Beyond Rubies (Daughters of Sin Book 4) (4 page)

I
t was all really too marvelous. The theater was a bustling hive of activity, heavy with the smell of paint and turpentine and filled, it seemed, with scurrying women in various stages of undress. Kitty was at first shocked to see chemises and petticoats on full display, and sometimes even a bare ankle with one woman being so bold as to reveal her knees in clear sight of Mr. Lazarus as she rested her foot on a stage lamp to adjust her garter. The sly look she sent the stage director didn’t escape Kitty, and when he chuckled and told her in quite a conspicuous tone that some of his girls would resort to anything to get the lead role, the fiery young redhead flounced off stage and behind the curtain.

It was clear that Kitty was a figure of great interest. A number of women had been lined up since early morning to audition for the role of Juliet, but Mr. Lazarus seemed quite happy to keep them waiting as he strolled about with Kitty at his side, pointing out various locations on stage with instructions on how she’d interpret certain positioning instructions. Kitty felt very important, and knew indeed that she was destined for a long and illustrious career if the singular time and attention her director was devoting to her instruction was any indication.

“But can you really act when put to the test?” Mr. Lazarus suddenly demanded, hands on hips and putting his forefinger beneath her chin to tilt up her head. He pointed to the lineup of hopefuls.

“You there, Jennie; recite for me Juliet’s part when she’s speaking to Romeo,” he called, ushering the redhead with the errant garter onto the stage. “You’re an old hand at this. Three seasons, and always the support actress awaiting your moment. Well, perhaps your time has come. Demonstrate for Miss Hazlett the dizzying talent she will have to match if she is to snatch the plum role away from your fair fingers.”

Jennie smiled prettily for her director and, with a sideways look at Kitty, flounced across stage, throwing her head back and whisking her skirts above her knees as she recited two verses of her own choice with great passion.

Mr. Lazarus applauded loudly. “Done with great feeling. Ah yes, you know how to please your director, but I must take our fair newcomer upstairs where Mrs. Lazarus can give her opinion. The great but eminently obliging Mr. Lazarus does nothing without the full endorsement of Mrs. L.” He proffered his arm with his trademark flourishing bow, and bore Kitty across the stage in front of the goggle-eyed lineup and was about to exit behind the curtain when a loud voice cried, “Ahoy there, and what tasty morsel have you discovered from the provinces? Word has got out, oh sly one, but I am the first to bear witness.”

Embarrassed, Kitty turned. The voice was well bred and full of confidence, but the man himself was unlike any she’d ever seen. He must have been about six feet with broad, well-formed shoulders, an athletic physique, and the handsomest face she’d ever seen.

“Oh, but I like what I see!” he said with even greater interest, advancing a few steps and putting his head on one side to observe Kitty from the ankles upward, while Kitty’s blushes blazed in her cheeks and her heart beat a raging tumult in her chest.

“You’ll have to be satisfied with seeing her on stage, my Lord, for Miss Hazlett is too busy auditioning and then learning her lines to be cajoled by you into any dubious adventuring.”

The young man grinned, doffed his hat and bowed. He was now only several feet away, looking up, and self-consciously Kitty tugged at her skirts in case too much ankle might be on view, yet at the same time her skin glowed with happy warmth to be the object of his obvious admiration.

“Lord Nash at your service, divine goddess,” he said, tossing back a head of inky-black curls as he rose from his bow.

Breathlessly Kitty nodded, her heart racing as she saw the tiny scar beneath his right eye. “Pleased to meet you, my Lord.” She could barely get the words out before Mr. Lazarus swept her backstage, through the curtains and up a narrow staircase.

“Are we going to see Mrs. Lazarus now?” she asked, her mind fluttering with images of the wickedly handsome young man she’d just met.

“Not only that, but you are going to impress the good lady with your abundant talent. We have, I feel almost certain, our next Juliet, however a good director needs to be certain he has made the right choice of leading lady.” At the top of the stairs, he led Kitty into the center of a small, cluttered room with a change curtain draped with various pieces of flamboyant clothing, and a chaise lounge pushed against one wall beside which was positioned a deep green upholstered chair in which sat a large effigy of a grotesquely featured, enormously fat woman. She seemed to be constructed of material, stuffed and elegantly dressed.

Kitty put her hands to her cheeks and gasped. “What is that?” she cried, turning to find Mr. Lazarus suddenly rigid, his stern eyes upon her.

“What do you mean, Miss Hazlett? You speak of the very image of my late good wife. I wouldn’t dream of failing to consult her on every important decision to ensure the continued success of this eminently successful theater.”

“That is Mrs. Lazarus?”

“Indeed it is. Now, my dear Miss Hazlett. Let me see how much
feeling
you can inject into my favorite, most tender scene between Romeo and Juliet. I shall stand here as Romeo and you, my dear, are my fair Juliet.” He handed her a dog-eared script and pointed to a line halfway done the page. “Proceed from here, if you please. You indicated a familiarity with the play so you will understand that I, as your lovelorn swain, must hold you in my arms, thus.”

Kitty squeaked as Mr. Lazarus’s arms went about her so tightly that her legs buckled.

“Juliet, my Juliet,” he intoned passionately, his mouth going to Kitty’s before she knew what was happening.

“Mr. Lazarus!”

“How fair art thou.” His right hand cupped her bottom causing her to shriek even more loudly.

“I say, what’s all this!”

At the intrusion, Mr. Lazarus dropped his hands, and Kitty stumbled backward, staring wildly between her red-faced director and the curious gaze of a young man lounging in the doorway. “Pardon me for interrupting. I was downstairs paying my respects to one of your chorus girls when I heard a loud shrieking. I did not realize you were rehearsing.”

“Oh Mr. Lazarus, I’m sorry; I didn’t realize we’d get quite so quickly to the...love scene. I didn’t mean to cause offense.” Kitty tried to keep the trembling from her voice. She could see Mr. Lazarus was very angry, but she didn’t know how else she might have responded to such unexpected overtures. Nervously she fingered her skirts and looked at the floor.

“That will be all for today, Miss Hazlett.” His voice was cold. “Lord Silverton, a pleasure to see you, as always.”

Kitty stared, panicked, between the two men, uncertain what to do. “So...I am to return to Mrs. Mobbs while I await your decision?” She felt close to tears. Everything had gone so differently, and now she felt belittled yet also as if she were in the wrong. When he did not answer immediately, she said, “Perhaps we can try that scene again.”

Mr. Lazarus shook his head and ran both hands dramatically up over his face and through his hair. “I am unable to summon the feeling required. You have drained me, Miss Hazlett. Disappointed me. I had hoped for better than that from you.”

“Please, Mr. Lazarus...please give me one more chance. What am I to do if I can’t work for you? It’s the reason I came to London?”

“You came to London hoping to prove yourself, but you have a lot to learn, Miss Hazlett.”

“Please, Mr. Lazarus, I...need work. I want to be an actress. Please let me audition once more.”

“Oh, I’ll find something for you while we work on improving your technique, but I’m too weary now for any more of your simpering nonsense. Return to Mrs. Mobbs until I summon you again.”

Kitty took an uncertain step toward the top of the stairs. Mr. Lazarus had barely looked at her. She wasn’t sure if she was dismissed properly yet, or whether he had more of a tongue-lashing in store. If only she’d not been so foolishly prim and proper. She realized he’d put her to some enormous test, and she’d failed miserably, but she had not known of London ways and how quickly one was expected to reach certain points that in the country were advanced toward at a far more leisurely pace.

As she started to descend the stairs, the handsome, light-haired young man whom Mr. Lazarus had addressed as Lord Silverton stepped forward to block her path. He executed a flourishing bow. “Allow me to convey you to wherever you’re going. I fear you might lose your way if you are new to the city.”

Kitty didn’t respond with more than a nod as she stumbled past him and the young ladies eagerly awaiting their turn. She heard a few titters and speculative whispers, which only increased the weight of the world already resting on her shoulders. Her one opportunity to prove herself as a consummate actress had ended in disaster.

Blinking in the sunlight, she regained her senses when Lord Silverton, now at her heels, asked for an address. She thought his name sounded familiar, but she felt too burdened by other matters to try and sift through her memory. Her father often spoke of Lord this and that, as he mixed with so many of them. Kitty had always longed to mix with this other illustrious world. Unlike Lissa, she had no intention of doing so from the subservient position of governess. No, Kitty wanted to entertain them, be feted by them, orbit within their hallowed ranks, but that now looked highly unlikely.

Still too downcast to pay much attention to his Lordship, she nevertheless told him Mrs. Mobbs’s address and thanked him when he handed her into his carriage, resting her chin on her hand as she stared listlessly out of the window. For a short while, she’d thought the blaze of connection between handsome Lord Nash and herself had been a significant moment in her life. It had seemed part of her life’s pre-ordained plan, for wasn’t he the handsome nobleman with the scar beneath his right eye who would sweep her off her feet while she was London’s most feted actress?

“I hope you don’t mind traveling in a phaeton. That will certainly give you a bit of fresh air and show you the sights.” She realized Lord Silverton was talking as he leaped up first into the equipage before reaching for her hand, and before she even knew what was happening, was swinging her up beside him.

She let out a squeal. She’d never seen such a strange conveyance, yet it certainly looked smart and exciting. She smiled at him with new appreciation as he picked up the ribbons, saying, “So you live in Black Cat Alley, eh? That’s a salubrious part of town. Do you enjoy the area?”

Kitty shrugged, not prepared to voice her reservations for Mrs. Mobbs had been good to her. “I’ve only just arrived, but now I fear I’ll have to return home if I can’t find work.”

“Come now; you’re far too pretty to look so glum.” He frowned as if considering something. “Let me show you some of London. You’re dressed for it, and I suddenly find myself at a loose end due to a canceled engagement.”

The thought flashed through Kitty’s mind that she ought not to be consorting with young men without a chaperone, but as she’d already run away to London, she supposed there was little worse she could do. No one from her village knew she was here, and neither did her family, and the offer was very tempting.

“Do you like animals? I could take you to the Tower?” he suggested, signaling to his two fine bays with a flick of the reins to move on. “Yes, the Tower of London and the British Museum. What say you to that? I’ve nothing better to do.”

It sounded suddenly rather thrilling, and Kitty responded with a smile and a clap of her hands as she straightened. “Splendid. I want to see London and learn London ways, and tomorrow I’ll do whatever Mr. Lazarus wants me to do if I’m to please him enough to be part of his new play. What did you say your name was?”

He looked a little startled. “Lord Silverton, at your service. And I’m happy to show you London ways and prepare you for your audition tomorrow. We shall have lots of fun, Miss Hazlett; I promise you. I’m sure being new to London can be quite daunting, but it would be a pleasure to help you feel... less unworldly.”

“That is very kind of you, Lord Silverton,” Kitty said, liking his face, and deciding that being less unworldly would certainly be an advantage having failed to impress the one man who held the key to the future she desired—Mr. Lazarus. “Proceed to show me London, my Lord!” It was exciting she thought, though she’d have to prod him a little so she might recall where she’d heard his name, and she was still a little disappointed he wasn’t the fantastically handsome, raven-haired Lord Nash who’d shown such interest in her earlier.

The ride in Lord Silverton’s phaeton was an excitement in itself, and Kitty felt very grown-up and flamboyant as she held onto her bonnet and, at one point, Lord Silverton’s knee when rounding a particularly sharp corner.

“Got you, Miss Hazlett!” he cried over the sound of clopping hooves on cobblestones, as he threw his arm about her shoulders and literally saved her from being bounced onto the cobbles to a certain death.

By the time they drew to a halt outside the Tower of London Kitty was visibly shaking: from excitement, cold, and fearful exertion. Lord Silverton lifted her down from his sporting vehicle with a wry smile. “I fear I nearly frightened you to death, but it’s preparation for the amazing sights you are about to behold if this is your first time in London.” With a flourish, he signaled the great White Tower before them. “My favorite is Old Martin, gifted to King George from far across the sea, a place called Hudson Bay. And who is Old Martin, you ask? Why, a grizzly bear. And what is a grizzly bear? Take my arm, Miss Hazlett, and I will show you.”

It wasn’t long before any residual misery Kitty felt over her audition with Mr. Lazarus was swept away by wonder and amazement at seeing so many exotic creatures, some of which she’d never even heard about, much less seen.

Lord Silverton was a charming companion, allowing her plenty of time to marvel, if she chose. By late afternoon, Kitty had forgotten all her cares, and only felt a pang of her earlier dismay when she stopped to exclaim at how low the sun was in the sky.