Page 60 of The Secret Diary of Anne de Bourgh

“Not so forbearing as the poor maid who must clean kipper off the rug, I fear!”

I believe he meant it, but there was a little smile about his mouth.

I practised with Georgiana this afternoon. I can play the little passage she first gave me without stopping, provided I do not begin too quickly. This is apparently a greater temptation than I had realised.

“If you can play the beginning very fast, but must play the end slowly, they will not sound as though they belong together,” she explained.

I could see the justice of this.

Richard came in while I was trying again. I stopped at once.

“Do not mind me,” he said.

“It is very difficult not to, when you stand there listening.”

“Then I shall sit down.”

“That will not prevent you from hearing.”

“No,” he admitted. “But I should like to hear.” He took a seat out of my line of sight, but I was dreadfully conscious of his presence.

Georgiana assured me that I knew the piece perfectly well, which was generous of her, if not entirely accurate. I put my hands back upon the keys and began.

I played one wrong note, returned to correct it, and then lost my place altogether.

Richard said nothing.

I tried again. This time I reached the end.

“There,” Georgiana said. “I told you.”

“Will you play it once more?” Richard asked, and I turned to look at him, startled. I had expected him to say that it was very good, whether he thought so or not. I had not expected him to wish to hear it again.

I did as he asked.

It went rather better the second time. I begin to feel confident that I may, with enough practice, one day not disgrace myself if I attempt to play in company.

18 August

Mr Byerly has brought me some books which do not belong to him.

He explained this immediately, lest I should suppose them another gift. The books are Mr Thurston’s illustrated Shakespeare, a collection of three beautifully bound volumes, which Mr Byerly had obtained permission to borrow and bring for me to examine.

I thought it very kind of them both.

There are several pictures, and I had seen none of them before. Mr Byerly said that he had come upon the volumes while looking for something else, and had thought of me at once.

Richard was standing beside the table when he told us this.

“Then you must show Anne what you have found,” he said. “She has been attempting to persuade me that I ought to read the plays more often.”

“I said that you might enjoy them.”

“And Byerly has taken the trouble to find you a better edition. Come, sit here. There will be room to peruse them properly.”

He drew out the chair beside mine.

I had thought he meant to sit there himself. We had been looking through the music Georgiana had chosen for me to attempt next, and he had been asking which of the pieces I preferred.