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.It was a beautiful instrument, not aslarge as many he d seen, but obviously of good quality and wellmaintained.He went immediately to the shelf of music behind it and wasleafing through a stack of sheets when Ellis returned with hisbreakfast.The smells coming from the tray were enough to distracthim from his discovery, though he took the stack with him when hecrossed to the small table where Ellis had placed the tray. Thank you, Ellis.This smells wonderful, Kyle said withenthusiasm.Ellis smiled, and the lines around his eyes deepened. Thankyou, sir.My wife, Mrs.Ellis, is the cook and will be glad to hear yourpraise. He paused a moment, considering, then said,  Sir, I see yourinterest in the music.If I may ask, do you play?Kyle smiled shyly and said,  Yes, I learned to play when I wasa boy, and it has been a passion of mine ever since.Do you thinkLord Warren would mind if I made use of the pianoforte? Oh no, sir, I think my lord would be most pleased to hear youplay.He is quite fond of music, though he does not play himself, andthe instrument is rarely used.Miss Ashton plays, but not often, whenthey re here.We had it serviced in anticipation of her arrival, so itshould be in excellent sound for you. He paused again, then smiledand leaned in a little, saying quietly,  And, if you don t mind mesaying, the staff wouldn t mind a bit of music livening up the old place,either. Is there anything the staff would like to hear in particular,Ellis? Kyle asked with a grin of his own.Kyle was flattered that the man felt comfortable enough aroundhim already to speak so informally, and he wanted to encourage it ifhe could.The man and his lord seemed closer than master andservant, and Kyle had the feeling the older man held a special place inWarren s affections.Ellis put his hand to his chin and seemed to think about it for amoment. Well, I don t know much about fine music, he said,  but acountry dance would do a good turn at livening up the place a bit.Then, seeming to remember himself, he straightened his shoulders andsaid,  Will there be anything else, sir? No, Ellis, thank you.I ll see what I can find in here,  Kylesaid, laying his palm on the stack of music. I ll have to warm myselfup with some slower tunes first, though, as it s been a little while sinceI last played. Very good, sir.Thank you, sir, he said, bowing himself out ofthe room.By the time Kyle had finished his meal, he had selected severalsheets of music from the stack, some he knew and some he d like tolearn.He sat down to the pianoforte and began playing  The PricklieBush, a song he d learned long ago that was familiar enough that hewouldn t necessarily need the sheet music.It was a simple tune andperfect to warm up his hands.Relaxing into the familiar feel of thekeys beneath his fingers, he lost himself in the music.JAMES was enchanted the moment the first notes began echoingthrough the Hall.He d spent the morning catching up on estatebusiness and correspondence, avoiding his guest.Another day likethe one they had had yesterday and he wouldn t be able to stophimself from pouncing on the man and ravishing him.He had had noidea of the effect having Kyle in his home would have on him.If hehad, he never would have suggested he bring him here alone.He was territorial about his home, he knew that, but he had noidea that that would extend to anyone within his home, and the feelingwas hard to ignore.Seeing Kyle in his library, at his table, andwalking his grounds had the word  mine echoing in his head.Throughout the day, he was tortured with vivid images of throwingthe young man over the nearest piece of furniture and claiming him,marking him in any way he could.The almost savage compulsionunsettled him no little amount, as he d never thought himself that kindof man.You ve never brought a beautiful, sweet, and charmingyoung man home with you before, either.It seemed peace of mind would not be his again until Kyle leftfor his aunt s, so he d hidden himself in his study, hoping the daywould pass quickly and his niece and nephew would arrive, puttingsome much needed distance between the two of them.But now, with music drifting through his halls, he found himselfirresistibly drawn to the sound and made his way out of his officetoward the drawing room.James watched for a time from thedoorway so as not to break the spell Kyle seemed to have woven forhimself.The young man s head was bowed over the keyboard, blackcurls falling across his forehead and his lower lip clasped between histeeth as his elegant fingers glided across the keys.James thought Kylehad never looked more beautiful, and he was content for the momentto just lean against the lintel and watch.Besides, if I get any closer, he won t be able to continueplaying, as I ll have him bent over the side of the damn thing.Closing his eyes, James forced himself to stand still and justenjoy the music.Kyle seemed to be moving randomly through songs.Slow, mournful ballads were followed by lively dances and back withno obvious pattern, but all were played with remarkable skill andthose bursts of emotion the young man so rarely showed.Only when the music stopped did he open his eyes to find Kylestaring at him with an unreadable expression.While James wonderedwhat was passing behind those amazing eyes of his, the silencestretched, and he decided he needed to break it, and soon.He cleared his throat and said,  That was excellent, Kyle.If Ihad known you played so well, I would have brought you here firston our tour last evening.Kyle blushed at the compliment, and James nearly groanedaloud as other ways to bring a flush to that face played across hismind.It was going to be another very long day.The more he foundout about this young man, the more he liked him, and the harder itwas to remember all the reasons he shouldn t do what he reallywanted to do with him.Taking another breath, he reminded himself his family would bearriving soon.He just hoped it would be soon enough to save hissanity. Thank you, my lord; it is a beautiful instrument.I don t knowthat I ve ever played on one finer, Kyle said, bringing him out of histhoughts. It s good to see it in the hands of someone who trulyappreciates it.I purchased it for my niece, but I don t believe she hasthe passion for playing that you seem to, James replied, not movingany closer. Please don t let me interrupt you if you d like tocontinue.I had thought we might go riding after I finished my businessthis morning.It appears to be a glorious day.But it can wait until laterif you would prefer.Now, why on earth did I just say that?He could have simply left word with Ellis that he d gone riding,and he would have had a painless gallop across the fields to clear hishead [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]