Eternal Melody (17 page)

With a dizzying infusion of adrenaline,
Rebecca reached the main hallway and bolted out the front door,
darting
out into the baking sun
,
still clad in her ridiculous uniform. 
Hobbling over
to the train station
with a debilitating cramp in her side
, Rebecca swore with a resurgence of dignity that she would never wear the degrading threads ever again. 
Ever again
. 
If that meant facing life in Vienna as an unemployed foreigner, then so be it.

From the moment Rebecca entered the rehearsal hall, she could feel Greta’s eyes stabbing her with vicious green blades.  Rebecca knew that their introduction the other day had been less than cordial, but she could not understand this glacial reception. 
Trying to focus on reading the libretto in
her hands and better familiarizing
herself with the story behind
The Magic Flute
, Rebecca ignored Greta’s toxic glares.  Between her maligned relationship with her brother and sister-in-law
,
and the frightful episode with Gerhard Brecht, the last thing Rebecca wanted was another adversary.

Rebecca’s thoughts stray
ed from the libretto
to exactly how she was going to handle her employment situation.  Time had not permitted her to speak with Mrs. Denmaker after fleeing the mansion, so she had decided to explain the whole humiliating fiasco to her on the morrow.  Instead of reporting to work, she would tell Mrs. Denmaker exactly what had transpired and hoped that the woman would be compassionate and assign her to another client.

As Rebecca glanced up from her reading material, Christopher Graysen walked into the hall
and,
with him, a heady aroma of cigar smoke floated.  Instantly, the scent reminded her of her father, who had an affinity for cigars and smoked them during those brief years she had with him as a little girl. 
While Rebecca savored the cigar scent
billowing through her
nostrils, she felt as though she were breathing in a precious memory, one that she had never thought to revisit.

“Good day, Miss Meadow.” Mr. Graysen said pleasantly with a friendly wink as he passed her row
en route
to the stage.

“Good day, Mr. Graysen.” She replied,
straining
to inhale more of the lingering cigar aroma.

Mr. Graysen clapped his hands for attention as the musicians stopped their warm-up.  Rebecca set down the libretto, eager to hear what Mr. Graysen had to say.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I have an important announcement to make this afternoon. 
I received an i
nvitation from a friend and colleague
in
Munich
,
a certain Mr.
James Shundry
.  He
manages
a four-piece chamber quartet, and t
wo of his violin players have fallen ill. 
Mr. Shundry has requested to borrow two
violin
players from our orchestra for an upcoming concert series that will run until the beginning of September.  Therefore, I would like to ask Luke Springwell and Ryan Meadow to travel to
Munich
for the month of August.”

Rebecca’s mouth gaped at this shocking news.  Had Mr. Graysen really just proposed for both Luke and Ryan to spend an entire month in
Germany
? 
In her own
emotional turmoil, Rebecca did not notice how Greta’s face darkened after Mr. Graysen’s announcement.  But she did notice the elation on Ryan’s face and the
unreadable
sentiments of Luke’s countenance.

Mr. Graysen resumed, “The reason I have chosen to make this announcement in front of all of you is that
it is my sincere hope that this will be just the beginning of a liaison between our orchestra and Mr. Shundry’s
q
uartet. 
In the future, others of you may be asked to temporarily step into other orchestras, which increases both our visibility and credibility.  If we continue to build relationships with the international music community, it will be a very short time indeed before all of you splendid musicians receive global recognition!”

The orchestra erupted into cheers and raucous hoots, thrilled by the prospect of becoming worldwide sensations.  Rebecca listened with a drowning heart as Mr. Graysen instructed Greta to begin singing the same aria that she had massacred yesterday. 
This time, when Greta took the stage and chirped out the song, Rebecca detected several points where she not only sang horrendously off-key, but also sounded hoarse.  In almost every line, Greta’s voice seemed to crack just a little bit more, and Mr. Graysen visibly winced as
she warbled on.

When the piece was mercifully over, the much more vocally gifted chorus began to rehearse in tandem with the instrumentalists.  Rebecca sat stiltedly in her seat, hearing the music but not listening at all.  All she could think of was the dreary prospect of both her brother and Luke leaving for
Munich
tomorrow.  She would
feel
somehow naked without them, which struck her as strange.  Surely it was understandable to want her brother to stay, but Luke had just come into her life barely a week ago.  She had no logical reason to be so attached to him
.

It was
absurd
that she had come to Vienna with the sole purpose of launching an operatic career, and now her foremost concern was a man!  Rebecca mentally chastised herself, irritated to be falling so easily for Luke Springwell after a lunch and a couple of stolen kisses. 
Thrusting her chin up defiantly, as though trying to will away her emotions, she thought how it might be more favorable for her career to have Luke gone for several weeks.  Then she could pour all of her energy into convincing Mr. Graysen to promote her from un
derstudy to lead singer.

By the time rehearsal ended, it was already well into the evening, and Rebecca was famished.  Since arriving in Vienna, she hadn’t been able to afford in indulging in the rich, butter-laden meals for which Austrian cuisine was famous. 
Trying to suppress a rumble in her
tummy
, she smiled casually as Luke and Ryan walked over to her together.

“Hello fellows!  You must be excited about going to
Munich
tomorrow.” She said brightly, concealing her
forlornness.

Ryan piped up immediately, “It’s incredible, Becky!  This is the opportunity of a lifetime.  I don’t even know what we’ll be playing there, but I don’t care.  It’s just so remarkable that we’ve been asked to perform in
Munich
.”

Clearly, Ryan had no idea what had developed between Luke and her, and Rebecca was glad.  Residing in the same building and working for the same orchestra made discretion absolutely mandatory, and Rebecca could not afford for their colleagues to be speculating about a possible love affair.

Luke interjected,
“Yes, this is excellent news.  I’m very grateful that Mr. Graysen thought to select me.”

Rebecca watched Luke’s face closely as he spoke, trying to discern his emotion.  On the surface, it appeared that he was pleased to be going, but not as childishly gleeful as Ryan was.

“Should we all go out tonight and celebrate?” Ryan suggested, as Luke frowned conspicuously.

“I’d prefer not to spend a rowdy night on the town when we have packing and other tasks to attend to.” Luke said.

“Oh, I’m not talking about anything rowdy…just a nice dinner with the three of us.” Ryan countered, as Greta affixed herself to Luke’s side.

“How about the four of us?” She asked, shooting Rebecca a deadly glower.

Suddenly, Luke looked very uncomfortable, shifting in his place and folding his arms across his chest while subtly moving away from Greta. 
In that moment, Rebecca instinctively knew that there was some kind of connection between Luke and Greta
.

“I’d actually prefer to go back to my apartment, as it’s been a dreadfully long day.  Please excuse me if I don’t dine with you all.” Rebecca
said hastily
, unwilling to spend another moment in Greta’s oppressive company, let alone an entire farewell dinner.

Greta pouted prettily, linking her arm inside Luke’s.  “Too bad.  Have a nice sleep, Rebecca.”

Before Rebecca could formulate a suitably biting reply, Luke again pulled away from Greta and said, “I’ll walk you back to your apartment, Rebecca.  Ryan, you should probably talk to Mr. Graysen and see what travel arrangements have been made for us.”

“And what shall I do?” Greta demanded hotly. 
“I need to eat!”

Ryan looked at
Greta
with a glitter in his ocean blue eyes that disturbed Rebecca.  “I’ll take you to dinner after speaking with Mr. Graysen.”
He volunteered.

Greta returned his gaze as though he were some sort of pesky rodent and said, “No!  Never mind, I shall dine on my own.”

With that
rude reply
, she sauntered away, leaving Ryan red-faced and embarrassed by her stark rejection.

“She’s like a snowstorm, Ryan.  The snowflakes look so pretty when they’re falling, but if you’re traveling
through
the storm
, it
will be perilous.  You should be glad that she didn’t agree to have dinner with you.” Luke tried to restore some of Ryan’s common sense, if not his pride.

Rebecca absorbed his words avidly, now convinced that there had been some kind of romantic
association
between Luke and Greta.  The realization sickened her to the marrow.

Shrugging
off the rejection
, Ryan said, “
It’s
fine
.  I
guess I
should ask Mr. Graysen to dinner anyway so that we can discuss everything like you said.  Becky, I’ll stop by your chamber tomorrow morning to say good-bye.  Oh, but you’ll already be at work, won’t you?”

“No.  I’ll be in my chamber.  Please come by.” Rebecca did not elaborate on why she would not be at work.

“Luke, I trust you to accompany my sister safely back to our apartment building.”

“Absolutely.  See you tomorrow.” Luke gave Ryan a hearty handshake before the latter hurried off to catch Mr. Graysen.
  “Alone at last.” Luke mused, as Rebecca remained stubbornly silent, giving him a frosty perusal
.

As soon as they had exited the rehearsal hall, Rebecca turned to him and snapped, “How do you know Greta?”

Luke looked down, not wanting to make eye contact.  “Greta is a co-worker.  How else would I know her?”

His
obviously dishonest
reply rendered Rebecca livid.  “Tell me the truth!  Is she your lover?”

The accusing words sounded alien to her own ears, and Rebecca knew that she had no right to interrogate Luke.  But the image of him with that
talentless birdbrain
made Rebecca ache with jealousy.  No matter how inappropriate such feelings might be, they were real to Rebecca and she would be a liar to deny them.

“Rebecca, your question su
rprises me.” Luke said.  Then,
perceiving the earnestness on her face, he knew not to toy with her,
although her
jealousy flattered him greatly.  “All you need to know is that I had a relationship with her last autumn when I arrived in Vienna.  It was utterly disastrous
, and I don’t like to be near her.” He stopped as though the subject were closed, but Rebecca would not relent until she knew the whole story.

“
Why was it so disastrous?” She pressed, as the moon cast
mysterious
shadows over his features.

Luke sighed heavily.  “Because Greta is a very deceitful and cruel woman.  She was betrothed when we were together and never told me.  I had to find out on the street when her fiancé spotted us walking and threatened to murder me if I ever went near Greta again. 
But she’s so duplicitous that she
betrayed him again shortly thereafter, and
then
he deserted her.
”

“But she obviously still has feelings for you.”
Rebecca pressed.

“They cannot be called ‘feelings,’ Rebecca.  A person needs a heart in order to feel, and
whatever mechanism it is pumping blood through her veins, a heart it is not
. 
If she appears interested in me, it is merely because she enjoys luring men into her
trap and leaving them broken.  I’ll have to warn Ryan about her again should he decide to try his luck with her when we’re back from
Munich
. 
Speaking of which, I’d really rather not go.”

“Why?” Rebecca asked, still processing the information he had just given her.

He placed a hand on her soft alabaster cheek, sprinkled with light freckles that enchanted him.  “Because I am just getting to know you.  I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the time we’ve had together
.  I don’t want to leave
you on your own.  You’re liable to find some wealthy gentleman who will steal you away forever.”