Chapter 43 - MARK—BY THE LIGHT OF THE STARS

Chapter 43

MARK—BY THE LIGHT OF THE STARS

On the bench, where my adventure began, I looked up into the stars. What a night. I’d lost my father, my song, and my girl. Searching the stars that I used to guide me through the maze, I hoped for a nightingale to sing to me, to lull my pathetic soul.

My hands were still too numb to grip the reins of my gig. Probably couldn’t get a good hold on it, or the heart that had been ripped out of my chest.

Georgie ran around the corner. “You haven’t left yet.”

“This isn’t the way to the mews.”

“Right. I should remember that.”

She seemed happy, a relieved expression on her face.

“Mark, are you all right?”

“Not quite.” I wrung my hands. “Getting there.”

Like my palms were baked bricks, I slapped the bench. “Sit, share the stars. The viewing is free.”

“Should we? The house is full; someone could venture upon us. We’d be back in trouble.”

“Well, this time I’d insist you marry me.”

Her breath caught, and I saw what looked like hope burning on her olive-brown cheeks.

“You still want to marry me, even after I accidentally stole your sonata?”

“Oh, that little thing. I’ll forgive you after a year or two of our blissful union.”

I offered Georgie a smile and again pointed to the bench. But she didn’t move. “Still, no. You won’t take me up on my offer?”

“Be serious for a moment.”

I was, but she refused to see it. Instead, I glanced at the vulnerable jet eyes of the woman who charmed and ruined me. “I still love you, Georgie.”

“Mark, I-I didn’t mean to. I didn’t play it exactly like you wrote it. It could still be used, couldn’t it? Or maybe you could change a few sections. I mean, I just played what I remembered in my head.”

“You made it sound better than I created. And I have to be honest to win the prize. I have some integrity.” Moving my fingers about made them tingle. Good, a new sensation. “Why didn’t you tell me you could play?”

“I did. I think I did.”

“No. Georgie, that’s beyond anything I’ve heard. You’re masterful at the keys. What you did was phenomenal. And you have taken the piece I’ve struggled with for a year, made it better, and played from memory.”

“I couldn’t sing in public, not without you.” She took a step closer. “Mark, how do I make this right? I didn’t mean to offend you. I didn’t mean to steal your piece. I was out in front of everyone. I panicked. You’ve been in my head, even when I didn’t want you there.”

“Then you should definitely come sit beside me.”

She didn’t move. Instead, she clasped her elbows. “Please don’t joke. All your dreams are destroyed. I should’ve run.”

Rising from the bench, I went to her. With my numb fingers, I brushed away a tear. “No. No more sadness. There’s been too much tonight.”

“But you’ve been working for months on that sonata. Now you have nothing for the Harlbert’s Prize. That was your future. I’ve taken it.”

It was actually years, but I’d not found all the right notes, not until now. “All by accident, my dear.”

“Doesn’t make this better. I didn’t want you to be embarrassed, not after what happened with Lord Prahmn. Your friend called your name as my tutor. I didn’t want you shamed.”

“Georgie, I’m a composer. I’ll write again. That wasn’t my only song. But you are my only love.”

Before she escaped, or slipped away from my life or, heaven forbid, someone interrupted, I wrapped my arms about her. “I need you to know that I love you. I love you more than my family. I want you to become my family.”

I kissed her wide, pert nose, then the hollows of her cheeks. When I got to her lips, I tasted and took my time. Then I fully claimed this heaven-sent mouth as mine.

Love was my best work. The composer in me found the right student, one who taught me to be a better man.

Sculpting this goddess to me, I drank in this kiss as far as I could. I needed it to be seared into my flesh, deep into my chest, down into my heart.

Then when she left me for the sensible, right thing to do, I’d still have a piece of her to guide me and write the music of the brokenhearted.