Music Master

by Barbara Miller

  She prevented herself blurting out that Leighton was an earl. It was no longer her place to defend him. “He always was stupidly brave.”

  “Perhaps he meant to break with you because he’s set his sights on Lucy. Her parents are well disposed toward him now that he has saved her life.”

  “But Leighton has been so careful to keep her from falling in love with him.”

  “If he is not interested in her, why did he insinuate himself into the Haddon household?”

  “To be near me, of course.”

  “Sir Phillip has a prestigious position in Parliament. Is it possible Leighton is more interested in gaining his favor than you realize?”

  “I don’t think so. Leighton wants nothing to do with war or politics. He told me so.” Her defense of Leighton would have carried more weight if she were not still so angry at him.

  “He was making up to you as well as Lucy. Perhaps both of you were deceived in him.”

  “Perhaps.” Her mind was too fogged with tears and regrets to think clearly but it seemed Gifford was fishing for something and she did not want to say any more to him.

  “Remember what I said. There will always be a place for you in my home.”

  He left her feeling, not so much comforted, as confused. Was Leighton, who saw spies under every couch, still working for the government and not telling her. There was plenty he had withheld until she’d wormed it out of him.

  Or did he just wish to still be involved in the action and was using this opportunity to get into Sir Phillip’s good graces? She shook her head.

  No, the message was real, the accident was not staged and Leighton had foolishly thrown his life into the balance in order to save a misguided but sweet girl. He had also ridden his favorite horse over a cliff for her.

  But that was her Leighton, always acting on impulse without counting the cost to himself, at least not very carefully. He certainly never thought what effect it would have on Maddie. And he had insinuated himself at Marsden House to get close to her. Of that she was sure. So whatever Gifford was thinking sprang from his jealousy of Leighton’s better qualities.

  Better qualities? Yes he forgave easily and he apologized very well once he realized his error. But to forgive his father and her mother for such a crime? It was like losing them twice and now she had lost Leighton as well. The tears flowed more freely now with an occasional hiccup.

  Looking around the garden, she realized she had come back here to think because this is where it had all gone awry, where Leighton had revealed his suspicions to her and then recanted them when he saw how upset she was. That had been a lie. He had still suspected Patience but took it back so as not to lose Maddie. And he had been right in a way. Her sister was involved in a conspiracy but not spying for another country. She should be glad Patience was not a traitor to anyone but her and her father.

  Maddie tried to put herself in her sister’s place six years ago. Would she have agreed to cover her mother’s escape with a lie? Perhaps. Would she have abandoned a younger sister? Never.

  There was another more uncomfortable question Maddie realized she had to ask herself. Was she angry because of the abandonment, or because she had not been trusted with the secret? Patience had treated her as badly as Leighton by thinking she could not handle serious matters. Maddie did not want to be shielded, she wanted them to acknowledge her competence.

  * * * * *

  In the uncertain light of the new moon Leighton had trouble finding the gate to the walled garden at Marsden House but it was locked anyway. He found a section of wall where the bricks had lost some of their mortar, got a toehold and climbed over the six-foot impediment. He would have landed without incident but got tripped up by the ivy on the top and hit the ground with a loud thump and grunt.

  “Who’s there?”

  “It’s me, Maddie. I have to talk to you.” He disentangled himself and limped toward the stone bench.

  “How did you know I would be out here?”

  “I didn’t. I was going to throw rocks at your window.”

  Maddie looked almost ghostly in the bright white dress which was reflecting the moonlight. Perhaps she was pale too.

  “What is the use?” She stood up and watched him warily. “You have taken their side against me.”

  He came up to her and tried to get an arm around her but she moved to the other side of the stone bench and turned her back on him. He sat with a sigh. At least she had not run inside and locked the door.

  “Leighton, I never imagined that something like this could happen. Does Papa know they are alive?”

  “Well, of course, he knows. He caused the whole mess. You should have stayed at your sister’s house and let Father explain.”

  “And what other explanation can there be but that he ran away with my mother.”

  “Passing themselves off as dead was not their idea. It was a plot cooked up by my mother and your father to save their faces.”

  She half turned toward him and he could see the accusation on her face in the faint light from the window. “So what were they meaning to do?”

  “Nothing. They had friendship and it would never have gone beyond that if it were not for your father’s jealous accusations. They were unfounded at that point. But you know what he is like in a temper. On no grounds he accused them of an affair. He put your mother out of the house.”

  “What? That never happened.”

  “Yes, it did. Your mother had no one else to turn to. He forced them together. Father took her to a hotel and went back for his things, meaning to sail to his lands in America and take care of the legalities of divorce later. He felt badly that I was away at school and he could not tell me personally. Your father and my mother agreed to everything.”

  Maddie sniffed. “I don’t remember any of that.”

  “Do you remember Patience coming for you at Longbridge and hustling you off to Faith’s in York?”

  “Yes, she sent me on the mail coach but that was to protect me from the fever.”

  “There was fever in the village but just the ague, what we always have during a wet summer. By the time Patience sent for you, your father had set it about that your mother was dead. When I got home my mother announced my father had been lost at sea on the way to America. I never thought to doubt her word or check to see if a ship had gone down.”

  “How could they get away with such lies without the agreement of your father?”

  “They were believed because no one makes up such tragic news and no one was there to refute them. Patience would have had to expose both of them publicly and she was in no position to do that. She didn’t even tell me.”

  “You cannot blame her. She wasn’t married then.”

  “I know. She was still under your father’s power and he could be very convincing.”

  “I am not afraid of him.” Maddie moved closer as though ready to fight an enemy.

  “I have no doubt that if you had been the elder you would have exposed the plot and all would still be a confused mess but not so bad as it is.”

  “Yes, them living together in sin.”

  “They are living under assumed names as man and wife, Mr. and Mrs. William Stone. Father has created an illegitimate but now recognized brother. And in my heart I feel he and Rachel belong together.”

  “You forgive them this misalliance?”

  Her head came up, her chin proud. He was glad he could not see the anger in her eyes.

  “Forgive them for finally finding someone capable of love? Yes but I am so glad they are alive I would forgive them much worse than that.”

  “Well, I do not. They should not have fled.”

  “What was she to do with no money and nowhere to go? My father was the only person who could help her.” Leighton could see her fists clenched beside the pale muslin of her dress, an incongruous vision of both strength and beauty but that was Maddie. She was in shock still, over what had happened.

  “Why is it so much worse for a mother to
have abandoned her daughter than for a father to leave a son? She was young, desperate and bereft. Father felt your mother had suffered enough.”

  “Suffered?” Maddie took a step toward him. “Of all people, I should know what she suffered with my father. He is always picking, needling, condemning, even when you are doing your best, trying to avoid his razor tongue.”

  “Then you understand.”

  “I understand she let me think she was dead. She didn’t trust me with the same truth that Patience was allowed to know. In that way she is much like you, who never trusted me.”

  “But it wasn’t supposed to be that way.” Leighton got up slowly, realizing that if he had not betrayed Maddie’s trust as well she might not be so angry at her mother. “When Patience married she was to take you with her or send you to Faith. That is what she promised your mother. In time I think she would have told you the truth.”

  “Except that Papa talked Patience out of my living with her. That I do remember. Perhaps she never intended it, but Mother bought her freedom at the price of my enslavement.” She folded her arms as though that were her final word.

  “No.” Leighton tried to drain the anger out of his own voice but he would not let her go on deluding herself. “You have done that yourself by refusing to marry me.”

  “Free myself from my father only to be lorded over by you?”

  Leighton stepped close enough to see the slow slide of a tear down her cheek in the moonlight. This was just a brave front. She was more hurt than he realized. “Maddie, I am not capable of that. You know I am not.” He got close enough to fold her in his arms and felt a shudder go through her but she did not weep, only sniffed and laid her cheek on his shoulder. “As it turns out, you were strong enough to face what drove your mother to despair. Can you not forgive her for not being able to manage your father as well as you did?”

  She stayed like that for long minutes, breathing in and out with him holding her. Leighton almost thought he had won her back. But she raised her head to look at him.

  “I need time. Leave me. I have to think.”

  He knew her well enough not to push her further and let his arms drop. He watched her float to the back door, a thin white wisp of a girl with moonlight in her hair. She turned but did not say anything before she disappeared in the door like a ghost. Had he killed her love for him by siding with his father?

  He made his way to the gate this time. His ribs were still aching from falling over the wall and he hated to face what his man would say about his scuffed boots and snagged shirt. But nothing compared to the ache he felt for Maddie. If she really made him choose between her and his father he was not sure what he would do.

  * * * * *

  “Been climbing trellises again, have we?” Tibbs asked.

  Leighton sat bolt upright in bed. The sun was shining in the window, where Tibbs had brutally swept the hangings aside. Leighton groaned as he crawled out of bed. “No, it was a stone wall.”

  “Ah, that explains it.”

  Leighton limped to the washstand and splashed water on his face. “Tibbs, aren’t you going to rant at me?”

  “Well, I have been this past hour but you slept through it. Waste of breath. Are you wishing to go out today?”

  Tibbs draped a dressing gown over Leighton’s shoulders. He stuck his arms in the sleeves and seated himself at the round table in the sitting room. He could smell tea and really needed some.

  “Yes, what time is it? I have to give another music lesson. The recital is tomorrow night.”

  “First you’ll have yer breakfast.”

  As Leighton ate, he wondered about the change in his man. Had Dr. Murray told him about the episode on the cliff? Something had softened him and Leighton was not sure he liked it. It was rather nice having someone around who did not approve of him.

  As Tibbs helped him dress, Leighton saw his gaze fasten on the newly bruised ribs on the other side of his chest and on the fresh scrapes.

  “You said you was done with the spying business.”

  “This had nothing to do with that.”

  “When I agreed to leave London, you promised that there would be no more excitement.”

  “I know. I am sorry. But once I win Maddie, how often will I have to crawl over a wall? I promise you that our lives, from the day of my wedding on, will be suitably dull.”

  “Good. That will save wear and tear on yer clothing.”

  Leighton went to Marsden House and checked on the horses. Jasper was filling out well and Chandros was eager for a run. He felt his ribs. Perhaps tomorrow.

  Leighton was admitted through the back door and shown to the drawing room. He immediately began to play, knowing that would draw Maddie if she was in the house and willing to speak to him.

  “You have a lot of nerve coming here,” Maddie said from behind him, her voice vibrating with hurt.

  Leighton stopped playing and turned to her. She was standing by the sofa but with no apparent intention of taking a seat, so he rose and went to her. “I had to talk to you. I thought your heart might have softened toward them.”

  “Leighton, how can you expect me to accept them after what they did?”

  “The reason they came back is that your mother was worried about you. Now she is devastated since she thinks she has made things even worse.”

  “She is devastated?”

  “I remember now how sad she always looked at home, though she tried to hide it. I think her happiness with my father can never make up for her feeling of failure with you.”

  “I’m-I’m sorry to disappoint you, Leighton but I cannot see her again. It hurts too much.”

  “Think about it, Maddie. They will be here only a few months until a ship can take them back to America.”

  “I cannot change my mind. What I don’t understand is how you forgive so easily.”

  “I try not to judge people. I have enough trouble keeping myself straight. But then I’m not the child of a vicar, so perhaps my morals are a little rustier. At least now we know your sister is not harboring a spy.”

  “That was a silly idea.”

  Leighton began to hope that Maddie would rebound with her usual strength. At least she had slept last night, for her eyes, though sad, were not shadowed by circles. She was getting over it, or getting used to it.

  “Yes, I am good at looking silly to you. I suppose this means you won’t play for us at the musicale.”

  She hesitated. Then her chin came up. “I have been promised a position in Gifford’s household once he marries Lucy, so yes I will play.”

  Leighton recognized the remark for what it was, a ploy to irritate him. “If I stop coming to Haddon House—leave the field, so to speak—Lucy won’t marry someone nice like Lieutenant Reid. She will be forced to make do with Gifford, the pompous ass.”

  “He doesn’t think much of you either, Leighton. That message your father sent…”

  “It must have been a joke. He sent it to me because he wanted to see if I—we—could still solve his riddles.”

  “But it referred to Mrs. Scrope-Nevins. How did he know about her?”

  “I don’t know. We didn’t discuss it. Patience must have mentioned her in a letter. She did write to them by posting mail via ships from neutral countries.”

  “So why was she at the tea? What exactly did your father say about the packet?”

  “I don’t know. We got so busy talking I forgot to ask about it.”

  “You forgot?” Her voice was pregnant with derision.

  “Yes, it’s funny. I had once or twice thought I saw someone familiar on the streets. It is just the sort of game he would play. And the scent on the paper was tobacco smoke. I had smelled it in your sister’s house but it didn’t register that it was his.”

  “Why would it? You thought he was dead. Don’t you see, Leighton? He got the packet from someone and thought it was an amusing puzzle, so he sent it on to you. It is a real coded message, not something he made up. He is the Stone they we
re trying to contact and they succeeded. It’s your father who is the spy, not my sister.”

  “What? That is the most absurd—”

  “Not so funny when the shoe is on the other foot, is it?” She stood with hands on hips waiting for his reply.

  “Come now, Maddie. He may be living in America but he would never stoop to conspiring against our government.”

  “It makes more sense than—”

  As he heard Lucy’s feet on the stairs, Maddie backed away from him and pretended to be searching through the pile of music scores.

  “I have decided what to wear,” Lucy announced. “Not the new dress, which isn’t ready but my favorite dress. It is more comfortable for breathing. Do you think Dr. Murray and Lieutenant Reid will come?”

  Maddie nodded. “I am sure they were invited. You haven’t changed your mind again about what you are going to play, have you?”

  “Oh, you are right, “The Moonlight Sonata,” of course. Did you hear me practicing last night?”

  “No, I was…not feeling well.”

  Lucy came to take her hands. “I hope it is nothing serious. Will you be able to play tomorrow?”

  “Yes, of course. Now practice for Leighton. He is the best judge of how ready you are.”

  By the time Lucy got to the end of the sonata, Maddie realized Mrs. Marsden was sitting in the room listening. She was in her bonnet and shawl, so she was obviously on her way to the Pump Room to gossip with her friends. Leighton had kept track of where Lucy had stumbled slightly and made her play those sections over until they were perfect. Then he made her promise to practice the piece twice through again that night. The rehearsal of the vocal numbers went without a hitch, so Maddie started to get optimistic about the coming recital.

  “Well, child, are you looking forward to tomorrow?” Mrs. Marsden asked Lucy.

  “Oh, yes but I need new ribbons for my blue dress.”

  “On our way back from the Pump Room. Leighton, will you walk with us? Maddie, are you coming?”

  “Yes, of course.” Anything would be better than staying here and continuing to argue with Leighton, though she rather thought she had won the last round since he was looking thoughtful. Accusing his father of being a spy should have made her feel better but it did not. It had hurt Leighton. Was that what marriage was like, hurting each other until the mounting emotional pain drove you apart? But when Leighton blurted out something stupid, it was accidental. She had deliberately wounded him. She had not thought she could be so vengeful.