Page 40 of Three Weeks with a Princess
Because he’d spent a lifetime getting to know her, he knew for a fact something was very wrong now.
The lead actress held up her mug to be refilled, not missing a beat of the song. When Lia froze, the woman waggled her mug and shot her a quick, fierce scowl. Pressing her lips together, Lia reached for the pitcher.
Before her hand touched it, she let out an enormous sneeze. It was so violent that the tray flew from her hands and the contents of the pitcher tipped onto the head of the leading lady. To the utter delight of the audience, the drenched and furious actress leaped up from her chair and commenced screeching in a voice loud enough to wake the dead.
Chapter Nine
“Mama, it truly wasn’t that bad,” Lia said after blowing her nose for possibly the hundredth time since she’d come offstage. All week she’d staved off the cold that had swept through the company, but her luck, alas, had finally run out.
“And although my little mishap wasn’t very nice for either Miss Parker or Mr. Thompson,” she added, “no one was really hurt.”
Her mother, pacing back and forth across her dressing room, stopped to wave her arms. “Not hurt? Reggie has a lump on his head the size of a goose egg.”
“That’s because that confounded tray is so heavy,” Lia said. “Besides, Mr. Thompson was very nice and said he didn’t blame me at all.”
“Unfortunately, Serena does blame you. She was completely humiliated.”
Lia winced. “Yes, but she did overreact, you must admit. It wasn’t my fault she slipped and fell.”
Serena Parker had kicked up an enormous fuss after Lia spilled the ale, flailing around with such vigor that she’d fallen on her backside. The actress’s screeching had reached operatic levels at that point. Lia’s ears were still ringing.
“I don’t think the audience minded,” she added. “In fact, they found it rather hilarious.”
So hilarious that the gentlemen in the pit had given Lia a standing ovation. Yes, it was awkward, but theywereperforming a comedy, after all. Her blunder clearly had added to the popularity of the piece.
Her mother flopped down at her dressing table and began rubbing her temples. Lia understood exactly how she felt as she subsided into the old, cane-backed chair tucked next to the costume rack. Her head ached and she felt utterly miserable. All she wanted to do was to crawl into bed and stay under the covers, perhaps permanently.
“Serena certainly did not find it hilarious,” Mama said. “She’s threatening to quit and go to another company afterso profound a humiliation, as she called it.”
“That’s unfortunate.”
After her mother, Miss Parker was the most popular actress in the company. She brought in the crowds, which meant she had power. “I’ll be happy to apologize to her, Mama. I tried to do so immediately after the performance, but she stormed away from me. I can go right to the green room this instant and tell her how very sorry I am.”
It was customary at the end of the evening for the performers to remain in costume and congregate in the green room, meeting the wealthier members of the audience there. It was an important part of the night, where a theatrical manager could find potential investors or patrons willing to purchase an expensive box for the season.
Her mother bolted upright. “Please do not eventhinkabout doing so. Serena would cause a scene, and you need to learn, my dear, that a leading actress in a snit is something to be avoided at all costs.”
Lia eyed her mother, who could have been describing herself. Naturally, she refrained from making that observation.
“Besides,” Mama continued, “it would draw a great deal of inappropriate attention to you. That is something we also wish to avoid.”
“If that’s the case, then I shouldn’t appear in any more breeches roles,” Lia said, stating the obvious. She’d done her best to carry it off, but she’d hated every moment of that particular theatrical experience. Feeling exposed and half-naked, she’d cringed at the leering gazes and ribald comments after the audience discovered she was a female.
“Half the company has been felled by that awful infection, which left us short of actors,” her mother said in a plaintive voice. “How was I to know you would succumb as well?”
“Please just tell me what I must do to correct the situation with Miss Parker. I’m willing to do anything.”
“Well, that’s just it, darling. I’m afraid there is only one thing you can do. You must not perform anymore.”
Lia had been fighting another sneeze, but that announcement knocked the ticklish feeling right out of her head. “You cannot be serious!”
Her mother’s chin went up in a stubborn tilt. “I’m sorry, Lia, but Miss Parker told your stepfather right after the performance that she will quit the company if you continue to perform in any capacity. Even in walk-on roles.”
“But that’s so unfair. It was an accident and she knows it.”
“I do realize that, but Serena feels your departure from the company is necessary for her to recoup her dignity. She’s deeply concerned she will become an object of ridicule.”
“And is that how you see it?” Lia didn’t have the energy to conceal the pain that her own mother would fail to defend her.
