Page 79 of The Wedding Dress Repair Shop
‘I’ll come back tomorrow and put that spare castor Arthur found on the sofa for you. I can have a go at fitting the door, too,’ offered Thom.
‘I’m sure you have other things you’d rather do on your day off!’
‘You know I love doing that kind of thing,’ Thom said, and gave me one of his rare, warm smiles.
‘I wish I could help, too,’ said Simon, ‘but I always run Pearl to church on Sunday mornings and then she buys me lunch at the Devil’s Cauldron as a reward.’
‘I’ll be here all morning, because I’m letting Golightly out for the first time and I want to keep an eye on him.’
‘Hope it goes well,’ Simon said. ‘We’ll all meet up at Pelican House at half three, shall we? Ready for another antique rummage. I can’t wait!’
‘Yes, as long as we don’t have to heft any more heavy furniture about,’ Thom said firmly.
Rosa-May
And so began the modest start of my career, with some months spent travelling up and down the country, staying in poor lodgings and playing in all kinds of venues. But I adored the life and learned so much in that short time, both about my profession and about people … and Sara was right about my needing her protection.
I began with the smallest of roles, but by hard work and application, by the time we returned to London, I was being given ever more speaking parts.
Mr Joseph Blake must have reported back to his brother on my progress, for soon after our return to Town, I made my debut at the Cockleshell Theatre in my favourite role of Titania inA Midsummer Night’s Dream, to the chagrin and jealousy of the older actresses of the company.
On the first night, I knew that my future hung in the balance, for the London audiences were notoriously difficult to please, but I had good advice from Mrs Aurelius Blake, a great actress in her time, which I received with gratitude.
By great good fortune, my performance seemed immediately tocapture the hearts of the audience and this, my first major success, was followed by other important roles.
I was hailed as the Fairy Queen of the North … and also as the Vestal Venus, since my chaste reputation remained unsullied.
Even the most successful actress is not showered in riches, but eventually I could employ Sara exclusively to attend me.
I finally gained acceptance by the older ladies of the company, perhaps because I was unsuited by nature to take on the great tragic roles in which they revelled.
*
You will know with what successmy career continued, both at the Cockleshell Theatre and during my annual tours around the country.
It was quite an exhausting life, especially since I was determined to bring something fresh and new to the various roles I was allotted. Luckily, I had always been quick to learn and retain my parts, for we performed many different plays during such tours of the provinces.
As my earnings increased, I entrusted my finances to the advice of Mr Blake, so that I might accrue enough to fall back upon, should my voice give out – a constant fear – or my health decline, for I had quickly realized that my constitution was not as robust as many who, like Mrs Siddons, continued their profession into old age.
I did not give the matter much thought in the early years, but increasingly, these things became a concern.
Of course, marriage would have given me security and I had not been without offers of matrimony from enamoured young men … However, I had never been truly tempted, for my fear of the consequences outweighed the advantages.
I had a circle of friends, including dear Letty, now married with two children, on whom she doted. Her assurances that they were worth the pains of childbirth, however, did not convince me.
Despite having reprised my role as Titania in the autumn and winter of 1814 to great acclaim, as the year turned to 1815 and I passed my twenty-sixth birthday, I had begun to fear a little more for the future …
26
The Cat Sat on the Mat
After the horribly wet and dreary day of my arrival, the weather seemed to have switched to a bit of an Indian summer, and Sunday dawn was pale gold against celestial blue. A bird was singing its heart out in the small tree in the railed garden.
After breakfast, feeling like a mother letting her child go out to play on its own for the first time, I unlocked the cat flap, watched by Golightly, and demonstrated the way it now opened and closed.
He merely sat down and regarded me with an expression that clearly said: ‘You don’t get me like that twice!’
In the end, I picked him up and gently pushed him headfirst halfway through, then let go, then stood back to see what he would do next.
