Finally, Frederick stepped closer, crouched in front of Aurelia, bringing them eye to eye. “Aurelia.” His tone was commanding enough to make her raise her head.
Her eyes, large and swollen, met his, and her breath hitched.
“Listen to all we’re saying.” Frederick held her gaze. “In everything you’ve done, you’ve acted from the best of motives. You thought you had to act as you did in order to save your family from being tainted by scandal—by the scandal Hadley blatantly courted. Your actions are nothing to be ashamed of—if any of us had been placed in a similar situation, chances are, we would have done the same. We all value family, and each family has its vulnerabilities. Acting to protect your family is something we all understand—none of us hold your actions against you, and we never will.” He paused, then added, “What Hadley did is in no way your fault—you are not to blame for his transgressions.”
Aurelia blinked.
Frederick continued to hold her gaze; slowly, he arched a brow.
At last, Aurelia fractionally nodded. “Thank you,” she whispered.
Frederick tipped his head and rose. He hadn’t said anything more than the others already had, but because he was the head of the house and arguably the most wronged by Hadley’s actions, she could accept absolution from him.
Aurelia looked at Carlisle, who stepped to her side and patted her shoulder. “There, there, m’dear. No need to fear the worst. Like Frederick said, we’re all family here, and no one’s going to speak about Hadley again.”
There was a firmness in Carlisle’s tone that didn’t surprise Frederick, but of which he saw Stacie, Mary, and Ernestine take note.
Carlisle urged Aurelia to her feet, and they took their leave; Frederick, with Stacie beside him, saw them to the door and waited with them as their carriage was brought around.
When Fortingale had shut the door and Frederick, with Stacie, turned to head back to the drawing room, Stacie leaned close and murmured, “I suspect we could all do with a little uplifting—do you think you might play your new air for us?”
He met her eyes, then smiled and raised her hand to his lips. He kissed her fingers, then said, “As my lady commands.”
They parted, she to summon the others to the music room while he went ahead and opened the piano.
As she led the company into the room, the strains of Frederick’s “Anthem to My Muse” swelled, then swooped and snared them in its light and airy embrace.
They stood and listened—Ryder and Mary, Frederick’s mother, Emily, and Ernestine—and in the center of the group stood the lady who held Frederick’s heart.
He played for her, and the music rolled through the house, an anthem in truth, a paean to love.
As the final chord sounded, only Ryder’s and Frederick’s eyes remained dry.
His audience burst into spontaneous applause and shouts of Bravo!
His mother held her hands to her heart and looked thrilled to her soul.
But his eyes were all for his love and all he saw shining in her gaze.
She was and would be his hearth, his home, the lynchpin of his family—his future, his muse, his, forevermore.
They persuaded Frederick to play for a while more—light airs that lifted the clouds of the day and blew them away.
Eventually, satisfied with the outcome of their endeavors, Ryder and Mary took their leave, and Emily and Ernestine went upstairs.
Leaving Frederick closing the piano, Stacie walked with the dowager to the music room door.
After casting a swift glance behind them, the dowager grasped Stacie’s wrist, leaned close, and murmured, “Thank you! You cannot know what a difference you’ve made to him—how completely you’ve lured him back into the world.”
Stacie twisted her wrist, caught the dowager’s fingers, and lightly squeezed. “If so, it’s only fair, given the difference he’s made to me.”
The dowager’s old eyes met hers directly, then Philippa nodded. “You balance each other.” She returned the pressure of Stacie’s fingers, then released her. “And that’s a wonderful thing.”
With a smile and a graceful nod, the dowager went ahead.
Stacie heard Frederick’s footsteps approaching, glanced back, and met his eyes. He arched a brow at her, but she only shook her head and, when he drew level, linked her arm with his. Together, they went upstairs and walked down the corridor to the room they shared.
He opened the door and followed her in, then closed the door and halted. He drew her to face him and searched her eyes, her face. “