Eternal Melody (12 page)

Rebecca had to consciously prevent herself from slumping along with the plunging of her mood.  “Yes, I started a new job.  But I will be at rehearsal tomorrow.  What time does it start?”

“At two o’clock sharp.  We usually break for dinner and then either continue rehearsing in the evening or stage a performance, such as the symphony we played last week.”

Rebecca was already exhausted thinking how she would spend all morning cleaning behemoth houses for fussy bourgeois folks and then sit through rehearsal all afternoon and evening.  How would she even make time to practice her craft?  She was aware of the necessity of keeping a singer’s voice in optimum condition
,
which could only be achieved through grueling hours of practice.

“Then I will see you at two o’clock tomorrow afternoon.  Thank you for calling on me.” Rebecca
did not want to dismiss Luke, but she felt uneasy and began to shut the door.

He clasped his hand over hers on the door and protested, “Wait a minute!  Why are you shutting me out
so hastily
?  I thought perhaps you’d like to take a moonlit stroll.”

Rebecca looked at Luke with his freshly shaven face and
fashionable gray suit.  She wanted to accompany him, but knew that it would be foolhardy and that she could not sacrifice her sleep lest she wake up past noon and miss her second day of work.

“
Perhaps another night, Luke.  I must awaken early tomorrow just as I did today.”

Disappointment momentarily clouded his eyes, but then he probed, “That new job I suppose?  What exactly is it that you do, Rebecca?”

She darted her eyes nervously, thinking of a plausible occupation that would not bring her so much embarrassment. 
“I’m a…well, I’m employed as…how shall I say?” She stammered hopelessly.

Luke frowned.  “Are you hiding something?  I know it’s none of my affair, but I hope you’re not doing anything unsavory.”

“Unsavory?” She repeated incredulously.  “What on earth
is
that
supposed to
mean?”
Her eyes
flickered
like blue flame
s
as she mentally dared him to so much as allude to the most unsavory profession for a woman: harlotry.

“Well, you know what I mean, Rebecca.  An unsavory profession such as…well…” Now it was Luke who stammered uncomfortably in the wake of her stormy glare.

“Go on.  Come right out and say it.  Don’t mince words for my benefit.” Rebecca encouraged icily.

“Never mind.  I didn’t mean to imply anything that would offend you.  You just seem so cagey about your new job.  You’ll have to pardon me.”

“I’ll pardon you when you tell me what you’re thinking.” She insisted.

Knowing that the damage had already been done, Luke deigned to admit what he had been thinking.  “I’m certain that I’m wrong, but for a moment I thought that perhaps you had become a…
a, uh…”

“A
what? A
lady of the night?  At seven o’clock in the morning?  Don’t you even see the absurdity of your own theory
, not to mention the gall
?” Rebecca demanded angrily.

“Of course I do, and I’m very sorry.  It’s just that there aren’t many jobs available in Vienna to young American ladies who don’t speak German.  Please forgive my crass assumption.”  Luke looked at her desperately, feeling like an utter fool for what he had implied.

Rebecca stood in place stiffly
. 
For Luke to even suspect that she would be
a lady of the night was a crashing
blow, and she felt winded.

Luke fidgeted in the doorway, unsure of how to make amends with this woman glowering at him murderously.  After the high voltage scene he had witnessed last night, Luke was beginning to think that Rebecca was more than a handful.

“Rebecca, I don’t know what else to say by way of apology. 
I hardly know you and I…” Luke trailed off, as Rebecca’s eyes transformed from tumultuous to vacant in the span of an instant.

“You hardly know me?  I see, Mr. Springwell.  I suppose that everything
I confided in you yesterday about my family was merely casual conversation to you.  If you really must know, I am a maid.  Now please be gone.”

Without another word, Rebecca slammed the door in his face.  She stood there for several long minutes, half-expecting Luke to knock on the door and apologize again.  But perhaps she had treated him too coldly this time.  It wasn’t as though they had forged a strong bond that could withstand two consecutive days of emotional outbursts.

If her behavior had ruined her chances with Luke, then so be it.  She could not pretend that he had not insulted her, nor could she tell an outright lie
and say she was anything other than a maid
.  Now
that
he knew the truth about her profession
---and about her volatile personality---
he
could do as he pleased with that knowledge.

Slipping into a pale pink cotton nightgown, Rebecca buried herself under the covers, squeezing her eyes shut and trying to cleanse her weary mind of everything she had experienced in the past
draining
twenty-four hours.

Chapter Eight

Mechanically, Rebecca cleared the breakfast dishes away and began to soap them one by one, scrubbing them unti
l they gleamed.  Mrs. Brecht had
given her those explicit instructions along with a request to wash all the windows in the mansion, which would likely take half the morning.  Both Gerhard and
Louise
Brecht had gone shopping
and left Rebecca alone with the aloof butler.  When she heard the doorbell ring, it was startling, as the entire house was silent except for the sound of cloth rubbing against glass.

She heard the butler conversing with a man whose voice was muffled from Rebecca’s position in the kitchen.  Moments later, the two men were thudding up the stairs toward her location.

“Miss Meadow?  You have a caller.” The butler’s voice droned as Rebecca whirled around to face him.  Standing behind him with a crooked
, sheepish
smile was Luke Springwell, hands shoved boyishly into his pockets.

“Luke…uh, Mr. Springwell.  What are you doing here?” Rebecca asked in astonishment as the butler silently disappeared into the east wing of the mansion.

“I have
come to apologize again for my
horrendous
behavior.  I also came to give you this rose.” Smoothly, he slid a red rose from his pocket and reached out his hand expectantly.  “It’s from the same garden square as the one
we passed
en route
to the train station.”

Rebecca bowed her head and accepted the long stemmed rose
, covered with thorns and leaves
.

“Thank you.  But what are you doing here?  How did you even know where to find me?” Rebecca asked, absently
caressing
the rose petals
.

“When you told me last night that you were a maid, I
assumed
that you must be an employee of Alice Denmaker. 
Her office is so close to our apartment building, after all. 
So, I went there this morning, concocted a bit of a white lie about how I urgently needed to see you, and she gave me this address.”

Rebecca regarded him anxiously.  “I hope she wasn’t suspicious.  I mean, this is only my s
econd day of work and I would not
want anything to jeopardize this job.”

“Not to worr
y.  She didn’t seem the least bi
t fazed by my inquiry.” Luke assured.

“Well, that’s good.  Did you really come here just to apologize again…and to give me this rose?” Rebecca asked, amazed that he had gone to so much trouble.

Suddenly, Luke seemed to take note of her scanty attire, and Rebecca vainly attempted to cover herself
as his eyes roved from her stockings to her bustier
.  Luke strode towards Rebecca until their bodies were mere inches apart.

“No, I also came here to do this.”

Swiftly, he bent his head to sweep her into a breath-stealing kiss, daringly clasping his arms around her waist to pull her closer. 
Rebecca could not resist the instinct to return his hungry embrace and kissed him as she had dreamed of doing since the first time their lips had met, opening her mouth
invitingly
to him and entangling her hands in his wavy dark hair.

When Luke began to push Rebecca against the kitchen table, she suddenly became aware of her surroundings again and forced herself to stop responding to his stirring touch.

“Luke, we must stop.  This is my place of employment!” She urgently thrust him away and wiggled out of his arms to stand a safer distance from him, where she could no longer smell his woodsy masculine scent or feel his
warm
, exploring hands.

“Looks like I owe you another apology.” He said sheepishly,
hastily
regaining control of himself.  “It’s broad daylight on a Tuesday morning.  What would that stuffy butler think if he were to barge in on us?”  Luke grinned as Rebecca shook her head in disapproval.

“I don’t want anyone
barging
in on us anymore!  Now, I really must get back to work.  But, I do forgive your blunder, Mr. Springwell.  Thank you for the rose.  Now scoot!” Rebecca playfully pushed Luke’s shoulders, impressed that the powerfully built man didn’t budge at all.

“All right, I’ll be on my way now. 
I’ll see you at rehearsal.” Luke couldn’t resist giving Rebecca a quick kiss before departing the mansion.

She smiled as she watched him go, touching her lips where he had expertly bruised them.  Rebecca had only been kissed a few times in her life, and this explosive chemical reaction was a
unique
experience.  Her suitors back in Michigan either had not been skilled in the seductive art of kissing or she simply felt more drawn to Luke than to any man from the past. 
Rebecca knew that the latter was true, and it frightened her in the way that a
lightning bolt in a forest would
:
terrifying
, but thrilling
as well
.

Distractedly, Rebecca completed her cleaning duties,
wiping every
window in the Brecht mansion and perform
ing
less
strenuous
tasks like fluffing pillows and
watering plants. 
It was futile to try to keep her thoughts from sensuously wandering to Luke and the way he had just surprised her.  If she had been a ballet dancer, Rebecca would
have done a pirouette right there in the Brecht mansion, even if it meant knocking over one of their antique vases.  That’s the level of jubilation that was steadily climbing inside her as she looked to the clock every five minutes to see if it was time to leave.

In her mind, she calculated that she would have just enough time to dash from the train station to her apartment and change into a more fashionable dress than the pea green frock she wore at th
e moment.  Suddenly, Rebecca wa
s struck with the desire to make herself more becoming and wished that she had a stylish wardrobe to entice Luke.  He had indeed made a blunder last evening, but after the red rose presentation and devastating kiss in the kitchen, all was more than forgiven.

At last, the Roman numerals on the clock
alerted
her
that
she could make her escape.  With a lightness in her footfall, she hollered a hasty goodbye to whatever-his-name-was, the stodgy butler
,
and floated out of the mansion into the
sweltering
midday
sun. 
Rebecca knew she might be drenched in sweat when she reached her apartment, and she did not have time to bathe.  But she could still
whip out a
refresher
from her toilette, such as the lily scented perfume she had packed, and splash
some
liberally onto her neck and wrists.

Back at her apartment, Rebecca laid out every single dress she had stowed away from Michigan. 
It was the first time the
garments had seen the light of day since her arrival in Vienna, and they all seemed to be crying out for a steam iron to press them.  But Rebecca had no time to go in search of an iron.

Swiftly, with a thoughtful nibble on her lower lip, Rebecca selected
a
figure-conscious aquamarine dress that made her eyes shine like blue topaz.  She ha
d packed the lace-trimmed dress
optimistic that she would need it for a fancy evening out.  It might not
be typical
daywear, but if the whole orchestra dressed as formally as Luke did, then she would not appear out of place.  
Rebecca struggled with the column of buttons that ran down the back of the dress from neck to
rump
, wishing for an instant that she had a lady attendant like
the girls of a wealthier class.