The Secret to Seduction

Free The Secret to Seduction by Julie Anne Long

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Authors: Julie Anne Long
she dared.
    “Oh, do play another, Sabrina, one we might listen rather than dance to. I find I am quite winded after the last dance,” Mary coaxed. They all plumped happily into chairs and stared up at her expectantly, Geoffrey included, his complexion rosy, too. His cheerful color was utterly at odds with the expression he turned upon the earl, Sabrina noted. He’d held it only an instant, but it looked very much like something more powerful than resentment. Sabrina decided it must have been nothing more than a shifting shadow, or a twinge from being required to dance the minuet so vigorously.
    Rhys gave the sheet of music a questioning tap, awaiting her reply.
    She couldn’t help but accept his challenge.
    “Thank you for your confidence in my playing,” Sabrina said wryly to everyone, and placed her hands over the keys. “I should be happy to play again for you.”
    And she began the piece.
    Tentatively, at first. But it swiftly pulled her in: wistful yet ardent, sweet in a way that was by no means cloying. She swiftly found the momentum of it; in moments the piece played her as much as she played it, and Sabrina nearly forgot about her audience. She saw the pages turn before her, but gave no thought to the fingers that turned the corners, or the owner of those fingers.
    The piece came to a finish on a single note at the far end of the pianoforte. She tapped it delicately, and let it ring. Then sat quietly, savoring the finish of it.
    There was silence.
    She finally looked up, blinking as though being shaken from sleep, and was startled by the faces of her audience. Mary had a handkerchief up to the corner of her eye. Wyndham’s face reflected unadulterated respect and a peculiar sort of speculation.
    But Geoffrey looked…well, truthfully he looked rather unnerved.
    Sophia Licari was wearing a faint smile that didn’t precisely light her velvety eyes. It was difficult to know whether this indicated approval or not. Sabrina wasn’t certain whether she cared.
    It was the earl who finally began the applause, and as the sound was right behind her it made her start. The small audience took it up fervently. Sabrina’s cheeks heated in pleasure, and a sweet warmth took up residence in the center of her chest.
    She saw Wyndham open his mouth to say something.
    “Rhys, will you play?” It was Sophia Licari, in that voice that made her sound like a stretching feline, speaking before Wyndham could speak. Everyone turned to her. She rose from her seat, slim and elegant as an eighth note, and made her way to the pianoforte, utterly confident that everyone wanted her there.
    Interesting. The heavens must have at last aligned properly, if Miss Licari intended to sing.
    And thus Sabrina’s moment was gone before she could even decide how she felt about it.
    From the tense expressions on the earl’s and Wyndham’s faces, it seemed as though a wrong move or word would frighten Miss Licari back to her seat.
    Sabrina stood and surrendered her place on the pianoforte bench to the earl, who scarcely looked at her. His attention was now entirely fixed on Miss Licari, who drifted over and nodded at Sabrina in passing, as if she were a servant.
    Sabrina should have known the earl would play very well. He had the fingers for it, those long confident fingers meant for things requiring precision and grace. He began the song with ease; it was a lament in a minor key. Sophia stood with her head lowered, eyes on the ground, and then slowly tilted her head back and—
    All the little hairs rose up on Sabrina’s arms.
    It was a sound unlike anything she’d ever heard in her life. The volume was otherworldly; it seemed impossible for a human, let alone a slight one like Sophia Licari, to produce it. Her voice was an instrument, as surely as a bell or a trumpet or a battering ram. It ascended, trilled, toyed with a single note, then raced back down the register to attend to another note, flirting with it before moving on to seduce and

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