🐾🐱🐾
ON that day at the lounge, Rosalind had been half-dragged out of the terrace by Alexander to go talk to her professor, but the process of changing her performance partner had actually gone incredibly smoothly.
In fact, her music professor had even taken her aside and expressed his appreciation for her getting such a catch.
Apparently, Alexander’s performances were brilliant, he had a dedicated fanbase, and had enough talent to be the centerpiece of any social salon.
But there was no way Rosalind, who rarely played violin in public and had not debuted in society yet, could have known that.
Afterward, Alec had insisted they get together to practice right away. Rosalind had assumed they would go to one of the school’s private study rooms, but instead, they boarded a carriage and went straight to the duke’s estate. Rosalind had been there several times before to visit Portia, but this time she was led right by the cat room and taken to the music room.
As Rosalind was disorientated in astonishment, Alexander instructed her to play. Before she could fully gather her wits about her, she readied her violin and started playing the piece.
“Hm…” Alexander hummed once she had finished. “There’s no problems overall, although it’d probably be best to make the accented notes stand out more while playing in the recital hall. And that won’t do,” he added, looking at her instrument.
“Is something wrong with my violin?”
“It’s too shabby to be on the same stage as me.”
Rosalind bristled inwardly at his nonchalantly tossed insult.
Her violin had been a hand-me-down from her aunt, and it certainly didn’t cost much originally, but she still didn’t think he should call it shabby. The Knowles family wasn’t wealthy enough to spend a fortune on musical instruments, nor did the Earl of Knowles have any interest in music.
“You’re not untalented, so I want you to have a richer sound. Here—”
“Wha—oh!”
The violin she was holding was plucked out of her hand and casually replaced with the one Alexander suggested.
Wh-What in the world?! Rosalind thought, trembling.
The violin was indisputably the work of a master craftsman. The very pattern of the wood grain was impressive, and the bow was incredibly easy to hold.
After being prompted to play again, she struck at the string with her bow despite her confusion. The notes spilled out from the instrument, almost as if the bow were magically pulling them out. Rosalind couldn’t believe her ears.
The same person was playing the same notes as before, but it sounded like a completely different song.
Rosalind moved the bow as if intoxicated by the deep resonance. Before she knew it, Alexander had joined her on the piano.
The sounds blended so well together that it seemed impossible this was their first time playing together. Coupled with the beauty of the melody, it made Rosalind drift off into a trance.
Only after the song had finished did Rosalind realize that the other servants had stopped by and listened to them play, thanks to the butler who’d tactfully and quietly opened the door to the music room.
The resounding applause that followed dragged Rosalind back to reality. She shrunk back in embarrassment, hoping the ground would swallow her up.
“I never expected you to put on such a beautiful and joyful performance, young master!” exclaimed the butler. “You live and learn, I suppose!”
“What are you talking about, Gramps? I always play like this.”
“No, indeed! Today’s performance had a special charm to it. And I must thank you as well, miss!”
“N-No, I didn’t do anything…”
“All right, that’s enough. We’re going to take a break in the other room, so go get things ready.”
All the servants left to follow his instructions, leaving only Rosalind, Alexander, and the butler alone in the music room.
“Um…” Rosalind said, “thanks for everything.”
“Sure. It’s mostly in good shape, don’t you think? We’ll just be doing fine-tuning from here on out.”
“It needs fine tuning?” asked Rosalind, shocked.
She had assumed they didn’t need to practice anymore unless they really wanted to. Alexander had struck her as the type of person who didn’t have much passion for things in general and wouldn’t waste his time on anything that he thought was pointless.
“If we’re going to perform, we’ve got to blow their socks off.”
“If you say so…”
“Don’t you want to leave Amy and Ed speechless?” he asked with a self-satisfied grin and a wink that practically sparkled.
At that moment, for whatever reason, the pieces suddenly clicked into place, and Rosalind realized…
He must have a crush on her!
“We’ll take a short break, then,” Alexander continued, totally unaware, “and after that, we’ll run through it some more.”
“This way, miss, if you please,” said the butler.
Rosalind followed the butler and was led into the familiar cat room.
She was very grateful they had been considerate enough to prepare this room. If she’d been led into some grand parlor room, she would’ve felt far too out of place and on edge to relax.
Alexander looked at home in the room as well, greeting the cats politely as he sipped from his steaming cup, but he didn’t seem to be as big of a cat fanatic as his mother.
Rosalind petted the cats that trotted up to her, smiling at them so widely her cheeks almost pushed her eyes completely closed.
“You really like cats, don’t you?” asked Alexander.
“I do. They’re so cute and—wait, stop! Please give that back!”
The cats had started pulling out letters from Rosalind’s inadvertently open bag. An opened letter had gotten a little wrinkled, but Rosalind, not seeming to care, grabbed it back and crammed it into her bag.
“Letters from home?”
“Yes… They’ve been talking about me getting engaged a lot recently.”
“You don’t seem pleased by that.”
“To be honest, it’s a pain in the butt,” Rosalind responded with a sigh.
Alexander suddenly burst out laughing.
“You certainly don’t mince words! May I ask who’s been making offers?”
“Sure, I don’t mind. So far, the candidates are Baron Beaton, Viscount Charlton, and Baronet Carlton—”
“What? H-Hold on a sec—”
“Yeah, their names are almost exactly the same—”
“I don’t care about the names!” Alexander said, slightly impatiently. “I just, you know, wanted to make sure…you’re talking about marrying their sons or grandsons, right?”
Rosalind stopped counting on her fingers.
“No, I’m talking about the heads of the family,” she answered dispassionately.
“What?! But they’re way too old! Baronet Carlton is probably older than my father and might even be as old as Gramps over here!”
The elderly butler stepped forward at once and bowed politely.