Worst Impressions

Chapter Fifty One

William stood quickly. 'Mandy –'

'Do I look like the sort of person who has private lessons from anyone?' I asked. 'You need to check your sources, Chantelle. It doesn't sound like they know what they're talking about.'

Chantelle blushed hotly, faltering under William's angry gaze and the confidence of my reply. I wouldn't let the conversation drift anywhere near Gideon Wickham, not when it would cause Amanda so much pain.

I picked up the dropped bow and handed it back to Amanda. 'I hope you don't mind playing with an amateur. I'll be relying on you to make me sound better than I really am.'

She smiled. 'You shouldn't have so little faith in your skills. Don't forget, I've already heard you play once.'

'You heard me butcher a piece of art once,' I corrected.

'We'll have to agree to disagree on that. But I think you'll find that William enjoyed your playing as much as I did.'

'Enjoyed is a strong word,' William teased. He squeezed my shoulder gently. I hoped that he understood I'd only interrupted him to spare his sister's feelings. The tenderness in his eyes suggested that he had. 'What are you thinking of playing for us, Bennett?'

'How do you feel about Scarlatti's Sonata K thirty-nine?' Amanda suggested.

'I was hoping we could play Born to be Wild, but it's a good second choice.'

Maybe she'd thought I was joking about needing her support, but there was no denying Amanda's talent. The piece was one played with nervous energy, and it seemed that I was providing the nervous while she had all the energy. It was criminal that I should presume to impose on her abilities with my inadequate accompaniment, especially when she could have easily found a place in a symphony orchestra. If I'd been playing with anyone else, I might have been intimidated by them. Instead, it made me want to work harder. Amanda played with such passion and energy that I did the same, living in the music rather than reading it off the page and playing a strict and honest rendition. Gideon might have told me I shouldn't be afraid to pursue music if I were passionate about it, but Amanda was showing me just how liberating that could be.

'That,' said Dad when we were done, 'was much better than spending a night in front of the television. You were fantastic, girls. Really.'

'Thanks, Mr Bennett,' Amanda said. She set her violin and bow back into their case carefully. 'You haven't seen the house yet, right? How about a tour?'

'I'd love that, thank you.'

'And, you know, Henry told me that Beth didn't have time to see the grounds the other day. Maybe Will could show her?' she suggested nonchalantly. There was nothing innocent about the way she smiled in my direction.

She was trying to give us some time alone.

I didn't have the courage to speak up and say that William likely didn't want to show me around the garden, or that I would rather join her and my father on a tour of the house. Chantelle made a point of trying to follow us outside, but Charlie soon steered his sister back into the house and offered hasty apologies before closing the door behind them.

The grounds were illuminated by lights strung in the trees and staked into the ground, all of them twinkling white like hundreds of stars had descended upon us. It was painfully quiet, and I wrapped my arms around myself, keeping a respectable distance between us as we strolled through the trees. I was desperate to say something which might dispel the air of awkwardness which had settled, but I couldn't think of a single thing that wouldn't make me sound stupid.

'Your friends seem fun,' he said at last, saving me from leading the conversation.

'They are,' I agreed.