Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Harpsichord

Translator: Kris Liu

Victor was glad to see that Lucien did not slow down over the several days’ learning . Within

fifty minutes he absorbed the rest of the grammar rules . He was smart and gifted in learning

language, and had a good memory as well .

Good mood brought him ideas . Victor started humming .

“Ladies and gentlemen, let’s have a break . Help yourself to some tea and snack . I gotta jot this

down . ” He was already trotting upstairs when he finished talking .

Picking up the fine white teacup, Lucien took a sip of the weird-tasting tea . Rubbing his eyes,

he tried to relax a little bit .

“Felicia, when can we go hunting in your family’s manor again? I miss the deers and rabbits

there so much, and also the fresh air . ”

Annie was another noble lady among them . However, except for her beautiful blond hair and

gem-like green eyes, her appearance was just around average . Besides, her family was not that

distinguished as well . Her father was just one of the many children of a common baron, who

failed to inherit anything from the family . No title, no land, no manor . Annie’s family had to

struggle to live a seemingly decent life with the income from her father work as a court clerk

and the annuity from their title .

In comparison, the Hayne family, as one of the biggest families in the Duchy of Orvarit, still

enjoyed a high reputation . Although her father did not inherit the title either, he still got a big

manor outside of Aalto with its own woods, orchards, and even a granite quarry . They also

possessed a property inside of the city .

Among them, Felicia had the most distinguished family background .

On hot summer days, there was nothing better than escaping from the heat enjoying some

hunting and some homemade wine in a manor away from the city . Many young nobles who did

not have a manor in their families would of course long for it . Lucien could tell Annie was

trying to get close to Felicia .

“Is that true, lady Felicia? Are there rabbits and cute deers in your family’s manor?” Renee got in

the conversation, asking with curiosity .

Since they started studying together, Renee always tried to cotton up to the noble students by

talking about music, which worked very well .

She was thus encouraged . Through music, she started joining conversations between noble

students more . Somehow she learned a bit on some theories about music . Often she asked

Felicia or Annie related questions and became more and more acquainted with the nobles .

Learning from her, Colin and David started doing the same .

Lucien, perhaps because he was too nerdy and reserved, only cared about his own study . And for

sure neither the nobles nor the commons would take the initiative to talk to him .

“I miss the place as well . ” Felicia was still sitting straight, answering with her standard smile,

“But there are only around three months left before Mr . Victor’s performance . Lott, Herodotus

and I have to practice a lot . I really have no time to go there . ”

For sure, Felicia was happy for being flattered and being the envy of the other students . Who

would not?

It would not be true to say that Lucien did not want to have a look at such a fancy manor . But

the most urgent thing in his mind was how to borrow the dictionary and finish browsing

through it as quickly as possible .

Victor came downstairs with a slight smile hanging on his face . Apparently he was pretty

satisfied with his work . The chatting stopped .

Athy, the steward, came in when Victor was about to continue his teaching . He whispered in

Victor’s ear, “Your guest is here, my Lord . ”

“Oh! I forgot!” Shaking his right hand, he looked a bit annoyed, “Let him in, please . ”

Then he turned to his students, apologizing politely .

“I’m so sorry, ladies and gentlemen . I forgot I would have a guest here today . Can we resume

the class tomorrow afternoon at two? I’m really sorry . ”

The students were happy to have an early end today . When they were preparing to leave, Lucien

walked closer to Mr . Victor, ready to ask him to borrow the common tongue dictionary for a few

days .

Before Lucien began his request, two guests came in following the steward . One was a silverhaired

pretty man in a red shirt and black coat, and the other was a white-haired elderly man

with a wooden suitcase in his hands .

“Mr . Rhine…” Lucien and Felicia recognized the guest at the same time .

Felicia’s face turned pink, while Lucien felt even more surprised . He thought Rhine was just a

bard living in the tavern . Rhine being Mr . Victor’s important guest was quite unexpected for

Lucien .

“Hi, Felicia . And… you’re here, Lucien!” Rhine greeted them gracefully .

Felicia smiled shyly, and a second later she was very surprised: how did Mr . Rhine know Lucien?

“Lucien, you know Mr . Rhine?” Victor smiled .

“Yes, we’ve met before . ” Lucien nodded, “I Didn’t expect I’d meet Mr . Rhine again here at your

place . ”

Rhine’s smile was pretty attractive like an elf .

“Yes, we met once before and Lucien impressed me . At that time he was telling us that he

wanted to learn how to read . And look! Here he is! I always appreciate young people striving for

their dreams . ”

Commended by Rhine, even Lucien felt a bit shy .

“Mr . Rhine is the concertmaster I’m currently working with, who has very unique and excellent

understanding towards music . Without his help, I don’t think I could be inspired with my piano

concerto . ”

“What!? Rhine’s the master now!?” That almost made Lucien’s jaw drop . He had met Rhine in

Copper Cornet in the slum several days before .

From his classmates’ conversation, Lucien knew that the structure of a symphony orchestra

here was similar to the ones on the earth . The first violinist was the concertmaster, who would

also be responsible for conducting the orchestra when the conductor was absent . How could

Rhine, a stranger who had never cooperated with the team before, get such an important

position?

From Lucien’s expression Rhine could tell he was very surprised . He explained easily, “The

previous master fell in love with a noble lady, who eloped with her to Syracuse several days ago .

Mr . Victor had no one else to find but me . ” He shrugged his shoulders and smiled .

“Mr . Rhine should be the first violinist of the orchestra, even if the previous master was still

here . ” Felicia cut in with her flushed face, “Mr . Rhine just needs more practice with the others . ”

“I agree . ” Victor also thought highly of Rhine, “Mr . Rhine’s one of the best violinists I’ve ever

met . I was more than lucky to have him here . ”

Lucien looked at Rhine, who was smiling politely with his right hand laying on his heart,

showing his gratitude . Within a few days, a bard was exiled from Syracuse with his harp, and he

happened to become the first violinist of a symphony orchestra in Aalto . It was too strange for

Lucien . It could not be a coincidence .

“This is Mr . Shavell, the most excellent harpsichord maker in Aalto . ” Rhine started introducing

the elderly man beside him, “Mr . Shavell shall be able to help you with the improvement . ”

“Nice to meet you, Mr . Shavell . It’s an honour for me to have you here . ” Victor shook hands with

him enthusiastically and led him upstairs, before Lucien had any chance to talk to him .

Victor was so excited that he forgot to ask Athy to see his students out . Unsure about the

relationship between Lucien and Rhine, Athy did not ask him to leave instantly either . Next,

Felicia, Annie, Colin and some other students came upstairs quietly, filled with curiosity .

Lucien was not willing to leave without the dictionary, so he also followed upstairs to end up in

Mr . Victor’s practice room .

“Mr . Shavell, I was hoping the harpsichord could be more sensitive to the pressure of my

fingers, so the the control of its volume can be more accurate . ” Watching Shavell open his

harpsichord, Victor made detailed his request, “My music requires a wider range of tones . More

resonant and vigorous, but also delicate and clear . ”

There were lots of different components in it: springs, pivots, plectrums, strings… Since it was

invented, many makers and musicians tried to improve the harpsichord, including adding extra

pivots, stops, replacing soundboard, etc .

Slightly frowning his eyebrows, Shevell was carefully checking the parts .

“I’m afraid it’s impossible, Mr . Victor . Over more than 300 years of upgrades, this kind of

instrument has reached its limitation . Even a slight improvement on it would be quite hard . ”

Both Victor and Rhine lost their words, especially Victor . If the harpsichord could not be

improved, his music would definitely not be perfect . In that case, the performance in the Psalm

Hall would be a foreseeable failure for him .

Everyone remained silent for a while, until Lucien started asking all of a sudden .

“Can we… can we turn it into a kind of percussion instrument…? Changing it from plucking to

hitting . ”

Lucien noticed that this world had yet to invent the “king of musical instruments”, the piano .

Musicians were still working on harpsichords and clavichords . He got his own plan: If he could

help Mr . Victor with his improvement, probably there would be no more five Nars every month,

and, of course, borrowing a dictionary would be a piece of cake .

As early as they started talking about improving the harpsichord, Lucien opened his Piano:

Manufacture and Tones and Mechanism of Modern Piano in his spirit library . He got a rough

idea from leafing through the first several pages .

“Then what would be the difference between it and a clavichord?” Shevell threw a stern look at

Lucien, “Yes you can control the volume with percussion, but the sound’s too delicate and the

volume too low . It’s only suitable for playing at home, not a hall . ”

It was in Aalto, the City of Psalm, the City of Music . No one suspected the real reason why

Lucien understood the difference between a harpsichord and a clavichord .