After a thorough discussion about propriety and proper supervision with her mother, Marianne Dashwood was permitted to accept Colonel Brandon's invitation to play music at Barton Park. In her response, she thanked Brandon for including Margaret and expressed her own excitement at the opportunity to play new music. She wrote that they would be ready any time after one o'clock, and so at half past the hour, Colonel Brandon brought his curricle to a stop at the foot of the path leading up to Barton Cottage.
Margaret had been watching for his approach from her tree house. She scurried down the ladder while she shouted a greeting to him, and rushed to the front door, calling for Marianne. Both sisters came out with their bonnets and their spencers in place and met Brandon at the midpoint on the path, where they exchanged greetings and the customary bows. He handed the sisters up into the curricle before taking his seat beside them and setting the matched pair of bay geldings into motion. Margaret's excited chatter filled the air around them, and Brandon had a continual smile on his face as he answered Margaret's queries and listened to Marianne's gentle corrections to her younger sister's conversation. They were still prone to bicker from time to time, but Marianne had adopted some of Elinor's example of calm control when attempting to keep Margaret's spirit in check.
Within minutes they arrived at the mansion house, and the colonel steered his horses around to the stable yard, in hopes that Mrs. Jennings would not notice his guests if they entered through the back hallway. As he handed down the ladies, Marianne spoke to him in a low tone.
"Thank you for giving us a ride on such a lovely day, Brandon. Are these your own horses? I have never seen this pair with Sir John," she observed.
Brandon smiled and replied, "Yes, they are mine. I thought it would be convenient to have my own conveyance while so many guests will be here at the Park."
"They are a fine-looking pair," Marianne commented, and Brandon thanked her. The three entered the house and made their way to the music room without encountering anyone else.
"Tell me, Miss Marianne, though I may know the answer – do you play to please others, or for your own pleasure?" Brandon gave her a studying look as he awaited her response.
Marianne considered the question before she spoke. Brandon had noticed she had grown more thoughtful since her heartbreak and illness. He hoped it was a sign of maturity rather than any lingering melancholy.
Marianne took a breath and began, "If I am to be completely honest, both have been true. I learned to play to please our father, and have something to discuss with him that he valued. Elinor was better at history and understanding politics, and Papa loved to engage us in discussions. She never had an interest in music, while I have loved to sing since I was small. Papa brought in a music teacher as soon as I had learned my letters and could read a bit. The pianoforte at Norland was mysterious and magical to me, and I wanted to make beautiful melodies with it like the ladies who visited us."
The party of three now stood at the pianoforte. Margaret and the colonel had removed their hats and gloves while Marianne spoke; noting this, Marianne followed suit.
"I brought a sampling of music sheets from Delaford which I know are not duplicated in Sir John's collection. A few of my favorites, and some that I hoped you would enjoy," Brandon stepped to a side table and spread his stack of music sheets across the surface. Marianne moved with him, and began to examine the pieces, at times humming to herself or tapping out fingerings on the tabletop. Miss Margaret gave the music a cursory glance, then made a joke about a song title that elicited a chortle from Brandon and an eye roll from Marianne. She commenced to circling the room while the colonel opened the instrument and Marianne questioned him about the pieces that captured her interest.
As Margaret moved to the far end of the room, she looked through the open door to the library, and spied the man of the house seated in a wingback chair alongside a window with a newspaper across his chest. Without recognising that he was dozing, she called out an enthusiastic greeting, "Good afternoon, Sir John!"
The gentleman startled awake with a cough and the newspaper crumpling in his fists, looked about himself, and broke into a smile as his blinking eyes focused on the girl in the doorway. "Well, Captain Margaret, here ye are, come in, come in! Mother Jennings has gone out for the afternoon, and I am in sore need of some company," his booming voice carried his message clearly to all the occupants of the music room.
Brandon had seated Marianne on the piano bench and leaned over her shoulder to point out the sections and tempo changes of a dance suite. Margaret looked back at them, seeking permission to join Sir John, and the pair gave her encouraging nods. The conversation from the library turned to finding an atlas to trace a routine patrol in India that Brandon remembered all too vividly for the night that a group of thieves infiltrated their camp, intent on stealing supplies. There had been just enough invaders to force hand to hand combat to subdue them. Brandon trusted that John would gloss over the details for young Margaret's ears. He turned his attention to Marianne and asked, "Ready to give this section a go?"
Marianne replied, "As long as you don't expect perfection on the first try," and they shared a smile. For the next few minutes, Marianne gave her best effort to sightreading the allemande, while Brandon followed her progress and deftly anticipated her page turns. She released the final chord with a sigh and looked up at Brandon, their faces inches apart. Her blue eyes sought his approval, and he swept his gaze upward from her hands on the keyboard until his hazel eyes met hers.
"Beautiful," he said, his voice a throaty rumble. Marianne rewarded him with a blush, and turned to the next dance. At the natural pauses between each section of the dance suite, Brandon expressed his admiration for Marianne with words that could apply equally to her playing, her beauty, and character. He was assured that she understood his meaning and was enjoying his compliments by her reactions. She blushed again, adjusted herself closer to him, and before the final section of the suite, laid her hand upon his forearm.
"I have no confidence that I understand the rhythm of this gigue. Would you play it?" she asked, with a look that was beguiling to him. Feeling himself lost to do anything other than please her, he nodded, and they traded positions. He began the spritely gigue, nearly from memory, given the hundred-odd times he had played it at parties over the years, and watched her expressions as she turned the pages and absorbed the rhythm patterns he produced. His playing was more technical than artistic, but Marianne marveled at his ability. She had never shared the pianoforte with a man who was equally talented and handsome. Seeing this side of Brandon's character stirred her attraction to him in ways that she resolved to discuss immediately with Elinor and never reveal to Margaret. When he played the final cadence, she turned to him, placing her hand on his shoulder.
"Brilliantly played," she commented, "Now that I've heard it, I can see where the patterns repeat. Thank you for playing for me, Brandon." She squeezed his upper arm before she let her hand fall.
Brandon cleared his throat before answering, "You're welcome. Would you like to sing something?"
Marianne moved over to the table and perused the airs and art songs, searching for one that contained the sentiments that she longed to express to Christopher Brandon in this moment of revelation, and the relative privacy afforded by the lively debate of chess defenses coming from the library. She knew it was terribly forward of her, but she chose a somewhat familiar tune that spoke of searching for true love, and quickly placed it upon the music rack in front of him, before she lost her nerve. Brandon dutifully began to play through the melody for Marianne to familiarise herself, when halfway down the page he realised what song she had chosen. A tender smile spread across his face, his shoulders relaxed, and he started playing the introduction. Marianne moved closer to read the lyrics over his shoulder, and her lilting soprano filled the house with hopes and dreams of finding a love that will be true and constant. The two musicians were so enraptured in the song that neither of them noticed when the conversation in the library ceased and they gained an audience. Marianne ended her singing with a hand upon Brandon's shoulder again, and they shared a moment of admiration that was cut short by boisterous applause from the doorway.
"Bravo!" shouted Sir John, and Margaret echoed. The spell cast by the song was broken and the two music lovers commenced to tidying up the music sheets as Margaret and Sir John burst across the threshold. By unspoken agreement, they closed the pianoforte, and readied themselves with hats and gloves, as they exchanged pleasantries with Sir John and thanked him for the use of the music room. Brandon led the ladies out to the stable yard while John called after them to come back as often as they wish. Margaret ran ahead to pet the dogs and horses that happened to be about, and it gave Brandon a moment to praise Marianne's performance.
"I have never heard that song delivered so perfectly, with such depth of feeling, Miss Marianne. Your artistry eclipses your accompanist, I believe," Brandon added his typical self-deprecation to his compliment, but Marianne would not have it.
"Not at all, Brandon, your playing was lovely, and I greatly enjoyed singing at your side," Marianne declared. They exchanged a few more kindnesses toward each other until Margaret returned to them, necessitating an abrupt shift to speaking about the weather.
"This breeze will make for a lovely ride back to the cottage," Marianne observed.
"I hope it will not be too cool for you in the shade," Brandon remarked.
The grooms had the colonel's curricle ready in minutes. When they brought it around to where the group stood, Marianne made certain that Margaret was handed up first, then she placed herself in the center position to be next to Brandon on the ride home. She leaned against him a bit more than was necessary during the drive, and Brandon smiled to himself at the progress he sensed he had made in convincing Marianne to form an attachment to him. Inside of half an hour, he had delivered the Dashwood ladies to their door, and took the longer loop trail back to the mansion house. He needed time to himself to consider his next move in the pursuit of Marianne's heart.