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She liked everything about him.
But it was one thing to be drawn to someone, and another to really fall for him, and Cara felt as if she was in that dangerous gray area where she’d lost control but hadn’t embarrassed herself yet. She didn’t want to embarrass herself, and she didn’t like feeling so vulnerable. In fact, she didn’t like feeling this much.
It was scary. As it was, she lacked confidence. Chet hadn’t been good for her self-esteem. And Alec… she was smart enough to know how this ended.
Yes, he’d kissed her.
Yes, she’d liked it.
But it was all just a holiday romance. There was nothing else to this. Not even if she wanted more… was Alec Sherbourne, Viscount Sherbourne, really going to fall for her?
No. And yet she had these feelings, this desire, this ridiculous dream that maybe, just maybe she might be the one.
Cara slipped through a side door, entering into the rooms that had been on the holiday tour. They were very grand and formal, these former state rooms, with the impossibly high ceilings and ornate plaster details from the tall fireplace surrounds to the pediments over the door. The rooms were rich in color—red, gold, green. In the Green Salon she paused, hearing music. Was it a broadcast? Or a record player? She listened closer. No, someone was playing the piano.
Cara passed through the formal entry with the sweeping Georgian staircase and the glass dome, through a rarely used ladies’ sitting room to the music room. The music stopped for a moment and she stopped, too, waiting, listening. And then she heard it again. It was a carol, a very old-fashioned carol that she hadn’t heard in years. Cara crept closer to the door, uncertain as to who in the house played so well.
She gently opened the door and looked inside the room. The music room was in semi-darkness, the only light which came through the windows, but she could see Alec at the piano, his back to her, his hands moving across the keys, and the carol was spiritual and tender, full of wonder and yearning, and tears pricked her eyes.
Cara quietly took a seat in a chair and hoped he’d continue. He did. He played three songs, and then he turned around on the bench and looked at her. “I thought I heard the door open.”
“I didn’t want to disturb you, but I couldn’t stay away. That was beautiful.”
“Thank you. I haven’t played in a while.”
“You never told me you were an accomplished pianist.”
He smiled faintly. “It was a secret passion, something acceptable as long as it remained a hobby.”
“Because you had a different future planned for you.”
He moved over on the piano bench, and patted the space next to him. “Come sit with me.”
She did. “Tell me the name of the carol you played three songs ago. It was the first one I heard, and it was so haunting and sweet at the same time.”
He played a handful of notes.
“That’s it,” she said.
He played the song for her, and when he finished he looked at her. “‘The Coventry Carol.’”
“I’m sure I’ve heard it sung before, but when you played it, it was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard. It almost made me cry.”
“When I was young, Aunt Emma took me to a caroling service at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor, and the choir sang ‘Carol of the Bells,’ and I did cry. I didn’t know why I cried, only it was the most glorious thing I’d ever heard and I couldn’t bear it.” He stroked the piano keys so lightly they didn’t make a sound.
Cara’s chest squeezed, and she bit down hard on the inside of her lip. When she was sure she could speak normally she asked him, “What did your aunt Emma do? Or did she not know?”
“She put her arm around me, and just kept me close to her, and she never said anything about it later, or mentioned it to my father.” Alec looked at Cara, a glimmer of a smile in his eyes. “I was afraid Father would find out, and he’d be ashamed of me. Instead it was Aunt Emma’s and my little secret.”
“Oh, Alec!” She leaned over and kissed his cheek tenderly. “You break my heart sometimes.”
“I shouldn’t have said anything. The song doesn’t make me cry anymore.”
“Carols are my favorites,” she said. “I’ll sing and cry, and you’ll just have to deal with it.”
“Would you like me to play another carol?”
“Yes,” she said quickly.
