Chapter Sixteen
No one was in the music room when Cathryn walked into the room.
It was a large room, perfect for what she needed.
In the center of the room was a black grand piano.
The black shone in the sunlight. To one side was a harp and in another corner there was a harpsichord.
The entire room had recently been re-done in a musical theme.
Chairs and a settee were all done in a pattern of musical notes while others were simply a dark cream.
With a smile, she noted the wall covering matched the upholstery.
Someone had put a lot of thought into the room.
Sitting down at the piano, Cathryn began to play something simple to hear the notes and see if it was out of tune or not.
“The piano and harpsichord were tuned two months ago, milady,” a voice from the doorway said.
Turning to look, Cathryn noted a woman dressed in dark gray, clutching a book of some sort. Probably her diary where she kept notes on the household. She thought the woman’s statement was odd.
“That’s good to hear as I play every day,” Cathryn replied.
“It’ll be nice to have music back in the house.”
“You must be Mrs. Thompson,” Cathryn said. “I’m Lady Cathryn.”
“Yes, milady. Would you like to go over details of the household?”
“Yes, I think that will suffice for today.” Cathryn stood from the piano bench and walked over to the woman. “Please sit.”
Mrs. Thompson sat in a cream-colored brocade chair across from the chair Cathryn had chosen.
“I thought we should at least meet. You’ve answered my big question about the piano.
I must have it in perfect pitch so I may rehearse.
You see, the Prince of Wales has invited me to play for him and the princess.
Once I hear when it is and what he’d like me to play, I’ll be able to practice with some direction. ”
“That’s quite an honor, milady.”
“Yes, it is. Unexpected, I must say. I’m not sure where he heard me play.”
“I’m sure you’ll do splendidly,” she said. “Where should we start?”
“How many on staff and do we need more? I know my husband will want more staff for the gardens.”
“Of course. For now, I think we have enough staff.”
“That’s good to hear,” Cathryn replied.
“If you like, I can arrange for Cook to join us. She can best tell you what she might need.”
“The kitchen is her domain, I assume.”
“Yes, it is.”
Cathryn smiled. “I can respect that.”
The housekeeper had opened her book and quickly read whatever it said. “What time do you like to dine in the evening?”
“If we’re alone, probably seven-thirty. Later, of course, should we have guests.”
Mrs. Thompson began writing in her book while Cathryn discreetly watched. The woman had been here quite a while so Cathryn decided the housekeeper knew a lot more about the estate.
“How long ago did the previous lady need to purchase things like sheets and bath towels for the house?”
“Everything is pristine and new. Since she knew the estate was up for sale, and would probably be sold as is, furnished, she instructed that everything be replaced with new.”
“Which you did?”
“Of course,” the housekeeper replied.
“That’s awfully thoughtful for a woman who is selling her home.”
“I suppose since she moved in here when it was in a neglected state, she would make sure the next resident wouldn’t have to deal with that.”
Cathryn took a moment to digest what she’d just been told. It was highly unusual for a mistress of the house to do something so generous, but the gesture wasn’t lost on Cathryn. “Is there anything I should be aware of?”
“No, but if you’d like to meet, I can take you through the house tomorrow morning.”
“I think that’s a splendid idea. The only thing I ask is that the temperature in this room be kept consistent. It’s better on the instruments and I’ll be using this room quite a lot.”
“Yes, milady. Is there anything else?”
“Not now. I’ll meet you here in the morning.”
Mrs. Thompson nodded her head, turned, and walked out of the room.
Cathryn decided she and the housekeeper were going to get along quite well.
Mrs. Thompson wasn’t condescending because her new mistress was young and seemed to listen to everything Cathryn had to say.
Having someone who knew what she was doing and didn’t need to be watched over gave Cathryn peace.
The last thing she wanted to do was spend most of her days taking care of household matters.
Returning to the piano and sitting down, Cathryn began to play a piece by Beethoven she liked to play for practice. As her fingers flew across the keys, she kept going. She would practice something extra for the prince in case there was time during her upcoming performance.
Noticing a stack of music on a nearby chair, Cathryn left the piano bench and stood over the sheets. There were many pieces of various composers; the two who seemed to stand out were Mozart and Handel. Mozart’s music could be quite dark.
She decided to separate the music sheets by composer.
It would give her a good idea of what she had to work with.
One by one she made piles on the floor, and if a sheet came up by an unknown composer, she placed it in a pile of its own.
Unfortunately, there were none like this, so she stuck with her task until it was finished.
One by one she picked up each pile and stacked it neatly in its own file on a small table. She ended up with five different composers, all of whom she had played at least one piece of theirs. Everything was now neat and tidy, making all easier to go through the piles.
Wondering what Charles was doing, she left the music room in search of him. She knew he wouldn’t have been able to stay in one place for long, so she backtracked to where Frazier was working.
“How long ago did he leave?”
“It’s been a while now, milady,” came Frazier’s reply. “He did mention he was heading to the stables.”
“Makes sense.”
“Is there anything I can help you with?”
She shook her head. “No, I just thought I’d see what he might be doing,” she replied.
“He doesn’t seem as overwhelmed with everything that was entailed with this move. When we moved from Wight, he was quite anxious.”
“That was different. It wasn’t his choice. This time it is his decision.”
Frazier arched a brow. “You’re right. I hadn’t thought of it that way.”
“He’s going to be okay, Frazier.”
“I’ve always known that. He’s simply never been given a chance.”
She agreed with the valet and turned to leave. “I’m off to explore the house. Thank you for all you do for Charles.”
He truly wasn’t expecting a compliment and Cathryn could see his face redden ever so slightly.
He mumbled something, but she didn’t stay around to find out what it was.
She didn’t want to embarrass him more than she already had.
He deserved to be complimented. Charles wasn’t easy at times.
She knew that, even in the relatively short time she’d known her husband.
He wasn’t a man to share his feelings. Even being excited for her chance to play in front of royalty was hard for him.
He didn’t understand what all the fuss was about.
Instead, now, he said little, leaving himself the ability to absorb what he’d just learned and respond appropriately.
She was confident having moved to their own estate would be a great help to his self-esteem. He was smart, but because of some idiosyncrasies, he’d been deemed mad. There were more epithets, but mad was the easiest one people used. Charles was anything but mad.
*
Cathryn promptly received the music the Prince of Wales and his wife wanted to hear the night of her performance.
She had four pieces of their choosing, and two could be of her own.
The pieces weren’t complicated or overly long, but they weren’t ones she played on a regular basis, nor did she believe they were compositions the public heard at concerts often.
They were what their majesties wanted, and who was she to challenge them?
She would choose one popular piece for one of her two. The other she wasn’t sure of yet.
Practice became all-consuming for her. She would begin right after breakfast and play non-stop until she was satisfied with how each piece sounded and how well she played them.
There was little time for anything else.
Everything had to be perfect. If she impressed their majesties, it could lead to her playing for others privately like this soiree or publicly.
She hadn’t given thought that her non-stop practicing might get on others’ nerves, but her parents had raised her that if you were good at something, you perfected it even if that meant disrupting the daily harmonic balance of the house.
In the evenings during dinner, she would listen attentively to her husband tell her about his day and accomplishments about the estate. Cathryn listened, but her mind was never far from her music.
“Cathryn, I’m afraid I have a conflict,” he said, a serious tone to his voice.
“What sort of conflict?”
“I am supposed to do a talk at Oxford the day of your performance for their majesties.”
“We can meet at the house and go from there. I don’t see the conflict,” she said.
“I’m expected to attend a dinner afterwards.”
She mulled over what he just told her. “How long have you known about this?”
“Since yesterday.”
“I see.”
Charles cleared his throat. “I apologize for the inconvenience.”
She slammed her hand down on the table. “This is the most important night of my life and all you can do is offer an apology for being unable to attend. I demand you cancel or change the date.”
“I can’t,” he replied.
“Can’t or won’t,” she barked. “For God’s sake, Charles, I’m playing for royalty. I think that trumps anything you might have going on that evening.”
“You’re being selfish, Cathryn.”
She shook her head. “I’m not. If I were in your shoes, I’d cancel.”
“I’ll meet you at the house,” he said.