"Thank you."
Hester's mouth tightened. "You will look absurd beside the other performers."
Matilda folded the tissue paper over the ivory slippers. "Then I will look absurd while standing without pain."
Robert finally spoke: "A bold experiment."
Hester turned toward him. "Your Grace?"
"Choosing footwear according to whether one can walk in it." His tone was mild. "Radical, certainly, but perhaps worth observing."
A fashionable woman nearby laughed before she realized Hester was not amused.
Robert continued: "I confess I had not realized shoes required parliamentary approval."
The tension broke around them; a few guests smiled. Hester could not openly challenge him without seeming ridiculous. She lifted her chin. "Of course Miss Dracott may wear whatever she pleases."
Matilda knew it was not permission; it was retreat—a small one. Still, it was the first retreat Hester had made because Matilda had refused to move. The realization steadied her.
Later that evening, after the guests had gone and the house had settled, Matilda returned to the music room. Mrs. Canning remained in the adjoining passage, sorting household correspondence within sight of the open door. The propriety of the arrangement was obvious and necessary, because Robert was already there.
He stood near the pianoforte, examining a stack of rehearsal pages without touching them. "I was beginning to suspect you had fled the house," he said.
Matilda entered carefully in the black shoes. "I considered it."
"Because of the shoes?"
"Because of people who discuss them."
"Then I should probably leave at once."
She almost smiled. "You encouraged the discussion."
"Only after your answer. You waited."
"You seemed capable of speaking." His gaze rested on her face. "You were."
The simplicity of the praise unsettled her more than admiration would have. She moved toward the pianoforte and began arranging the pages for the next day's rehearsal. On top lay the unfinished Fantasia. The final title page was still blank because she had refused to copy Hester's name onto it.
Robert noticed. "An omission?"
"A decision."