Minerva went to the reception hall to find Jeremy waiting. “What are you doing here? Don’t you dare follow again.”
“I’m only here to be your footman. Someone needs to escort you down and hand you in like a lady.”
She muttered her annoyance, but actually was touched by their interest and concern. Under Beth’s watchful eye, Jeremy helped her into the carriage.
To her surprise, the carriage was not empty. Chase sat within.
“Prompt as always,” he said while he ensured she was comfortable. “Do you enjoy music? There is a concert at the Argyll Rooms tonight. It is sponsored by the London Philharmonic Society. I thought we would go if you want.”
“I would enjoy that very much.”
He gave the coachman the direction, then slid from his seat over to hers. He gave her a kiss. He then looked around the compartment they shared. He brushed at the slightly worn upholstery on the seat across. “My apologies. This was the best Brigsby could procure. I have been negligent in not buying my own and must attend to that.”
She had not noticed anything amiss with the carriage. “Has Beth been interfering again?”
“I have not spoken to her. What makes you think she is meddling?”
“The concert. The carriage.”
He looked perplexed.
She gave him a little kiss. “Ignore me. I am so used to inquiries that my mind makes them even when unnecessary.”
“Let us forget about them this evening. I spent the day on them and need a respite from all of that.”
“I think that is a splendid idea. Of course, that leaves us with little conversation. I can’t learn about your life without touching on your family, for example.”
“My family did not involve itself in my whole life. Ask away if you are curious about something.”
She decided which of her many questions to pose first. “Was your father in the army? Did you follow him in choosing that life?”
“My father was a scholar. A very good one. He translated ancient Greek literature. He wrote books about it too. I’ll show them to you someday. I was not a scholar. Far from it. Least of all in those topics. All young gentlemen are taught Latin, so I stood for that. He, however, wanted me to learn Greek too, as he had, and that was going too far.”
“Did you join the army to avoid learning ancient Greek?”
“Of course not. I did make it a point to fail miserably at the task, though. Given the chance he would have had me sitting for hours in a library with him, poring over those old texts. I much preferred running and riding and fighting and sport.”
“Fighting?”
“When you dine with Nicholas I will have him tell you about the fights we had, either with each other or as comrades in arms. You will receive an invitation in the morning, by the way. He has not forgotten.”
“I suppose if you enjoyed fighting and riding and sport like fencing, entering the army seemed very natural to you.”
“Not natural so much as inevitable. For the grandson of a duke the acceptable choices are limited. Of them only the army suited me.”
The carriage plunged into a tangle of conveyances when they turned onto Regent Street and approached the Argyll Rooms. Chase pointed out the building. “Nash redesigned it when he altered the path and size of Regent Street here,” he said. “Both the inside and the exterior bear his mark now.”
“Isn’t this where the Cyprian Ball is held?”
“You know about that?”
“Everyone knows about it. Did you ever attend?”
“Most gentlemen about town do at least once. It wasn’t nearly as scandalous as I had hoped.”
“What a disappointment for you.”
The coachman maneuvered their carriage very close to the entrance before he stopped. Chase hopped out and offered his hand to her. Once she alighted he spoke to the coachman, palmed him some coins, and they entered the building.
“I have subscriptions, but we will use the duke’s box,” he said, guiding her up to the salon, then to a door.
“Will he be attending too?”
“He is otherwise occupied tonight.”
The Duke of Hollinburgh possessed a very fine box. One of the best. Below the musicians had already been seated and they plucked at their instruments. A beautiful harpsicord stood to one side on the stage. She took a seat in the second row of chairs, hoping to avoid being on display the way the women in the other boxes were.
He sat beside her without comment on her choice. When an attendant arrived and began lighting the lamps, he told the man to leave them as they were.
“Thank you,” she said. “I am not dressed for the occasion, let alone to sit in a box such as this.”
“I should have been more thoughtful, and given you warning, so you were not uncomfortable. The truth is you look beautiful tonight, Minerva, and the equal to any of the ladies glittering across the way. You always look beautiful.”
The musicians poised themselves to play. The music started. In the dark of that box, feeling very beautiful indeed, she allowed the music to enter her while she nestled against the shoulder at her side.
* * *
As arranged, the carriage was waiting for them when they left the building. Chase guided Minerva through the crush to its door.
Her expression in the lamplight reminded him of the one yesterday when she was leaving. Astonished. Transformed.
“Have you never heard music like that before?” he asked when he sat beside her and the carriage began nudging away from the other conveyances.
“Not quite. Not like the last piece. The first ones—I have heard something similar in church.”
The first had been Bach. The second Beethoven. The first a fugue on harpsicord. The second a symphony that thundered through the theater. Uncle Frederick had not liked Beethoven’s music. Dionysiac, he had called it. The structure is there but buried in storms that rouse the emotions, not the mind, he had said. On the other hand, when you want to seduce a woman, it is useful to have her listen to Beethoven first.
“Did your church in Dorset have such sophisticated music?”
“No, but when in London I would attend St. George’s near Hanover Square. I never missed Sunday service. Beth and her son would come too, and we would walk both ways, even in bad weather, to make the outing last a long time.”
There would be no way Finley could object to his wife attending church. That must have annoyed him. Not enough that he accompanied her, though. Such a man knows his soul has no business in such a place. “How far was it?”
“We normally let a house west of Portman Square, so not too far. I would have to leave quite early, though, because we would walk very, very slowly.” She kissed his cheek. “Thank you for tonight. It was a special treat. I feel as though the music is still inside me.”
He turned and gave her a full kiss, such as he had been wanting to do since she left her house. “I will return you to your home now if you want.”
“Don’t you dare.”
He needed no more encouragement than that. The music was still inside him too, and he released some of the passion in kissing her. Things were more equal this time. She parted her lips, inviting the deep exploration of her mouth. She nipped his lip, testing her own power a little.
It was hell releasing her when the carriage stopped. They both pretended they were normal while he settled with the coachman and they walked calmly to the door. Up the stairs they trod, when in truth he wanted to sling her over his shoulder and run.