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"Would you like some café, or tea, or chocolate? Or some wine?"
"The wine I would like, but that must come later." Llysette smiled, more
warmly.
"Chocolate?"
"Something warm ... but tea, perhaps?"
"Tea I can do. You'll want chocolate, Johan?"
"Of course."
"If you want to unpack or get settled, I'll be downstairs. Just come down when
you're ready." With another smile, Judith turned and departed.
"Little she holds back," offered Llysette.
"They have been supportive when few were." I opened the closet so that
Llysette could hang out the gown she would wear the next night. Then I hung up
my own suits one for meeting with Oakes and the formal wear for the dinner.
Once we hung up anything that would wrinkle, or wrinkle more, we went
downstairs.
The chocolate and tea were set out in the nook off the kitchen sunny there
when the sun actually shone in the Federal District, but not under the gray
drizzle. The old bone china teapot was also there, steam rising from its
spout.
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In addition to the two pots, Judith had set out the butter biscuits I was too
fond of and galettes. Llysette took a galette with her chocolate. I had two
biscuits.
"Good this is," murmured Llysette after a sip of tea, but I could see her eyes
strayed toward the parlor and the silent Steinbach.
"Something hot is good after traveling, especially when it's so damp." Judith
looked at Llysette. "Have you been in the Federal District recently?"
"Mais non ... not since first I arrived in Columbia, and little do I
remember."
"I doubt it has changed much."
I agreed silently, taking another biscuit. Nothing happened quickly, not in a
city that had taken more than a century to finish the monument to the general
who had freed the colonies. "The buildings all look the same."
"They are talking about moving the railway station on the Mall," Judith
ventured.
"Again? Where would they put it?"
"They're talking about refurbishing and enlarging Union Station."
"That would take some doing." I reached for another biscuit.
"Johan...." Llysette paused, and I knew what she was thinking. I'd gulped down
four biscuits in as many minutes. But that was because I was nervous. I always
ate too much when I was stressed or worried another reason why I needed
exercise.
"I know." I grinned.
Llysette smiled faintly. After a moment, her eyes went toward the sitting
room, and she shifted her weight in her chair and set down her cup.
I got the message, and since Llysette wouldn't ask, I did. "Could Llysette use
the Steinbach in the sitting room to practice a bit?"
"Oh ... I should have offered. Of course." Judith turned back to face
Llysette. "Let me show you. You are welcome to practice any time you wish.
Anytime," she emphasized with a smile. "You can close the doors ... or not, as
you please. We do miss the music. Since Suzanne left, no one plays. The piano
is really hers, but she has no place for it, and we keep it tuned."
The two headed for the parlor, and I let them, listening as Judith tried to
make Llysette feel welcome.
When Judith returned, after closing off the doors so that we wouldn't distract
Llysette, I poured more chocolate. "Would you like some more?"
"A half a cup. Let me check dinner. Eric should be here before long."
I poured the chocolate and waited, listening to Llysette. Even through the
doors, she sounded magnificent. She'd finished a run-through of both pieces
before Judith slipped back into her seat.
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"I hope that didn't get too cool."
"It's fine."
"I appreciate your trying to make her feel welcome...."
"She's beautiful. She plays well, too," Judith added as her eyes went toward
the closed French doors.
"She's always telling me that a singer needs keyboard skills, and she's always
bemoaning the fact that her students never want to work on the keyboard. I did
get her a piano a Haaren, nothing compared to yours."
"You spent more than you had, knowing you."
I had, but ... what else was new?
"Most of our students couldn't handle the training she's had," said Judith. "I
can tell it wasn't easy for her."
"No. Not much has been, and I've been no bargain in that department, either."
"You've been hard on yourself, Johan."
"With some reason," I pointed out.
"You've never had too many options."
I heard steps and stood as Eric entered the kitchen.
"Like the proverbial clipped coin, you've returned." He held both his case and
a folded copy of the Post-Dispatch but leaned over and kissed Judith. "You
look and smell good."
"You had a hard day, then."
"Such a skeptical woman after all these years."
The piano stopped. Llysette came to the parlor door, and I opened it.
"This is Eric. Eric, Llysette."
"Johan is indeed a lucky chap." He bowed in that charming way he had, with
that boyish and disarming grin.
I reseated Llysette and poured more tea into her cup. Eric took the empty
chair but did not pour himself anything.
Judith slipped out of the nook and back into the kitchen.
"It's really amazing," Eric continued. "Here I am in my own house, sitting
across from one of the great divas of the century. I'd count myself lucky to
meet her, let alone find she's married to this ... shirttail relative."
I suspected Eric had wanted to say more but realized it might raise
implications.
Llysette blushed. "Non ... pas de tout...."
"After your last recital, I'd have to agree with Eric," I told her.
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"You ... you favor me, and so you do not listen. You hear what you would
hear."
"If Johan says that," Eric interjected, "he means it. He's never been known
for undeserved flattery."
"Thank you," I told him. "What other words of welcome do you have?"
"I could have told that you'd arrived." Eric added, more soberly, "Just from
the news."
I groaned, half in mock-anguish, half with concern. "Now what?"
"Secret talks between Deseret and the Speaker, the reappearance of the famous
Llysette duBoise, and more speculation about the man she married rumored to [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]