Page 14 of Romancing the Heiress
She smiled back at him, and the shared moment between them was enough to make Leah want to weep. She couldn’t even humRobin Adair. At least not so that it would be recognizable as a piece of music.
“Ready?” Phin asked. At her nod, he strummed a note, and she moved her fingers over the ivory keys.
A moment later, both their brows creased, and they abruptly stopped. Then they laughed.
“Sorry!” they said in unison.
“That was my mistake,” Phin said.
“No, it was mine,” Genevieve insisted.
Phin smiled at her. “Perhaps it was both of ours, then.”
Watching them play and interact together made Leah want to indulge her desire to flee. Not just because they seemed well suited—or at least not poorly suited—but also because she felt as if she didn’t really know Phin anymore. How could she after seven years away?
Was it time to let her childish dreams go?
Phin and Genevieve started playing once more, and this time, they didn’t stop. The music was beautiful. The longer they played, the more rapturous they seemed—with the music and with each other.
They looked undeniably lovely together.
How could Leah work to keep them apart if they were actually meant to be united? She couldn’t, not if it would cost Phin his happiness.
The duet concluded with both Phin and Genevieve grinning broadly. Lady Gran and Mrs. Selkirk applauded, prompting Leah to halfheartedly join them. Phin helped Genevieve up from the bench. Did he hold her hand a moment longer than necessary?
“That was magnificent!” Lady Gran said. “I daresay you should entertain everyone at the festival. Isn’t there to be a performance in the assembly rooms one day this year?”
“I’m not certain,” Phin said.
Mrs. Selkirk’s brow furrowed. “I do think that would be too much attention on my dear Genevieve. I wouldn’t want anyone thinking she wasn’t anything other than who she is.”
Yes, it would be horrible if anyone thought Genevieve was perhaps aprofessionalmusician. Was that all it was, however? Or did Mrs. Selkirk prefer to keep Genevieve out of view because she believed her daughter had already found her match? If that was the case, Leah should tell Sadie not to choose Genevieve. Furthermore, if Phin was intent on marrying Genevieve—and since he’d raised the subject to Lady Gran even before the duet of destiny, Leah had to think that was incredibly likely—Leah ought to keep Genevieve from being the object of other gentlemen’s pursuit.
Did that mean Leah was giving up? That she would help bring Phin and Genevieve together?
She should. Shemust. Otherwise, she wasn’t a true friend to him at all.
This could be the way she showed him how much she cared—that she would walk away forever so he could be happy with someone else. How noble that sounded.
And how soul-crushingly depressing.
Chapter6
Leah walked into the assembly rooms the following afternoon with Genevieve, Mrs. Selkirk, and Mrs. Dunhill. The latter seemed more enthusiastic about the event than Genevieve.
Easily two hundred people milled about, and that number could likely double. Or even triple. While that seemed like a great many, the evening events could apparently attract close to a thousand attendees. At least that was what Mr. Parker had told them as they’d left the inn. Leah didn’t recall there being that many people, but she knew the festival had grown in the years since she’d left Marrywell.
“I suppose it’s not realistic to think I might be chosen as a maiden fair,” Mrs. Dunhill said with a sniff as they made their way into the large ballroom.
“I don’t think it’s likely,” Mrs. Selkirk said with a sympathetic glance toward her friend. “However, that doesn’t mean you won’t be seen. I do wonder if Genevieve might be selected.”
“I’m not sure I’d like that,” Genevieve said as she fidgeted with her glove.
“Stop that, dear,” Mrs. Selkirk said almost absentmindedly. “Of course you’d like it. Who wouldn’t wish to be at the center of things?” While she didn’t want her daughter to be mistaken for a professional musician, Mrs. Selkirk seemed perfectly thrilled to have her paraded about as a maiden fair. “I do hope we’ll encounter Mr. Radford.”
“We may not, actually,” Leah said. She didn’t want them to be disappointed. “He may be too busy seeing to the gardens since the coronation is there tonight. Afterward, the labyrinth will open.”
Mrs. Selkirk’s brow puckered. “Surely he has gardeners or…someone to do that for him.”
