*The next day*
*Ms Tamara*
Waking up and having breakfast, unlike yesterday, today Tamara felt much better. It must have also been the warmth that today had brought as it was warmer than the day prior.
Strolling out and into the front garden of her house, she made her way toward the swing their father built a few years ago. She tightened a blanket that she brought out with her around her body before sitting on the swing.
There, she allowed herself to lay back ever so slightly as her gaze was met by the cloudy sky. She kept her eyes on the clouds as they moved in the atmosphere, with the strength of the sun's rays coming and going in intervals, all depending on the size of the clouds that moved right under the bright sun.
And then, perpendicular to her, behind the hedge that stretched by the fence of her house, but in front of the wall of trees that filled the other side of the road, on which their house was situated, there passed a few carriages. Mere traffic, coming and going to the city centre not too far away - by carriage and train that is.
Gently, Tamara used her foot to propel her swings, causing the loose hairs on her head to follow the wavey pattern of her swinging. The rushing of air past her body. A small smile of contentment took its place on her lips as she took in a deep breath.
The chippering of the birds further added to her joy and relaxation.
But such serenity was short-lived, behind her, she heard the familiar voices of her sisters. Turning around, that was when Gertrude came into view with a basket of clothes in her hands. Right behind her came Ruth with Agath.
Tamara's legs had a mind of their own and without a second thought, she stood up before rushing towards her sisters. Just as she began her approach toward Gertrude, Agath and Ruth, she saw Eileen emerging from the main door of the house.
"Did you girls see Tamara anywhere?" Eileen inquired, parting her gaze only for it to be caught by a figure approaching her. Tamara herself. "Found her.".
Averting her path away from her sisters, she moved toward Tamara. "You shouldn't be outside, you should be in bed, Tamara.".
"I feel much better, sister. Besides, I only came out for some fresh air. I was about to go in now anyway. I'll help you all with the laundry and then we can all head back inside," Tamara tried reasoning with her sister and, in a way, succeeded.
Just that was done, when they hung up the wet, washed laundry to dry, they all headed back inside. Immediately, Tamara headed up the stairs with Eileen and Ruth following her.
There, she turned and entered a room she didn't usually go into. And that was a broad room with a piano inside it.
"Are you going to play?" Ruth inquired just as Eileen and herself entered the room and watched as Tamara seated herself behind the broad piano.
"For a bit, yes. I haven't played in a little while...".
Eileen couldn't help but allow a small smile to grow on her lips.
Lifting the cover of the piano keys, Tamara allowed her fingers to come into contact with the cold piano keys and then...
Pressing one key a finger, music was produced.
Almost instantly, Eileen figured out what song Tamara began playing. Leaning against the wooden door frame, she allowed herself to relax and listen to the music Tamara played.
Not too long passed before Ruth took a step back and went down the flight of stairs to the rest of her sisters. Eileen did the same when she saw that Tamara got into the playing of the song. So, deciding to give her some space, that was when she too descended the steps.
But, as she walked down the stairs, that was when she saw her sisters all hurdled into a group, by a window, looking outside.
Even downstairs, she noted that Tamara's playing of the piano was heard with such ease.
"What are you all looking at?". And to her question, only moments later, Eileen too got her answer.
"Could it... could it be that they are Diana and Mr Theodore??" Gertrude inquired.
"She sure looks like Diana," Agath responded.
"And he like Mr Theodore," Eileen finished the sentence. "What are they doing here? Did something happen?... Oh lord, something must have happened...".
Both Diana nor Theodore didn't manage to reach the door when the sisters opened it. There, upon the opening of the door, they revealed the faces and figures of Agath, Gertrude, Ruth and behind them all, Eileen.
"The Clarke sisters! Good day!" Diana greeted the sisters by the front door with a hug. Unexpected on behalf of the sisters.
"How do you do..." Theodore passed on his greeting as he bowed his head.
"Please, please do come in, Diana, Lord Theodore..." Eileen, letting out a nervous chuckle, spoke aloud, making way for both Diana and Theodore to enter.
"Please, call me Theodore. Mr Theodore if you'd still like to keep it somewhat formal," he replied.
To his words, Eileen couldn't help herself but stop for a mere moment. "Yes... my apologies, Mr Theodore.".
With that, they both further entered the house. And it was there that Theodore furrowed his brows at the sound of something. He heard the piano. "Someone is playing the Piano?".
"Ah yes, our sister Tamara is. She's quite the one, known for filling the house up with such symphonies of the piano.".
To Eileen's words, Theodore couldn't help but pause, averting his gaze from the second eldest sister towards the stairs. Those that led to where the sound of the notes was only amplified.
"I never knew my dear Tamara can play the piano," Diana responded with a smile on her face. "Clarkes... a family of many talents if you ask me.". With that, gently, Diana slipped off the gloves she had on her hands before the smile on her lips receded to a straight line.
"Is everything okay, Ms Diana? What's the purpose of your visit?" Eileen inquired as she allowed both herself and Theodore to enter the board living room.
"Diana only, please. I don't want to feel older than I really am.". The women all giggled at such a remark. And then, Diana continued, "I wanted to invite you, the Clarke sisters, over for a dinner with my family and me," Diana announced as she sat down in a chair. The sisters too followed Diana's lead and sat down by her. "I thought about sending a letter of invitation but decided to pay you a visit instead.".
Ruth's eyes widened. "Dine in??".
"With the Oxford household!?" Agath added to her sister's excitement.
All while the cheer was shared amongst the women in the living room, Theodore allowed himself to rest against the wooden door frame as he took in the music that played from above. The piano that was played by her...
Tamara.
"Theodore..." Diana's voice kicked him out of his trance. He turned his head before looking at his cousin. "It's been decided. 3 days from now... a dinner at our house.".
He nodded to her words before his gaze dropped back down to the ground.
But then, in an act of realisation, his eyes widened before he returned his gaze to Diana.
He won't be there in 3 days, instead, he was due to be with his parents in Verusau.
No one realised the piano's stoppage of the notes it played, followed by the steps that descended the stairway. It was Tamara.
With a creek managing to gain Theodore's attention, he - once more - turned his gaze, but this time toward Tamara. Their eyes met almost instantly.
"Ms Tamara...". Though he wasn't all too happy to see her again, he made sure not to make such a fact obvious and bowed his head as he greeted her.
The same was said for Tamara. She wasn't all too ecstatic to see Theodore, yet wanted to diminish such an outlook by adding politeness into the equation. 'Because no one would suspect hatred towards a person whom politeness is shown.'.
"Tamara!" Diana greeted her, hugging her upon standing up and reaching where she stood. "Your playing of the piano was wonderful!".
"You heard me play?". Her eyes averted to Theodore, who had his gaze down himself.
"Of course we did. And you have quite a talent for it, I believe," Diana responded, smiling at Tamara.
And so did Tamara, smiling at Diana before - once more - moving her eyes to Theodore. This time, their gazes met, but it was he that broke their eye contact.
"You must play for us all at the dinner, Tamara," Diana's voice pulled Tamara out of her trance.
She smiled at Diana's words until they sunk within her. "Dinner?...". Tamara proceeded on looking at her sister, Eileen.
"We're invited to dine in with the Oxford family.".
Tamara's eyes widened in surprise. "Really??". Then her eyes moved toward Theodore.
With that, silence descended amongst the crowd. And it wasn't until Eileen cleared her throat that it was broken.
"Would you like to stay in for some tea, Diana? Mr Theodore?" Eileen inquired, a pleasant smirk stretched across her lips.
Diana was about to respond when Theodore began speaking. "We wouldn't like to be a nuisance on such a lovely day like today. I'd say we'd better get going now, Diana.".
The expression on Diana's face changed, and so did the expressions of Eileen and her sisters. All but Tamara.
With both hers and Theodore's gazes grazing off one another, they quickly averted their eyes elsewhere when attention was placed upon them.
"Please do excuse me...". And so, standing up and turning on her heels, Diana headed toward Theodore.
Silently, behind Diana, both Agath and Ruth sped to the window where they saw both Theodore and Diana.
Only upon reaching some place outside did she begin speaking, "Why are you in such a hurry?". Then, a brief pause. "Is there something wrong?...".
"No... no, I just have some errands to take care of," he responded, lifting his gaze to the open door of the Clarke residence.
But at his words, Diana sharpened her gaze upon him. "Theo... I've noticed you've been acting strange recently. Something is off with you, Theodore.".
"Quit speaking of such nonsense. Nothing is wrong with me..." he waved off Diana's suspicions.
"Then let's have some tea as per our invitation. It'll be quite disrespectful if we aren't willing to do as such, don't you think?".
Theodore's eyes lowered to the ground before he swallowed the slight lump that formed in his throat. Though he wanted to retain the distance between himself and Tamara, he knew what the right answer was. "You're right...".
A smile of contentment appeared on Diana's lips. And then, she kept her eyes on him for a second more before turning and heading back toward the house.
Behind her, Theodore followed, his eyes switching between the back of Diana's head and the opened entrance of Tamara's house.
---
Upon their return to the living room, each person had a piece of china in their hands, sipping tea.
Laughter was emitted, but it went undetected on Tamara's and Theodore's behalf. They were too busy trying not to gaze at one another, so much so that the opposite happened. They ended up looking into the eyes of one another, frequently.
And it wasn't until Diana called out... "Tamara?", that this small contest of theirs ceased to exist - for now at least. "Have you been playing the piano for long?" Diana added.
And with a small smile, she proceeded on replying, "I guess you can say so. I was an adolescent when I began. Only 17 years of age... So, I'll let you do the maths on that one then.".
Without her notice, ever since she began talking, Theodore looked her way with him averting his gaze elsewhere when Tamara went to look at him.
"What caused you to begin to play the piano?". Diana proceeded to take Tamara's attention back to her. "I know a lot of people who... well, who were forced into playing the piano.".
"Oh, I wasn't... thankfully..." Tamara replied. And then, going deep into her thoughts, she allowed her fingers to feel the warmth of the ceramic she held in her hand. For the time being, Theodore and his gazes completely left her mind. "Playing the piano was a whim of mine... I wanted to play it. Ever since I was a little child. Whenever my father and I used to go to listen to music in the locate theatre, the piano would always grab my attention.". Then a pause followed. "I know how lucky I am to have been given such a choice. As you said, I too know people who were forced to play the piano. They hate it now and it breaks my heart when I hear such a thing. Although, when I consider their stance, though still heartbreaking, I can very much understand why they feel as such.".
Once more, though provoked unintentionally, Theodore couldn't help himself but lay his attention upon Tamara. He listened to every word she had to say. She didn't sound like the typical woman he had met so far.
And then, before he could have stopped himself, he spoke, "Playing the piano simply because one wanted to? The first time I've heard as such...". He bit his tongue when he finished. Thinking over his words, though he meant them as nothing more than a neutral comment, he knew that they could have been interpreted in different ways. Most of them being malicious.
"Well, I like being given the freedom to do what I like, Mr Theodore," Tamara replied before she too bit her tongue, so as to not allow herself to say anything more.
And then, he saw an opportunity, a possibility for recovery. There, he allowed a slight smile to appear on his lips before he said, "Very well then, Ms Tamara.".
Almost immediately, he allowed his gaze to move elsewhere. All while, Tamara, slightly dumbfounded, left her gaze on Theodore.
And then again, with the silence once more settling in, Diana grabbed Tamara's attention with another inquiry. "I'm now curious, who got you into beginning to play the piano?".
Tamara took a deep breath to begin speaking but stopped herself. Then, silently thinking, she allowed a smile to come back to her lips as even more memories filled her mind. She let out a chuckle before averting her gaze to her sister, Eileen.
There, she saw that Eileen too had a smile on her face.
"An ink spill," Tamara answered, keeping her gaze on her sister. "I was writing under a tree when Eileen called me. Then, as I stood up, I caused the small bottle of ink to topple over and spill all across my pages. And so, as an act of forgiveness, Eileen thought me how to play the piano.". Taking a deep breath as she gazed down at her tea, she added, "It was also Eileen who helped me through our very first writing piece. Who got me further into reading.".
Diana widened her eyes ever so slightly in surprise. "You write too, Tamara?".
"Yes. Yes, I do.".
"What a coincidence, for I also write, Ms Tamara," Theodore responded, beating his cousin to it.
With a small smile remaining on Tamara's face, she proceeded on saying, "Quite a coincidence indeed, Mr Theodore.". She tried to make it sound as though this was the first time she had heard as such, but she remembered the conversation they had, before and after she learned such a fact.
But the remembrance of the words both she and him expressed caused reality to come crashing down upon her. The slight smile that was on her lips now vanished to nothing.
With their gaze aimed at one another, it only took seconds for them both to avert their looks elsewhere. It was also then, seconds later that the old, grandfather clock rang, indicating a new hour. It was three o'clock.
"My oh my..." began Diana, leaving her china aside. "We must get going. I cannot believe it's already three.". Then, moving her gaze to Theodore, she called out his name.
"On my way..." he responded, also leaving his cup aside before making his way by Tamara and into the hallway.
Mere centimetres separated them both with Theodore passing by her, the closest they have been in a little while. He looked into her eyes as she into his. She noted the same view as from a few nights ago, the beauty she managed to capture in the mere second his eyes were directed into hers.
And with that, he left her alone, in the comfort of her living room.
Their interaction today, fresh in her mind, left her speechless, frozen - as if her feet were dug underground.