Chapter 33 Rhys
Rhys
The music Magellan and Fanny Mendelssohn were playing inside the parlor was incandescent, truly a soaring achievement.
Rhys hovered in the doorway of the library, close enough to the parlor to hear but not near enough to hear whatever the women were saying to each other.
They’d been sequestered together, even declining tea.
They played the magnificent song again from start to finish.
Was this the song, though, that could save the world?
On a piano? The reality was it was a song on a piano being played by two ladies in a parlor.
To Rhys, now more than ever in the light of day, listening to the music coming from the room, Magellan’s belief in the diary and “her mission” seemed incredibly delusional.
By Jove, he was embarrassed to admit she almost had him wanting to believe it as well.
Earlier she’d even requested they go to a church after Fanny’s visit. She had said, “I need to visit the most ancient church in London with a pipe organ.”
Rhys had choked on a laugh. “A pipe organ?”
“Please?” She looked at him hopefully, her green eyes making him forget himself for a moment. As green as his labyrinth.
“Rhys?” She was waiting for his answer. “I need a pipe organ in the oldest church.”
Who needs a pipe organ? “In the oldest church,” he repeated her request. “May I ask why?”
“Because I need to play it,” she said vaguely, blushing prettily.
Of course he would take her to a church.
Perhaps not today but sometime soon. Where he would one day kiss her under God and say his wedding vows.
He had already decided he would marry Magellan.
It didn’t matter if she was penniless. He would find another way to help the estate’s finances.
He would sell the whole library off for her.
He didn’t care either that she was from America and slightly addled with an overactive imagination.
In the light of day, everything was becoming clear.
Who knew how she’d really ended up in the labyrinth.
He simply Did. Not. Care. Nothing mattered anymore except keeping her with him.
If the future Countess of Liron required an ancient church with a pipe organ, then so be it.
That’s what he would get for her. His father had been most eccentric too, and his mother had managed him quite easily enough.
Several minutes later, Magellan opened the door and she and Fanny came out.
They were both laughing, looking radiant and full of joy.
Fanny was even wiping happy tears from her eyes.
Rhys resisted the urge to raise his quizzing glass at them.
Magellan was glowing, as if the nightmare she’d been through the past week had never happened.
The women saw him hovering with uncertainty in the hallway.
Fanny beamed at him. “Lord Liron, thank you so much for inviting me to meet Miss Brighton! It has been a most illuminating day.”
What did that mean? He was fiddling nervously with his quizzing glass and forced himself to stop.
He gave her what he hoped was a pleasant smile. “Would you like to stay for tea or luncheon perhaps?”
“Thank you, but I should be going.” She turned to Magellan. “I hope we meet again, Miss Brighton, even if it’s only in our dreams,” Miss Mendelssohn said, waxing poetic, and she gave Magellan a firm hug.
Rhys stood there awkwardly watching, astounded by the women’s overt sentimentality with each other. The two had literally just met and were hugging like old friends—like sisters. He had no idea female musicians were so romantic at heart.
I hope we meet in dreams, indeed!
Magellan looked vibrant, even dressed in a somber dark-blue travel dress meant for a long carriage ride.
Rhys frowned at the ensemble. Why was she wearing such plain garb?
Did Vivianne have nothing else in her closets?
He would need to take Magellan to the modiste today to order a proper wardrobe befitting a future countess.
But first she needed to eat before she got dizzy.
And just as pressing, at some point he would need to garner his courage and propose before the housekeeper or butler did it for him.
He prayed the staff had not mentioned their engagement to her.
Another worry to add to his plate of worries.
His one and only marriage proposal and he’d already botched it.
Miss Mendelssohn left, leaving the two of them alone together.
“Thank you for letting Fanny come.” Magellan grabbed hold of his arm like she had once been prone to do. He gave her a foolish lopsided smile, stifling his worries for the moment, simply happy she was happy.
“I take it the visit was a success?” he asked, though he could tell it was.
“It was amazing.” Magellan’s whole face was shining as if lit from within, making him feel momentarily breathless. “She had the second part of the first movement!”
“The first movement of what?” He led her to the salon and offered her a chair. Then he prepared her a plate of food.
“The symphony I’ve been sent to find.” Instead of sitting, she quickly crossed the room to the window and watched Miss Mendelssohn’s carriage depart.
She was keyed up with excitement and a jittery nervousness.
“You see, a symphony generally has four movements. Now I have the first movement, and I need the other three. I believe we should go to the church now. Gwynedd warned me.” She stayed by the window, looking riveted by something down on the street.
Rhys prided himself by nodding as if what she was saying made perfect sense. Because he loved her. He would help her move past this fantasy. Even if it took years. He would surround her with instruments and other composer friends and whatever she desired to make her forget her delusions.
Then she gasped and took a step back to hide behind the curtain.
“What is it?” He looked out the window to find dark storm clouds gathering on the horizon.
“Strange men are outside the gate, looking up at us. It must be them.”
“Who?” He followed her line of vision, surprised to find there were several questionable fellows at the gate.
They looked like seedy criminals who had somehow wandered into Mayfair.
He drew the curtain. “Do not worry. Those ragamuffins wouldn’t dare climb the gate. I’ll have my footmen run them off.”
She stood frozen like a startled deer about to bolt. “Do you hear that?” she whispered. A fierce frown was on her face as she strained to listen to something. She backed away farther from the window in terror. “Rhys, we need to leave now.”
“After you eat something.” He nodded to her plate and poured her a tea. “I thought this afternoon we should go and have you fitted for new dresses.” He watched her grab the food and shove it into her mouth. Her hands were noticeably shaking.
She said with her mouth full of biscuits, “I need to get to the church a-s-a-p.”
“What do the letters a s a p mean?”
“Sorry.” She looked flustered. “It means right away.” She downed the tea in a single gulp and headed to the door.
He got up to follow her, suggesting, “Are you sure you wouldn’t prefer a carriage ride in Hyde Park perhaps?” Although that would attract attention. He was trying to minimize the possibility of a scandal.
“No! Let me just get my bag.” Magellan was already running upstairs, taking them two at a time as he watched astounded.
The butler interrupted him. “Pardon me, sir, but there seems to be a commotion outside the gates.”
“Yes, the ruffians. Do have the footmen handle it.”
“I believe they might be dangerous, perhaps escaped from an asylum. They’re trying to climb the gate.”
Magellan, overhearing, leaned over the upstairs balcony and called down to him. “Rhys, it’s happening. The labyrinth is breaking. Can’t you hear it? I need a church and a pipe organ right away!” She disappeared into her room.
To the butler’s credit, he did not change his facial expression. Rhys tried to smooth over his acute embarrassment. “Do see to those men, Gibbons, and call for the carriage to be brought around back.” They could leave from there and avoid the front gate.
Rhys went for his coat and gloves and grabbed his purse, newly filled with coin.
They could go shopping after the church, and he would buy her the dresses she required.
Then tonight they would talk. He would work hard to help her put her feet firmly back on the ground.
She only needed an anchor. Him. By Jove, the anchor would be him.
Then he would propose. She would say yes.
After they were married, he would put a piano in their bedroom where they could kiss on the bench whenever they liked and not stop there. He blushed at the thought.
He waited at the bottom of the stairs. His smile quickly turned into a frown when he saw her come downstairs with the satchel he had given her before. It was bulging with items inside.
Why in blazes was she bringing the satchel?
“Why do you still have that bag?” he all but spit out. He should have burned the atrocity.
“I need to bring some things with me,” she said vaguely. She was wearing one of Vivianne’s heavy cloaks over her dress, and his heart fell. She really thought she was going to time travel.
“I’ll carry that for you,” he insisted, taking the satchel from her. He’d be damned if he’d let the bag—or her—out of his sight.
They climbed into his carriage, and he told the footman to take them to All Hallows by the Tower.
It was the oldest church in London and had been there since the 600s.
That should be old enough for her, and the church did have a grand pipe organ.
He may have to bribe some priest to let her play it, which is why he brought his heaviest purse.
Magellan didn’t say a word in the carriage ride. She sat ramrod straight, staring out the window and startling at every jolt and bump on the road as if they were going to be attacked any moment.