When We Meet Again

Chapter 6 - Men Are Oafs

It was Sunday morning, now two days after the ball, and the whole of Albany society was attending mass.

Diana had arrived at the church a half hour early, for she was to be playing the piano and leading in song for the mass. She had done this before, so she wasn't too nervous about it, but it did take some coaxing from her mother for her to even do it in the first place.

Diana spent a couple minutes practicing, before playing a couple of hymns as the first people started arriving. All of these were families of whom she had known her whole life, mainly because they had been long time acquaintances of her own family. They all enjoyed her playing and singing, and often complimented her on it. This is something that gave her the confidence to keep doing it.

She watched as each family walked in, and found their spots in the pews. Eventually, Robert and his family made their way in and sat down. Of course, soon Caroline and her family also walked in, and she made sure that they sat directly behind the Taylor's.

Robert noticed Diana sitting at the Piano, playing "O Holy Night" and smiled. He always enjoyed her playing, and was glad to see it that morning, and it seemed to breath new life into him after being sick the past day.

Once the mass had started, Diana continued playing, and would lead the parish in song. Robert had never heard her sing before, and was instantly fascinated by her voice. It was soft and sweet, yet deep and inviting as though she were a mother singing her child to sleep.

The mass lasted quite some time, mainly from the priest's homily, and once it was over, many of the families came over and complimented Diana on her singing and playing.

Caroline quickly made her way over to Robert and chatted his ear off as he made his way out of the pews and towards the door. He found Diana, and made sure to compliment her as well.

Diana saw him approaching her, and got a little spark of hope in her. But all of it was squashed when Caroline appeared next to him.

"You did a wonderful job today, Diana." Robert spoke. "It means so much to me to be able to hear your playing again. I have yet to hear a better piano player."

Diana's face flushed red and she smiled. "I greatly appreciate it, Robert."

Robert smiled at her and then continued to walk past, even though he wished he could stay and chat more. He made sure to plan on visiting her later that day, since he wasn't able to the day before.

As they walked past her, Caroline made sure to shoot Diana a menacing look. Diana looked down, avoiding eye contact with her. Caroline gave Diana a very heavy feeling, and she could not tell if it was nausea or a deep, burning fire of hatred.

Once Diana returned home, she threw herself onto the long chair in the parlor. She felt completely exhausted, even though the day had barely started.

Suddenly, she heard a knock at the door, which caused her to instantly sit up. She quickly went to answer it, having a little twinge of hope deep in her heart that it might be someone in particular.

When she opened it, Victoria and Emily were there. Diana felt a little bit disappointed, but their arrival was a welcomed one too. They smiled at Diana and gave her a very excited greeting.

Diana lead them to the parlor, where Molly brought them some tea and desserts.

"What did you ladies think of the ball Friday night?" Victoria asked excitedly.

Emily wriggled in her seat with excitement just at the thought of it. "Oh, I had such a spectacular evening, and all of the gentlemen I danced with were charming!" She chirped excitedly, "And many of them came to call the day after. Their company was agreeable, but I must say, many of them were complete oafs. Nevertheless, I could never have asked for a better sequence of days!"