Chapter 26

Harley had not only gotten his violin; he’d traded his dinner jacket for the pinstripe vest. Jennalee was glad he hadn’t added a shirt. She sat at the piano and watched him tune his instrument, and as he put it to his chin, he suggested they do a single full run through and decide later which movement would make the program. So they began at the beginning, Jennalee experiencing that wonderful absence the piano always brought her, everything else slipping away, except this time it was Harley Laidlaw rather than Mr. Mendel who seemed to have stepped onstage. 9

Unlike the Kreutzer, the Spring began with violin and piano together, quietly at first, then racing along, tossing the melody back and forth as they tumbled and turned in what has been described as one of Beethoven’s rare sunny pieces.