The weekend passed in a flurry of activity. Janice went to the library on Saturday morning to do some research while Lisa went to keep an appointment with the rector. Lisa was pleased with what she had learned about Janice's scholastic progress when they met for lunch, and during the afternoon they went to the conservatory and Janice played the piano for Lisa. Janice's transition from American to European fingering had given her difficulty for a time, but she was again to the point where the keyboard was familiar, well-known territory, and her hands were quicksilver on the keys. Lisa seemed actually startled by her performance, and later she seemed to be pensively thoughtful about it. They went to the restaurant for dinner in formal evening dress, and as Lisa teased and joked with her Janice suddenly came to the pleasant realization that Lisa was wooing her. She responded, and when they were back in the room again they generated shattering spasms of ecstasy in each other. The following day was less pleasant. Janice played the violin for Lisa during the morning, and she was introduced to Fraulein Doctor Comtessa Annalisa van Grevenburg the musician. Lisa frowned darkly and snapped testily about the way she tuned it, became irritable about the way she was holding it, and finally snatched the bow away from and broke it over the back of a chair when she noticed that it was frayed. Janice broke into tears, and Lisa seemed torn between penitence for what she had done and righteous angel. She took Janice back to the room and departed in a towering rage to see Janice's violin tutor, and when she returned her ire had apparently been relieved by tearing into the tutor. She sat with Janice on the side of the bed, holding her in her arms and apologizing, then she began flirting with her and teased her back out of her resentful pique. Then they were kissing passionately, undressing each other, and making love. They got out of bed during the afternoon to get ready and go out for a late lunch, and things were as they had been before. They returned to the room to make love again, then Janice rode with Lisa to the airport and saw her off to Brussels.
The violin tutor tripled her out-of-class exercises and gave her meticulous attention in class, and her performance with the violin improved by leaps and bounds. Lisa returned three weeks later, and Janice was apprehensive until she had played the violin for Lisa and saw her grudging nod of satisfaction with her progress. The violin was Lisa's instrument and she worked with Janice most of the day, then they returned to the rooming house to dress for dinner.
They were sitting in the candlelight, flirting and teasing each other as they ate, and Lisa suddenly dropped a bombshell into the conversation. "It could be that we will be spending more time together, little darling. I have been offered a post as assistant to the conductor of the philharmonic at the Staatsoper, and I will probably accept it."
Janice almost leaped from her chair with the sudden thrill of joy which raced through her, then another thought occurred to her. "I understand the conductor at Brussels is retiring – wouldn't you get his post?"
"Perhaps and perhaps not. There would be many candidates."
"But you're there now, and that would give you an advantage."
"I would have an advantage, but it wouldn't be a certainty. It is an academic question, though, because I will probably come to Vienna."
"To be with me?"
"Yes, little darling."
"I will not permit you to damage your career to…"
"You have nothing to say about it, little darling. I am the mentor of your career, not you of mine. And to be assistant of the philharmonic in Vienna is a great honor. Also, there are other things. I find I am jealous of you, and that will lead to trouble between us if we remain separated. And it is the nature of life that its pleasures are few enough – they should be fully enjoyed. Enough – what will happen will happen. Have some more wine."
Three months later Lisa moved to Vienna and they rented a house on the Fredritkstrasse, near the university and the Staatsoper. Life became a rosy dream for Janice, divided between love of music and love for Lisa. The term ended and Janice was selected as assistant to the conductor of the youth orchestra during the summer, and she was the lead pianist for several recitals during the summer. When classes began again, she found that she was far ahead of the other students as a result of Lisa's hours of coaching and tutoring.
The year passed rapidly, and then it was summer again. They took a trip to the Hunsruck Mountains and to Traben Trarbach on the Mosel, Lisa's birthplace. Most people considered Janice a native born German because of the Grevenburg arms she wore and because her American accent was almost completely smothered by the Austrian accent she'd acquired, and their whirlwind stay at the small, ancient city straddling the Mosel ended with a reception and dinner at the burgomeister's home. They also went to Budapest, Lisa's mother's birthplace and the origin of the East European cast to Lisa's features, and Janice found herself strongly drawn to the wild, exhilarating local music.
School began again, and at the end of the term Janice was examined for and awarded her baccalaureate degree. She and Lisa had a series of conducting engagements during the summer music festivals, and they met in Budapest during late summer. They spent a week there, and Janice began to seriously study the local music and make notes. After their return to Vienna, Janice had to make a short trip back to the United States to renew her passport and to see the trustee of her estate. The weather was bad, she had difficulty in comprehending nuances of meaning in English, she seemed to attract undue attention when she forgot where she was and broke into German, and she looked forward to getting back to Vienna and commencing her graduate work at the university.
Years passed in a golden haze of bliss. Janice found herself being eagerly sought out by the people she had once held in awe and she acquired a spreading reputation as a recital pianist and conductress. The year after she was awarded her doctorate she and Lisa took the summer off and spent it in traveling around Hungary. The local music still held its compelling fascination for her, and she spent much of her time in listening to groups of players and talking with those who could speak German.
Late summer found them a few kilometers from Budapest, traveling in a rented car. They stopped for the night at a small, ancient inn on the outskirts of a village and put their things in their room, and the innkeeper and his wife moved a rough, heavy table and chairs out onto the grassy swath at the side of the inn so they could enjoy the balmy weather while they dined. They sat at the table and chatted while they dined on cheese, sausage, dark bread, and a surprisingly good local wine, and the day quietly faded toward dusk over the rolling Hungarian countryside and the village. A group of merrymakers straggled from the village to the inn, laughing and shouting, and Lisa waved to them and responded to their greeting, explaining to Janice that it was a wedding party. The inside of the inn came alive with revelry, rocking with the heavy footsteps of people dancing to the music of a violin, a zither, and an accordion. The sun began fading into a blaze of gold and red. Janice became transfixed as she listened to the music coming from the inn and stared at the sunset. Lisa looked at her and frowned with concern when she didn't reply to a question, and she leaned forward and put her hand on Janice's. Janice impatiently shook her hand off, getting up and walking away from the table, looking at the sunset and listening to the music.