Authors: Beth Trissel
A chaotic scene of
costumed circus performers tossing back their heads to gulp orange flames and the fire department charging into Foxleigh with a large crowd in attendance
chased through his mind
.
“I’m drawing the line at drummers and pipers, Ma
’am.
The fire marshal would never allow real flames in a play.”
She
drew her mouth together, and
then shrugged.
“A
s long as we have real swords.
Now for the banquet scene.”
New
ly cast
actors rifled through their scripts to
find the right page
.
The words of the robust scenario fell around Will more or less accurately
, depending on his grandmother’s
amendments and the players
’ grasp of their par
ts.
He
delivered his lines with the
requisite
passion, all the while yearning to be close to Julia
.
His chance
came
as the banquet unfolded durin
g Hamlet’s farewell to Ophelia––
ironic that his
pretens
e of insanity led to her
genuine
breakdown.
Will approached Julia
,
seated at the sid
e of the revelry
, and
knelt by
her. “‘Lady, shall I lie in your lap?’”
Her
glance reminisce
nt of this morning’s censure, she replied,
“‘No, my lord.’”
“‘I mean my head upon your lap?’”
“‘
Ay, my lord,
’”
she agreed.
He laid his head on her knee.
“‘
Do you
think I meant country matters?’”
She rolled her eyes
.
“‘I think nothing, my lord.’”
He smile
d.
“‘
That’s a fair thought
, to lie between a maid’s legs.’”
She looked pained.
“‘You are merry, my lord.’”
“‘
Oh, God.
Wha
t should a man do but be merry?’”
He rose to heap condemnation on the queen for wedding his uncle so soon after the k
ing’s death.
It was a stretch, to say the least, to envision his grandmot
her as the seductive beauty who’
d captivated his evil uncle,
played by the sweating, ill-a
t-ease
Douglas.
B
ut Will stabbed a finger in Nora’s
direction. “‘
For look you
how cheerfully my mother does,
and m
y father died within two hours.’”
“‘
Nay,
it’s twice two months, my lord,’”
Julia corrected.
Will
answered with Hamlet’s
sarcasm.
“‘
So long?
O heavens, die two mon
ths ago and not forgotten yet?
There’s hope a great man’s memory may outlive his life half a
year.’”
Cole’s had outlived his by two centuries.
Gentling his voice, Will
bent bac
k over Julia and cupped
her sweet
face between his hands.
He love
d the feel of her smooth skin.
“‘
Get thee to a nunnery.
Why wouldst
thou be
a breeder of sinners?
I
t were better my mot
her had not bo
rn me.
’”
She gazed at him in convincing bewilderment.
He wore on.
“‘
I am
proud, revengeful, ambitious, with more offenses at my beck than I have thoughts to p
ut them in or time to act them.
What should such fellows as I do crawling between earth and heaven?
Believe none of us. We are errant knaves, all.
To a
nunnery, go.
And quickly, too,’”
he urged, and covered her lips in a hard kiss.
The taste of her was intoxicating and he drew out the feel of
her mouth as long as he dared.
Angry and hurt she might be, but she had no choice
other
than to kiss him now
.
His grandmother was also obligated
to indulge him.
For a moment.
Heart pounding,
he straigh
tened
and smoothed Julia’s
cheek.
“‘Farewell.’”
It was only a part and he
merely
an actor in a pla
y, but Will recoiled at the finality
of that word.
****
Lightning sizzled outside the low
, deep-set
windows and thunder r
umbled through the great hall.
The suddenness of the storm took Julia unprepared, though the dist
urbed weather suited her mood.
Le
t the wind blow and rain fall.
It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate Will’s whispered apology, or
his
impassioned kiss.
She cherished every instant his lips
had
pressed hers,
but what was he ultimately willing to risk for them to be together? He didn’t seem prepared to stake any real trust in the sincerity of her love for him
.
Yet his eye
s caressed her as he uttered that
immortal line, “‘To be or not to be.’”
She could bask in those eyes, so like Cole’s.
He broke off his soliloquy with the next insistent boom and all heads turned toward his grandmother.
“We ought to head on home now, Nora,” D
ouglas wheezed, still huffing
from the vigorous rehearsal.
With evident reluctance,
Mrs.
Wentworth
considered his suggestion
.
“I suppose it’s time t
o break anyway, but
see you’re all back here
tomorrow night promptly at seven.”
She
expected daily practice?
J
ulia wondered at the old woman’s
new
found vigor. Her own reserves were waning.
Perhap
s
all of
the emotions
surging in
side
accou
nt
ed for her dazed fatigue.
She stayed as
she was
in the center of the hall
while actors
of all description grabbed purses, lightweight jackets, and the few who’d heeded
the
weather re
port, umbrellas.
Then, they made
a rush at the back door that led to the parking lot.
“It went very well for a first rehearsal, Nora!” Jon called as he dashed off into the intensifying rumbles.
Charlotte had lucked out and been assigned
the part of
costume mistress. She only had to appear in crowd scenes
during
the night of the play.
Likely, she was home tucked up by the hearth with a cup of tea.
Radiating enthusiasm, Nora regarded her grandson
.
“We made a grand start didn’t we, sir?”
He smiled down at his of
t times exasperating relation.
“Yes, M
a’am.
We
certainly
did.”
She took his hand a
nd actually gave it a squeeze.
“All these
minor hitches will smooth out.
This
play will be our finest ever.
You’ll see.”
“I’m sure it will
.”
He helped the u
npredictable woman up from her makeshift
throne and
closed
his
arm around her
shoulders
.
“Milli
cent is waiting in the car and has
been for the better part of an hour.”
Nora shrugged off any concern
for her faithful lackey. “I told her to bring a book.
Rehearsals often run late.”
The rain drummed harder overhead.
“T
his nasty weather
is settling in,” Will said.
“I’d
better
see you both home.” He caught
Julia’s eye.
“I may be delayed.”
With a nod, she
watched him
assist his grandmother across the long h
all and out the back entrance.
There was a unique bond between the striking y
oung man and irascible matriarch
that she hadn’t
really appreciated until now.
Will’s reluctance to oppose his dominating relation didn’t stem solely from f
ear of losing his inheritance.
He didn’t want to disappoint the old lady in her last years.
The realization both touched and pierced
Julia’s heart
.
Where
did that leave her?
N
owher
e.
U
nless the Queen Mother changed her mind about commoners
and gave Julia the nod
.
And Will came to trust
her
sanity.
She wasn’t certain she trusted herself and
walked to the window.
Staring out the wavy glass gave her an excuse to turn her back while deciding what to do next.
“Julia
?
”
It was Lyle.
She looked around hesitantly.
The leather jacket draped one muscular arm
as he walked toward her.
His boots echoed on the floor except where he crossed a corne
r of the plush Persian carpet.
He stopped be
hind her so that she had to
fully
turn
to speak to him.
His blue eyes were teasing.
“You want that ride now
?”
She gestured at the t
rees tossing beyond the window.
“The sky is falling,
Mr.
McChesney.”
“So it is. Or soon to be.
Wrap your tongue arou
nd Lyle
won’t you, babe?
Or at least call me Laertes.”
She smiled wanly. “Very well, Laertes.
Have you come to caution me about Hamlet?”
Lyle leaned in, one hand on the window si
ll, and lowered
his head nearer
hers.
“If I thought for one
minute you’d listen, I would.
What is it with Will
iam
Wentworth
, apart from the looks, money, and posh estate, I mean?”
“We go back a great way. It’s difficult to explain.”
“I reckon so, seeing as you’ve only been here a couple of days.”
Sheeting rain drummed
the window pane
. “I feel as if I’ve been here for years.”
He
cocked an
eye at her.
“Well, if you’re wearied of the wait, give old Lyle a
chance.
I know how to show a lady a good time.”
“That’s the difficulty
, you see.
I’m not a proper lady, just a British girl with no particular connections.”
Lifting
his other hand to her face,
he curled
his fingers around her cheek.
“You’re plenty connected for me.”
The intimate touch
on her skin t
riggered
an
awareness that this
exchange w
as fast getting out of bounds.
He’d already c
laimed her mouth once tonight.
And though the brief sensation wasn’t unpleasant, she didn’t want him taking any liberties beyond those
allowed in the play.
But he’
d effectively blocked her b
etween himself and the window.
She peered past his bulk at the hall
––empty.
“I real
ly must go to my lodgings now.”
“Got an
umbrella?
I’ll walk you round,
”
he offered.