The Lady Knight

Chapter XXVII: Impressions And Intoxications

The Lady Knight

"Nay, nay, that is incorrect, my Lady," Nick shook his head, taking care to sound polite, "it is a C sharp, not an F sharp."

Saying that, his fingers descended once more on the pianoforte and he demonstrated how that particular part of the piece should be truly played.

"I am hopeless," Estelle sighed with a comically woeful expression on her face, as she threw her hands up in the air in exasperation with herself, "this is what happens when I do not practise playing the pianoforte for almost two months. Even before that, I was unable to play as well as my mother."

"You do play well, extremely well, if I may say so, my Lady," he answered kindly, "you need a little more practice, that is all. I enjoyed playing that duet with you."

At his words, Estelle grew quite red in the cheeks, as she muttered a hardly audible 'thank you' and turned back to arranging her music sheets, suddenly very interested in counting them.

I chuckled quietly, amused. I was currently seated in a corner of the music chamber, peering over at the couple over the huge book I held open in my hands, observing them discreetly. They had completely forgotten my presence the moment Nick had begun to play one of his own compositions on the pianoforte.

Truth be told, I could not blame them. If I were in their places, I would have forgotten all else around me too. Till today, I had not known how beautifully he could play the pianoforte.

The instant his hands had begun to dance over the ivory keys, it was almost as if I was transported to another world. Sweet music wafted through the entire chamber, pulling me into a lovely trance I could not snap myself out of. On and on it flowed, like the waters of a calm river, filling my very soul with such unearthly joy that felt almost foreign. It was magical, unlike anything I had ever heard before.

It was unbelievable that he had composed that. All by himself.

When he had finished playing, it felt as if someone had doused me with ice-cold water, bringing me back to reality. So lost was I in that world that he had created in that beautiful song, that an earthquake could have occurred and I would not even have realised.

Estelle had, of course, demanded at once that he teach her how to play that piece, and Nick had complied quite willingly. She was finding it very difficult to cope, however, for she had skipped her pianoforte lessons for almost two months now, due to her more pressing duties as Duchess of Vareniol.

"That is quite all right. We shall practise more tomorrow," he beamed cheerfully, not noticing her red face, "I promised the Captains that I would practice archery in the training fields with them this afternoon. Would you please excuse me, my Lady?"

"But of course, Your Royal Highness," she nodded, smiling weakly, "I will see you at dinner."

He bowed low over her right hand and kissed the back of it, before he strode out of the room, having completely forgotten that I was in the chamber.

That was fine by me. I had wanted to observe them without their knowledge, and I had succeeded.

Estelle stared after his retreating figure, lost in her own thoughts. I cleared my throat slightly, trying to catch her attention. She jerked, startled, and her unseeing gaze snapped correctly towards where I was seated.

"Well, that was certainly entertaining," I teased, chuckling.

Her face grew bright red again. "Keep quiet, and stop teasing me," she mumbled, as she fingered the ivory keys behind her, "you have no idea. He plays so..." She was at a loss of words, and her eyes were huge with awe.