gotten into you. There is more to this than you are telling me. Honestly, you are frightening me.”
He sighed as he crossed the room to give her a brief hug. “I’m sorry, Mama. I do not mean to frighten you. And I concede there may be more to my decision than I can explain. But will you do this for me regardless of my silence on my true motives? I would be greatly appreciative.”
His mother tilted her head to stare up at him, her gaze searching his for a long moment. Finally, she drew in a harsh breath and nodded.
“Of course, Gabriel. I said I would do anything in my power to help you in your quest. And if this will assist you, I will do my best to make sure you are at the recital tomorrow.” She reached for his hands. “But my darling, I would hate to see you make a mistake in whom you choose to marry.” Her eyes clouded with tears as she drew away from him and headed for the office door. “That would be repeating my sins, not your father’s. And that would break my heart.”
Chapter Two
Felicity shook out her hands, stretching her fingers before she took her place at the pianoforte. She did her best to ignore the crowd. Though she had been performing publicly since she was little more than a girl, she hadn’t really been comfortable with all eyes on her since…
Oh, why did she keep thinking about that ? She had stricken it from her mind long ago and it was best kept that way. She couldn’t let Lady Stanton’s news of the new Duke of Windsworth put her in a twist. It had nothing to do with her.
She bent her head and began to play, pouring all her tangled emotions into expressing the music. That was her one true escape. The one place she didn’t have to hide.
She was midway through the second song in her selection of five for the evening when she felt a shift. A change in the audience, in the very air. Normally, she was hardly aware of those around her at all while she played, but now that was different.
She continued to let her fingers move over the keys as she lifted her gaze and let it flit around the room. Lady Stanton was the first person she saw, sitting beside Jane and Wesley. She was smiling like a proud mother hen and Felicity briefly returned the smile.
Her parents were also beaming from their positions in the front row, full of pride that Felicity wasn’t entirely certain she deserved. Other friends watched, debutantes in their first season mostly sat politely, waiting for the musicale to end so they could pick up their flirtations at the soiree afterward.
And then her gaze found him . She was thankful that the notes she was meant to play were bold and powerful, because her fingers crashed against the keys before she could gather her composure and control their weight.
She had never seen Gabriel Morrison before in her life, but she was absolutely certain that the man standing in the back of the hall, watching her play like he was the only person in the audience, was him. The dark blond hair and bright green eyes that were so like his older brother’s were the first indications, but beyond those tell-tale signs… she just felt it in her bones. In the pit of her stomach.
Tingles rushed up her arms, raced through her bloodstream, lit all her nerve endings on fire. She didn’t know how she managed to finish the song she was playing, but she somehow found herself at the end nonetheless and the audience clapped.
Everyone but the new Duke of Windsworth. He just stared at her with the same cold detachment she had always received from his late father.
Great God, he knew the truth.
Felicity’s hands froze over the keys of the pianoforte and she felt the blood drain out of her cheeks to rush to her throbbing heart. She knew she should play the next song, but she couldn’t. All she could do was hear the screaming refrain in her mind.
He knows. He knows. He knows.
Suddenly, her father was at her elbow.
“Is everything well, child? You look
He sighed as he crossed the room to give her a brief hug. “I’m sorry, Mama. I do not mean to frighten you. And I concede there may be more to my decision than I can explain. But will you do this for me regardless of my silence on my true motives? I would be greatly appreciative.”
His mother tilted her head to stare up at him, her gaze searching his for a long moment. Finally, she drew in a harsh breath and nodded.
“Of course, Gabriel. I said I would do anything in my power to help you in your quest. And if this will assist you, I will do my best to make sure you are at the recital tomorrow.” She reached for his hands. “But my darling, I would hate to see you make a mistake in whom you choose to marry.” Her eyes clouded with tears as she drew away from him and headed for the office door. “That would be repeating my sins, not your father’s. And that would break my heart.”
Chapter Two
Felicity shook out her hands, stretching her fingers before she took her place at the pianoforte. She did her best to ignore the crowd. Though she had been performing publicly since she was little more than a girl, she hadn’t really been comfortable with all eyes on her since…
Oh, why did she keep thinking about that ? She had stricken it from her mind long ago and it was best kept that way. She couldn’t let Lady Stanton’s news of the new Duke of Windsworth put her in a twist. It had nothing to do with her.
She bent her head and began to play, pouring all her tangled emotions into expressing the music. That was her one true escape. The one place she didn’t have to hide.
She was midway through the second song in her selection of five for the evening when she felt a shift. A change in the audience, in the very air. Normally, she was hardly aware of those around her at all while she played, but now that was different.
She continued to let her fingers move over the keys as she lifted her gaze and let it flit around the room. Lady Stanton was the first person she saw, sitting beside Jane and Wesley. She was smiling like a proud mother hen and Felicity briefly returned the smile.
Her parents were also beaming from their positions in the front row, full of pride that Felicity wasn’t entirely certain she deserved. Other friends watched, debutantes in their first season mostly sat politely, waiting for the musicale to end so they could pick up their flirtations at the soiree afterward.
And then her gaze found him . She was thankful that the notes she was meant to play were bold and powerful, because her fingers crashed against the keys before she could gather her composure and control their weight.
She had never seen Gabriel Morrison before in her life, but she was absolutely certain that the man standing in the back of the hall, watching her play like he was the only person in the audience, was him. The dark blond hair and bright green eyes that were so like his older brother’s were the first indications, but beyond those tell-tale signs… she just felt it in her bones. In the pit of her stomach.
Tingles rushed up her arms, raced through her bloodstream, lit all her nerve endings on fire. She didn’t know how she managed to finish the song she was playing, but she somehow found herself at the end nonetheless and the audience clapped.
Everyone but the new Duke of Windsworth. He just stared at her with the same cold detachment she had always received from his late father.
Great God, he knew the truth.
Felicity’s hands froze over the keys of the pianoforte and she felt the blood drain out of her cheeks to rush to her throbbing heart. She knew she should play the next song, but she couldn’t. All she could do was hear the screaming refrain in her mind.
He knows. He knows. He knows.
Suddenly, her father was at her elbow.
“Is everything well, child? You look
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