Hester's eyes flashed. "I will not be tested like a schoolgirl!"
"You are being asked to finish your own composition."
"This is beneath me!"
Matilda's voice remained calm: "Then explain why the final theme returns in inversion rather than repetition."
Hester stared at her; no answer came. The pause lengthened.
Matilda looked toward Mr. Harby. "Now."
The solicitor rose, opened his leather case, and held up the sealed packet. "Received three days ago from His Grace, the Duke of Wexborne, at Miss Dracott's instruction. The seal was recorded in my office and has remained intact."
He carried it forward. Matilda looked at Robert; he had not opened it. He had done exactly what she asked.
Mr. Harby broke the seal before witnesses and removed the complete score. The final variation appeared in Matilda's hand.
Hester spoke too quickly: "She could have written that afterward!"
"After what?" Matilda asked.
"After the preview—" Hester faltered.
Matilda turned to the room. "The sealed score was deposited before tonight's confrontation. The printer's version ends where my copied manuscript ended. The final variation was never in Mr. Beckham's possession."
Beckham's face had gone pale. "This is manipulation—"
"Then let us remove the paper." Matilda sat at the pianoforte. The room became utterly still. She placed her hands on the keys. "You have heard the unfinished ending." She looked at the orchestra. "Now listen."
She played.
The missing variation began softly. The main theme returned—not repeated, but transformed. The melody that had once seemed obedient now resisted easy resolution. The cello answered. The violin entered exactly where Matilda had insisted it should. The harmonies gathered every earlier phrase and changed their meaning. Then the final theme returned in inversion, altered by everything that had come before.
The last chord sounded. No one moved.
Matilda lifted her hands from the keys. "That is the ending."
Hester's voice shook. "She completed my idea."
Matilda stood. "Then tell them why the final theme returns in inversion rather than repetition."