrow and pain, but also life and laughter.The Odette who’d taken his arm yesterday had been sad, but she’d also been something else that he’d never known her to be.
Scared.
Cassius focused on the song and the musicians before him.He shifted between them and the stage, watching her, watching them, and listening.And there it was.One single note that was not quite how she normally sang it.
The song finished.Odette stood.She pressed her palm over her eyes.
‘I need a little rest before we start again.Some hot water with lemon.And something to eat.I am tired today.Can we?’
A little unfocused.Just one note, a little out.Tired.Sometimes watching her balance, almost dizzy.And last week, she had complained of feeling unwell.
Plus, the emotions.With Odette, there were always emotions, but were they different from normal?More intense?Maybe.Yes.Definitely.
Of course.
Now he understood.
Why had it taken him so long to notice?
Chapter 19
