Goddess of the Green Room: (Georgian Series) (3 page)

When at the end of the play she came to the front of the stage and sang for them they were spellbound. There was an unusual quality in her voice; though it was untrained it was sweet and true, but so were many other voices. Dorothy’s had a quality purely her own which touched them; it had a haunting charm, warm, full of feeling, tender and sincere.

The song she had chosen to sing was one they all knew about an Irish colleen who came to Milltown, a district of Dublin, to ply her
trade as an oyster seller. They had heard it many times before but never as sung that night.

They called for her to sing again, which she did; and it was clear from that night that Dorothy Bland was no ordinary actress.

Grace read the letter to her daughters. It was formal and from a lawyer who represented Francis’s relations. The family resented the fact that Miss Grace Phillips allowed her actress daughter to use their name and to have it appearing on play bills. As she had no right to this, they must ask her to stop doing so.

Dorothy could not restrain her feelings. She had a temper, as the family well knew; but it did not greatly worry them because although it would flare up suddenly it was quickly over.

‘Impudence!’ she cried. ‘They have done nothing for us and now they are telling us what we should do.’

‘Take no notice of them,’ advised Hester more calmly. ‘You’ve made something of a stir as Dorothy Bland, are you going to throw it away because Papa’s family are ashamed of us?’

‘I am not,’ Dorothy assured her. ‘And I may well make it known that I am connected with the high and mighty Blands of Dublin’s fair city – yes, and that they will have nothing to do with us although it is their plain and bounden duty to keep us from starvation.’

‘You’re not on the boards now, Dolly,’ Hester reminded her sister.

‘Now, girls,’ put in Grace, ‘I’ve been thinking about this; and it’s not wise to go against your Papa’s family. It’s always been my hope that one day they would do something for us. Now that your grandfather, the Judge, is dead, it may be that the rest of the family will feel differently.’

‘It doesn’t seem like it,’ retorted Dorothy. ‘And why do you imagine they should suddenly turn so virtuous?’

‘You never know,’ insisted Grace; ‘and it’s always wise to be on the safe side.’

Dorothy laughed suddenly. Dear Mamma, who had been so badly treated by life, who had really believed that Papa was going to marry her one day – how she always wanted to be on the Safe Side.

Dorothy kissed her suddenly. ‘All right, Mamma. We’ll be on
the safe side. We’ll compromise. I’m not going to give up Papa’s name altogether. But we’ll meet the high and mighty Blands half way. I’ll be Dorothy Francis. They couldn’t object to that.’

They all thought this was a good idea; and from that day Dorothy became Miss Francis.

Miss Francis was a considerable actress. She could dance prettily; her singing voice was unusually appealing and when she sang on a stage the audience were always loth to let her go. If the play was not going well it was always advisable to bring in Dorothy Francis to sing or do some sort of a jig on the stage and the audience could usually be put into a good humour. In addition her speaking voice had a soothing effect and when she spoke a prologue the noisiest audience grew quiet. It was not so much that she was a good actress as that she was Dorothy Bland – or Francis as she had now become – with a carefree diffidence, a gaiety, an insouciance… who could say what it was? But whatever the description it was Dorothy – and the people liked it.

Is it those shapely legs? wondered Thomas Ryder, determined to get her into breeches parts as much as possible. Is it her singing voice? Her speaking voice? Her way of romping through a part as though she enjoyed it? Even a tragic role seemed less tragic in her hands. There was something about Dorothy which assured him that the day he had decided to let the young sister try where the elder one had failed had not been an unlucky one for him.

Dorothy – with Hester and the rest of the company – went to Waterford and Cork to play under Ryder’s management while Grace stayed behind in Dublin with the young children because her two daughters were earning enough to make this possible.

By the time she was back in Crow Street Dorothy had come to regard herself as a professional actress. The smell of tallow candles, the draught that blew in from the wings, the excitement of facing an audience and the gratifying ring of applause were a part of her life; and she asked for no other.

She had her friends – and enemies – in the company. Ryder was one of the best of the former; the latter were made up of those actors and actresses who were jealous of her popularity with audiences, those who declared that the young upstart took more than her share of the applause.

There were many ways in which they could make life burden-some; they could try to distract the audience’s attention from her; they could discuss her disparagingly in the Green Room; they could talk of her in the taverns as a girl who had achieved success through a fine pair of legs and hint at the reason for her favouritism with Ryder.

Dorothy could take these taunts better than Hester. In truth she enjoyed a fight, and the attitude of some of her fellow players increased her determination to succeed. She could retaliate by displaying her superior talents on the stage, by singing with more and more feeling, dancing with more and more verve. In those early days life was a battle – a gay and exciting one which seemed to offer certain success.

There was one man in the company who gave her a few twinges of fear. His name was Richard Daly and he was a swaggering braggart of a man – not a great actor but the opinion he had of himself made up for a lack of acting ability. There was a quality in him which made it impossible for anyone to be unaware of him. He was tall and well made; in fact he would have been extremely handsome but for the fact that he squinted. This squint added a diabolical touch which many declared to be entirely fascinating. He was constantly boasting of his successes with women and it was obvious that this was no idle boast. He was a real dandy – the most elegant man in the theatre and any casual observer would have thought he was the manager rather than Ryder. He was a great duellist, adept with sword and pistol; and he wore a diamond brooch in his coat with great pride because it had once saved his life. It seemed he had challenged a college acquaintance, Sir Jonah Barrington, to a duel – for what reason no one seemed sure – and Sir Jonah had fired first. The bullet would have gone through his heart but for the diamond brooch; in fact some of the gems had become embedded in his chest. He had had the brooch reset and wore it always that everyone might remember how ready he was to make a challenge and that he was Devil-May-Care Daly.

Daly was a gambler, and if his acting was not of the highest standard, having graduated from Trinity College, he was educated and could quickly memorize a part; moreover he had an excellent wardrobe of his own which was useful in business. Daly had no sooner joined the company than he began to dominate it.

He was a deeply sensual man and greater than his interest in gambling and duelling was his interest in women. There was not a woman in the company on whom he did not cast his speculative eye, and it was scarcely likely that Dorothy would escape.

He would waylay her on the way to her dressing room; he would bar her way almost playfully but she was aware of his brute strength and he wished her to be.

‘Dear Miss Francis, why in such a hurry?’

‘Dear Mr Daly, what concern is that of yours?’

‘All Miss Francis’s actions are a concern of mine.’

‘Then it’s more than Mr Daly’s are of mine.’

‘A kiss for a free passage.’

‘These passages are already free,’ she told him. ‘Or so I believe. I must verify this with Mr Ryder.’

A threat of course. Ryder had it in his power to dismiss Daly.

‘I am in no mood to take orders,’ he told her.

‘I know. You solve your problems with bullets. But don’t spoil that nice diamond brooch again.’

She would dodge past him with a derisive laugh; and he would laugh with her, but his eyes, as far as the squint would allow her to see, were smouldering.

He was the sort of man whom her mother would wish her to avoid. And I am in complete agreement with her, thought Dorothy.

But for the existence of Mrs Lyster, the leading female player in Ryder’s company, Dorothy might have been uneasy, for she sensed something evil in the man.

Mrs Lyster was a fine comic actress. Dorothy liked to stand in the wings and watch her perform for she had great talent and there was much to be learned from her. She had been a Miss Barsanti before her marriage to Mr Lyster who had recently died leaving her a comfortable income. Dorothy admired Mrs Lyster not only for her acting ability but for her poise and that comfortable and apparent sense of security which having an income apart from her theatrical earnings gave her.

There was someone else who admired Mrs Lyster and that was Richard Daly; and Mrs Lyster like so many women seemed to be completely fascinated by the man and not in the least revolted by his squint; on the contrary to find it an added attraction.

Daly’s interest in the widow did impede to some extent his pursuit of Dorothy, but in spite of the fact that everyone knew his intentions towards Mrs Lyster were serious and honourable (Dorothy, laughed at the word because it was clearly Mrs Lyster’s income which made her so overwhelmingly attractive) he still turned that smouldering gaze on Dorothy.

She was repelled by it and yet excited. She had welcomed the opportunity to let him know that although most women found him irresistible, she did not. She was relieved however when Daly announced to the company his intention to marry Mrs Lyster.

The wedding was celebrated by a party back stage, which Dorothy attended with the rest of the company. Mrs Daly was very proud of her swaggering squinting husband and, thought Dorothy, welcome to him.

The bridegroom had a word or two with her.

‘I’m disappointed in you,’ he told her. ‘I’d hoped to find you heart-broken.’

‘Although I condole with the bride,’ retorted Dorothy, ‘I can hardly be expected to break my heart for her.’

‘And what of the bridegroom?’

‘He’s a man who will know how to look after himself, I don’t doubt.’

‘True, Miss Francis. I know a wise woman like you would recognize in him a man who won’t be denied what he wants.’

‘I am sure Mrs Daly will be able to satisfy all his needs.’

With that Dorothy turned away. In spite of her mockery, he disturbed her.

Shortly after the wedding Ryder told her that he had had to relinquish the lease of the Smock Alley theatre.

‘What will that mean?’ asked Dorothy. ‘If someone else takes it they’ll set up in opposition to Crow Street.’

‘It means exactly that. But I can’t pay the rent just to stop someone else opening up.’

‘But two theatres can’t be filled. You know how hard it is to fill one.’

‘That’s what I’m afraid of. I’m in debt to the tune of thousands of pounds and the owners have offered to waive the debt if I give up the lease. There’s nothing I can do but give it up. It may be that they’ll use the building for something other than the theatre.
I can tell you this, it will be a great weight off my mind and off my pocket to be rid of the place.’

The deal went through and Ryder was more at ease than he had been for a long time. Richard Daly was strutting about the theatre as though he were premier actor, manager and owner of the place. He was clearly delighted with his marriage.

Dorothy heard the news through Ryder.

‘Who do you think has taken over Smock Alley? Richard Daly! And he’s going to open up in opposition.’

In the stalls every night sat a young soldier. There were many soldiers in Dublin who came regularly to the theatre but there was something persistent about this one and very soon the company was referring to him as Francis’s admirer.

He was very young – scarcely good-looking, but extremely earnest; and there was no doubt that he was in love.

Flowers and gifts were arriving back-stage for Dorothy and at length she consented to see the young man. She could not help being touched by his naîvety. On the first meeting he proposed marriage.

Very soon Dorothy took him to the family’s lodgings where Grace eagerly studied him. Dorothy was amused because her mother’s dearest wish to see her married was becoming more of an obsession. ‘You are doing well now,’ she would say, ‘but never forget that the life of an actress is a precarious one. The public can drop you as quickly as it takes you up. Look what a private income did for Mrs Lyster.’

‘It bought Richard Daly,’ mocked Dorothy.

‘I don’t mean that. He’ll doubtless run through her fortune for her.’

‘Not he. She’s too good a business woman and he too good a business man for that to happen.’

‘Dorothy,
you
must learn to be a business woman.’

‘Very well. I’ll start taking lessons.’

‘But best of all is a rich husband to take care of you,’ affirmed Grace. ‘We must find out more about Charles Doyne.’

Dear Charles, he was so young and so much in love! She was sure she could be quite happy married to him. He would never interfere with her career, and it would be pleasant to have a
constant admirer. She had to admit that she was not deeply in love with the young man though she liked him well enough, and the more she compared him with Richard Daly the more she liked him. Though why she could compare him with that man seemed irrelevant. What was important was that he would be a docile husband, and there would be children. She had discovered in herself a great desire to have children. It was not that she was so fond of other people’s children; it was those of her own which she wanted. And one of her mother’s most constant fears was that – as in her own case – there might be children without marriage.

Grace was making inquiries. A cornet in the Second Regiment of Horse. A cornet! What did Dorothy think they were paid? The young man was of good family though, his father being Dean of Leighlin, but Grace knew how such families viewed the marriages of their sons with actresses. She must consider with extreme caution.