Eternal Melody (14 page)

“We have a responsibility to the legacy of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, arguably the most ingenious composer ever to inhabit this earth.  Springwell, keep silent.” Mr. Graysen instructed, as Luke seemed primed for debate.
“Mozart himself conducted the d
é
but performance of
The Magic Flute
right here in Vienna on the thirtieth of September 1791.  Can anyone tell me what
tragically
happened just ten weeks later?”

Ryan looked up regretfully from his violin and answered, “Mozart died and was buried in a pauper’s grave.  He was only thirty-five.”

“
That is correct, Mr. Meadow.  Mozart had not even reached his pinnacle, and he was cut down. 
We are indebted to him for this music because we would not be here in this room
today
were it not for him. 
It is a privilege not only to interpret the music of a genius like Mozart, but to make a living from it!  What more could one desire?
An unpracticed orchestra and vocalist make a mockery of the man, do you understand?
  This music is the result of divine inspiration, my friends.
Divine inspiration.
Are
you
divinely inspired?
”
Despite the passion that permeated Christopher Graysen’s words, his voice remained calm and level, somehow
rendering
his message even more powerful.

A disgraced
silence fell over the
room
as
everyone
mulled over the import of the conductor’s reprimand. 
Rebecca thought fumingly how she would practice
tirelessly day and night, until her voice were hoarse
,
just to
do justice to Mozart’s work.  Greta, on the other hand, was
nothing but
a windbag of vanity.  Rebecca wished in that moment that she could introduce her to Ethel and send them both floating onto the high seas with a one-way ticket.

To Luke’s feverish disappointment, Rebecca disappeared immediately after rehearsal.  Mr. Graysen had been so disenchanted with the orchestra that he had not arranged for a dinner break, and they had played straight through to the seven o’clock hour.  Luke had tried not to make it obvious, but he had snuck several long looks in Rebecca’s direction, bemused by the sight of her in that aquamarine dress.

Now, as a glowing dusk settled over Vienna,
Luke
walked
back to his apartment, hoping he would encounter Rebecca along the way and have the opportunity to tell her how beautiful she looked. 
As he walked along the boulevard, Luke was struck by the instinct that he was being followed.  He turned around eagerly, expecting to hear Rebecca playfully tell him that she had stalked him from the rehearsal hall to
surprise him like
he had
surprised
her at the mansion that morning.

Instead, he found himself staring into the jade feline eyes of Greta Schiller, looking as though she were about to bear claws and pounce on him.

“Lukie, how could you leave
the rehearsal hall without saying
auf wiedersehen
?  I was waiting backstage for you.” She pouted her cherry red lips.

Luke was unmoved by her manipulative coquetry.  “Greta, it was a long rehearsal.  I just want to go home and get some sleep.”  He said patiently, forcing himself not to lose his temper.

Greta Schiller had almost cost him both his career and his very life.  When Luke had joined the International Philharmonic Orchestra, he had instantly fallen for Greta’s
enticing
charms.  She
had
flirted with him shamelessly and encouraged pursuit to the point where any red-blooded male would not have been able to resist.  Unbeknownst to their colleagues, Luke and Greta had embarked on a whirlwind affair.  The same day that Luke was going to profess his love to Greta, he had discovered
that she was a dark sorceress hidden inside a
golden goddess
.

Luke and Greta had been strolling arm in arm through the street
when a man had accosted them.  Initially, Luke
had
thought that the man was a petty thief hoping to get some spare change.  But when
the man
shouted that Greta was his fiancée, Luke had been stunned. 
Dennis had threatened, in a gruesomely explicit fashion, that he would end Luke’s life if he ever spoke to Greta again. 
Greta
had
cast
Luke
a vaguely apologetic look and walked away with her fiancé
possessively embracing her.  After that day, Luke had endured seeing her face every day
at rehearsal
.

While Luke was rebuilding his heart, Greta
began an affair with another member of the orches
tra
.  Soon, her
fiancé found out about this new lover
and
took back the
engagement ring, returning
permanently to Switzerland. 
As
Greta
stood before him now against the backdrop of a fiery sunset, he was wary of her motives.

“Don’t go home to sleep, Lukie.  Come have a drink with me.  What do you call it in English?  A nightcap,
ja
?  Maybe some sherry?”

Luke frowned, “People drink sherry in the afternoon
, not at dusk
.  Besides, I really must be going.  After the lecture Mr. Graysen gave us this afternoon, I want to wake up early and practice.  It would behoove you to do the same.”

“Lukie, you are very boring.”
The pout deepened, a common trick Greta used that had no effect on Luke anymore.

“That’s fine.  I don’t mind being boring.  But I
do mind that asinine nickname
.” Luke spoke firmly, trying to maintain his reserve, but Greta had the tendency to exasperate people rather quickly.

He began to stride away from her, but she quickened her pace to move alongside him.

“Do you have a new girl?” She asked sullenly.

“That is none of your business.”

At that point, Luke considered running, knowing that Greta would never be able to
keep up in her impractical high heels
.  But that would communicate to her that she still wielded control over him, so he kept his cool.

“I think you do have a new girl. 
Is it someone in the chorus?  Or is it a girl from the outside?  Tell me.” She pouted in earnest now, as Luke decided the only tactic that might work was completely ignoring her.

They walked for several blocks in tense silence until his apartment building came into view.

“
Gute nacht
, Greta.” Luke clipped as he left her standing on the sidewalk, arms crossed furiously over her chest. 
Shaking his head in disgust, Luke ascended the staircase until he was on the fifth floor
.  He
hope
d
that Rebecca would be in her room.  Waiting for him…

He knocked several times on the door, listening for any sound inside and hearing none.  Undeterred, he knocked again, this time more lo
udly, but the chamber remained
silent. 
He needed to see her.
  It would be too risky to
visit her at the Brecht mansion again, but he did not want to wait until afternoon rehearsal when there might
again
be too much commotion to have a private conversation. 
On
an excited
impulse,
he
resolved to wait until she returned to her chamber, even if that meant that he would
have to
endure a night of insomnia.

*****

The Meadow family sat in awkward silence, eating their plain dinner of
steaming
broth with semolina dumplings.   Gregory had demanded a family meeting be held and, for once, he had made a prudent selection of restaurant, aware that his available funds were dwindling. 
When he had come to fetch Ryan and Rebecca at the rehearsal hall, she had been livid.  Without so much as a word from Luke all afternoon and now forced to dine with her family, Rebecca felt as sulky as the little girl they seemed to consider her.

The only reason she had agreed to dinner was that it would provide her leisure time with her grandmother as well as with Annabelle, who
m
she had not seen since Gregory and Ethel stampeded into Vienna like
raging
bulls.  The baby girl was placid in her mother’s lap,
accepting
sips of broth and cooing.

“May I have some more ice water?” Rebecca asked
frostily
, as Ethel lifted the glass carafe and leaned over to place it in her hands.

“Whatever is
that stench?” Ethel exclaimed,
expelling a fake cough as Rebecca glared at her.  She knew that Ethel was making reference to her lily perfume, and it angered her to think how her heifer of a sister-in-law was the one to notice it, rather than Luke.

“I don’t smell anything, Ethel.
” Rebecca lied.
 
“Do yo
u smell anything, Grandmother?”

The old woman had not been engaging with the family at all since they arrived in the restaurant, and Rebecca
was beginning to wonder
if her hearing was on the decline.  “Grandmother?” She repeated, tapping her on the shoulder.

“Yes dear?” She
dropped her spoon, looking
up in surprise from her broth.

“Never mind.” Rebecca said softly, giving the woman an affectionate squeeze.

“Never mind that you’re saturated in perfume like some sort of
…” Before Ethel could utter the
odious
word, Rebecca clenched her hands into fists and banged them on the table while Ryan came to her defense.

“Ethel, try to be civilized.  This is dinner, and we’re in public, not sitting rou
nd our dining table in Michigan!
”
Ryan exclaimed.

“Don’t speak to my wife that way!  Stay in line, lad.” Gregory spoke to Ryan as though
they were father and son
, even though barely two years separated them.

Rebecca rolled her eyes, knowing that Gregory’s defense of his wife stemmed from pride and not passion.  He didn’t care how anyone spoke to her except that she was his wife and a reflection on his manhood.  Ryan realized this too and
returned to his soup without a retort.

Gregory took a long swig of water, draining his glass and gesturing
like a Neanderthal
for Ethel to refill it.  Then, he pulled his chair back from the table and cleared his throat with an air of exaggerated importance
, as though he were about to deliver a political speech
.

“The reason I called all of us to dinner tonight is quite simple.  Now that the entire Meadow family is in Vienna, we need to pool our resources.”

Rebecca and Ryan exchanged
glances, knowing exac
tly where Gregory was leading.

“The house still stands in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and I am the deed owner.  Therefore, I will need to return to the house before winter so that it won’t crumble to the ground and become a financial liability.  Of course, Grandmother, Ethel, and Annabelle will all be coming with me.  In the interim, I expect
Rebecca and Ryan
to begin a stash to fund our return trip to the States.”

Rebecca was so elated by the news that Gregory intended to return home by winter that she almost didn’t want to argue about giving him money. 
But the image of herself in that appalling uniform slaving away day after day as a housekeeper made her more conscious of how valuable a salary was to one who works for it.  Why should she give Gregory money that she literally labored on her hands and knees to earn?

“Gregory, I believe what you’re asking is unreasonable.  You came to Vienna of your own volition with fanciful notions of striking it rich.” She began, but he interrupted her.

“That’s preposterous!”

“Oh?  Then tell me why you
are
here.” Rebecca knew she had him caught as he sat rigidly in his chair with Ethel alongside him grimacing
and fidgeting
.  “I thought you might respond that way.
 
 
As I had started to say, you came here voluntarily, and now it is your responsibility to find a way back to the United States.  You are in no position to make demands of Ryan or me.”

“I’m afraid you’re wrong about that, Rebecca.” Ethel said with a look so smug that Rebecca knew she was plotting something precise and destructive.

“Why am I wrong?” Rebecca asked, trying to conceal her uneasiness.