Page 63 of The Good Girl's Guide to Rakes
“Good night, Mr. Ransome,” Rosalind said, poking her head out the window. “Enjoy yourself, Celeste.” She punctuated this statement with the world’s most obvious eyebrow waggle, before Kieran knocked on the side of the cab and it pulled away.
“The theater’s closing,” Celeste said, looking back toward where a burly man was shutting andlocking the front doors. “I assume that means we’re headed someplace different.”
“Wearegoing someplace quite different, but it’s right here.”
She shook her head. “You’ve turned into a sphynx.”
“The solution is close at hand. Follow me.” He headed toward the side of the theater, and she trotted after him. When he turned into the alley beside the building, her steps slowed, yet when she did, he called to her, “You’re on the right path. Keep going.”
He took long strides deeper into the alley.
Muttering about dark-haired scoundrels, she hurried in pursuit. It was not a very remarkable alley, with crates scattered here and there, and the usual puddles shining dully in the half-light. She found Kieran waiting beside a nondescript door with an even more nondescript sign above it that readPerformers and Staff Entrance.
Still wearing that inscrutable smile, Kieran rapped on the door. But it wasn’t a regular knock. It had a strange rhythm to it.Tap. Tap-tap. Tap. Tap.
The door swung open, revealing a female dancer still wearing the cosmetics she had clearly worn on the stage. From behind her came the sound of a fiddle and a drum, the wild melody combining with laughter. The woman looked first at Kieran, but her brows rose when she studied Celeste.
“She’s with me, Lottie,” he said.
“Not your usual sort,” the dancer remarked.
“Tonight, I am,” Celeste replied.
Lottie tipped her head back and laughed. “All right, love. Come on in. We’re just getting started.”
“Another party like Mr. Longbridge’s?” Celeste asked Kieran.
He smirked. “You aren’t going to find anything like this anywhere in London. As Lottie said, we’re just getting started.”
“I certainly hope so,” she replied. Nervousness prickled along her skin since she hadn’t yet donned her disguise. Hopefully, no one would recognize her.
“Through the gates we go to Inferno or Paradiso.”
“Which is it to be?” she pressed, abuzz with curiosity and excitement.
“Whichever pleases you most.” Kieran held the door open for her, looking like the veriest devil inviting her into the depths of sin. Yet she didn’t care what punishment followed her transgression. As long as she made her own choices, and he was beside her, she would face the consequences.
Chapter 15
Set pieces loomed over her as she stepped inside. They truly did look like the entrance to the caves of the underworld, with Kieran and his wicked grin leading her deeper into its depths.
There were so many possibilities here. What precisely did one do in a theater once all the patrons had gone?
“This way.” Kieran guided her through the maze of painted scenery and other accoutrements that were stored in the darkened wings that flanked the stage. She cast a glance toward it, from where the music and laughter seemed to emanate, but heavy curtains blocked most of her view. “Careful. Easy to trip or get lost in this place.”
Kieran wove through a mystifying labyrinth, passing a few people who carried blankets and flagons, until they were in a long corridor lined with doors. He knocked on one, and when there was no answer, opened it to reveal a narrow chamber that was filled with vanity tables and mirrors. A scarf-draped chaise longue stood in one corner, whileclothing in a dizzying variety of colors were hung on racks next to a shelf of mannequin heads wearing wigs from every era. Shoes and stockings were flung about the room, as well as baubles, feathers, flowers, and, bafflingly, an iron frying pan—though there was no hob on which one might set it. A trio of cats lounged atop a mound of discarded costumes.
The chamber carried the scent of face paint, perfume, and the slight tang of sweat.
“This is where the actresses don their costumes?” Celeste asked, gingerly entering after Kieran.
“And receive their admirers after the performances.” He set her satchel beside one of the dressing tables. “It will suffice as a place for you to transform into Salome. Can you manage on your own, or shall I ask Lottie to assist you?”
“I made certain to wear gowns that I can change in and out of without assistance.”
“Then I’ll leave you to your metamorphosis.” With that, he moved into the hallway, shutting the door behind him.
Though she was impatient to join him and see what, precisely, was planned for the evening, she couldn’t resist nosing around the dressing room. In Ratcliff, there had been a dance hall performer who had lived on the floor below Celeste’s family, and Polly had often let Celeste sit on the floor when she’d come home from a night’s work to putter around her room and unwind. Polly hadn’t been especially fond of the place where she danced, but at the time, it had seemed so glamorous to little Celeste.
