Page 46 of The Last Debutante
“What would you like to hear?” she asked.
The Campbells merely looked at one another.
“Shall I choose for you?” She began to play. Jamie couldn’t help but notice the surprise on Geordie’s face—the lad had missed Laurna’s playing as much as he had. Robbie and Aileen—who had what some might term a stormy marriage, and he would term a bloody cyclone—seemed to soften as they took seats on the settee. Music had always had a calming effect on the Campbells, thank the saints, and one of Jamie’s great regrets was that more of them were not trained in the art. They’d been content to allow Laurna to be their high priestess of music.
Jamie eased himself into a chair and stretched out his leg. He was accustomed to overcoming illness or injury quickly, but he had discovered that lead was a formidable opponent. His recovery was slow, and tonight his leg and side ached. He caught Robbie’s eye and gestured to the bottle of whisky on the sideboard.
Jamie was watching Robbie pour two healthy tots when Daria Babcock sang prettily,“My love is a river that always flows, my heart a seed from which love grows. I cannot remember the words to this tune, and therefore I hope it ends rather soon.”
Even Geordie smiled.
Daria gave them a sly look and played the rest of the tune expertly. When she finished, Robbie clapped loudly, and she graciously accepted his applause with a slight nod.
“Her mother sings like the angels,” Hamish said dreamily. “Now, lass, let’s have ‘The Battle of Otterburn,’ aye?”
“Pardon?”
“Ach,”Hamish said with a flick of his hand. “You’ve played it a dozen times if you’ve played it once. Go on, then.”
“Hamish,” Jamie said softly, “Laurna is gone.”
Hamish looked at Daria, his expression full of confusion as he tried to sort it out. It pained Jamie to see his once robust uncle like this.
“Shall I play a waltz?” Daria suggested.
“A what?” Aileen asked.
“A waltz,” she repeated, and looked around at them. “Are you not familiar with it?” she asked, her face lighting with pleasure. “You must learn it! It’s a dance that has become wildly popular. Here, allow me,” she said, and before anyone could respond, she popped up from the bench and grabbed Geordie’s hand, pulling him off the chair. His mouth opened, and if he’d been able to speak, he would doubtless have protested rather loudly. But Geordie was helpless as Daria put his hand on her waist, and placed her hand on his shoulder. With her other hand, she took his and held it out. “On the count of three, we will move three steps to the left, then three to the right. Do you understand?”
Geordie rolled his eyes.
“Splendid!” she said, and began to hum, moving Geordie to the left, and then again to the right, stepping delicately to the count of three. But as Geordie could not seem to follow, she looked at Jamie. “Perhaps you might count it out for us?Onetwo three,onetwo three,” she said.
“Count it out,” Jamie repeated incredulously.
“Yes, just count in threes,” she said breezily, and added unnecessarily, “to keep time.”
He rather thought it beneath the dignity of a laird and groused, “I do no’ keep time.”
“We’re ready!” she said cheerfully, pretending he hadn’t spoken.
He frowned at her lovely smile. “One, two, three,” he said.
Daria began to move Geordie about in time to Jamie’s counting. Aileen sat up, watching Daria’s feet closely, obviously intrigued by the dance, and Robbie, in an unusual show of kindness to his wife, held out his hand. “Come then,mo ghraidh,let us waltz.”
Aileen looked up at him with surprise. She hesitantly slipped her hand into his, allowing him to pull her up. With their heads bowed together, they began to study their steps.
“No, no, you’re missing a step,” Daria said to them, pausing momentarily in her instruction of Geordie. “I grant you it is difficult to move when the beat is not precisely to tempo,” she said, casting a sidelong look at Jamie.
“What? Am I no’ doing as you said?”
“It’sonetwo three,onetwo three.”
“I know how to count to three,” Jamie growled, and began to count again, slapping his hand in time on the wooden arm of his chair.
Daria stood behind Aileen with her hands on Aileen’s waist, moving her in the right direction. “There, you see? It’s really quite easy.” She smiled as she returned to Geordie and began again. “Here we are,onetwo three,onetwo three...”
Jamie shifted restlessly in his seat. Though he’d never cared much for dancing, he felt uncomfortably removed from the festivities, as if he were a dog watching from outside a window. He had an almost urgent desire to stand up with Daria, to look at her lovely face and shining eyes as she moved.
