Read Online Tenacious Love (Banished Saga, Book Four): Banished Saga, Book Four by Ramona Flightner - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Ramona Flightner
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light-brown hair longer than fashionable, tucked behind his ears and free of any pomade. He bowed to the applause, flicked out the tails of his jacket and sat at the piano bench, his fingers stretched theatrically over the keys. After a momentary pause, he played.
Clarissa closed her eyes as a lilting lullaby floated around the audience. She heard wisps of the song he’d teased them with when Savannah had brought Jeremy to meet Uncle Martin over ten years ago. Lucas’s composition evoked emotions from tenderness to anger to wistfulness to an aching regret. When he finished, nearly half an hour later, tears coursed down her cheeks.
He leaned away from the keyboard, lowered his hands and then turned toward the still-silent audience. After a moment, a deafening roar burst forth, the calls of “Bravo!” and “Encore!” competing with the whistles of approval. Lucas stood, smiled, bowed and exited the stage.
Savannah and Clarissa shared an incredulous look, sharing the joy at witnessing Lucas perform. They were on the verge of rising to leave when he emerged again. After a curt bow, he played another original piece, this one much faster paced, and Clarissa sighed as she sensed the rage and longing hidden in his music. He again stood to bow at the end of his song and sat again to play a much shorter piece by Mozart. After three such encores, the master of ceremonies emerged once more to thank the audience for coming, encouraging them to continue to patronize his fine establishment.
“We must find Lucas,” Savannah said. “I doubt he knows we’re here.” They were jostled by the crowd and slowly made their way down the stairs to the main lobby area. White marble balustrades and pillars gleamed in the bright light of numerous chandeliers while gold-gilded mirrors along the walls reflected their brilliance throughout the room. Clarissa gripped Savannah’s arm as they approached a porter.
“Sir, we need to see Mr. Russell. He is my brother,” Savannah said.
The usher smirked as he looked from Savannah in a turquoise-blue silk dress with its fine lace overlay to Clarissa in a burgundy velvet dress that flared at her curvy waist. “And you’re his cousin,” he said with a roll of his eyes. “Do you think I haven’t heard the likes of that before? Move along.” He glanced pointedly at the exit behind them.
Savannah dug in her heels as though preparing for battle, but Clarissa pulled her away and out the front doors. “Come, Sav. If this opera house is anything like Boston’s, there’s a back entrance down an alley.”
“You’re suggesting we traipse around an alley?” Savannah asked as they skirted around a remnant of the mingling crowd, down Park Street and then came to an abrupt halt at the mouth of a darkened alleyway.
“If we want to see Lucas, yes,” Clarissa said as she firmed her shoulders and dragged Savannah alongside her.
“You were always getting me in trouble,” Savannah muttered, although humor laced her voice.
“And you always enjoyed it.” Clarissa stifled a shriek as her foot sank into something soft.
They saw a lit entrance a few doors ahead and approached it, taking deep fortifying breaths before knocking.
A man with broad shoulders and well over six feet tall opened the door to peer down at them. He raised an eyebrow but didn’t speak.
“Is this the back entrance to the Empress?” Clarissa asked.
When he stared at them with a mixture of amusement and malevolence, she barreled on. “This is Mrs. Savannah McLeod, but before she married she was Savannah Russell. Lucas’s sister. I brought her here as a surprise. Is Lucas still here?”
“And you would be?”
“Clarissa. His cousin.”
He broke into a smile at her introduction. “He wondered if you’d come to his performance. He’s moping in the back because he thinks you weren’t here.”
He held open the door, and the two women entered the rear of the theater. Clarissa coughed at the stale air but did not
Clarissa closed her eyes as a lilting lullaby floated around the audience. She heard wisps of the song he’d teased them with when Savannah had brought Jeremy to meet Uncle Martin over ten years ago. Lucas’s composition evoked emotions from tenderness to anger to wistfulness to an aching regret. When he finished, nearly half an hour later, tears coursed down her cheeks.
He leaned away from the keyboard, lowered his hands and then turned toward the still-silent audience. After a moment, a deafening roar burst forth, the calls of “Bravo!” and “Encore!” competing with the whistles of approval. Lucas stood, smiled, bowed and exited the stage.
Savannah and Clarissa shared an incredulous look, sharing the joy at witnessing Lucas perform. They were on the verge of rising to leave when he emerged again. After a curt bow, he played another original piece, this one much faster paced, and Clarissa sighed as she sensed the rage and longing hidden in his music. He again stood to bow at the end of his song and sat again to play a much shorter piece by Mozart. After three such encores, the master of ceremonies emerged once more to thank the audience for coming, encouraging them to continue to patronize his fine establishment.
“We must find Lucas,” Savannah said. “I doubt he knows we’re here.” They were jostled by the crowd and slowly made their way down the stairs to the main lobby area. White marble balustrades and pillars gleamed in the bright light of numerous chandeliers while gold-gilded mirrors along the walls reflected their brilliance throughout the room. Clarissa gripped Savannah’s arm as they approached a porter.
“Sir, we need to see Mr. Russell. He is my brother,” Savannah said.
The usher smirked as he looked from Savannah in a turquoise-blue silk dress with its fine lace overlay to Clarissa in a burgundy velvet dress that flared at her curvy waist. “And you’re his cousin,” he said with a roll of his eyes. “Do you think I haven’t heard the likes of that before? Move along.” He glanced pointedly at the exit behind them.
Savannah dug in her heels as though preparing for battle, but Clarissa pulled her away and out the front doors. “Come, Sav. If this opera house is anything like Boston’s, there’s a back entrance down an alley.”
“You’re suggesting we traipse around an alley?” Savannah asked as they skirted around a remnant of the mingling crowd, down Park Street and then came to an abrupt halt at the mouth of a darkened alleyway.
“If we want to see Lucas, yes,” Clarissa said as she firmed her shoulders and dragged Savannah alongside her.
“You were always getting me in trouble,” Savannah muttered, although humor laced her voice.
“And you always enjoyed it.” Clarissa stifled a shriek as her foot sank into something soft.
They saw a lit entrance a few doors ahead and approached it, taking deep fortifying breaths before knocking.
A man with broad shoulders and well over six feet tall opened the door to peer down at them. He raised an eyebrow but didn’t speak.
“Is this the back entrance to the Empress?” Clarissa asked.
When he stared at them with a mixture of amusement and malevolence, she barreled on. “This is Mrs. Savannah McLeod, but before she married she was Savannah Russell. Lucas’s sister. I brought her here as a surprise. Is Lucas still here?”
“And you would be?”
“Clarissa. His cousin.”
He broke into a smile at her introduction. “He wondered if you’d come to his performance. He’s moping in the back because he thinks you weren’t here.”
He held open the door, and the two women entered the rear of the theater. Clarissa coughed at the stale air but did not
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