Applause (The Dudley Sisters Saga Book 2) by Madalyn Morgan (best authors to read txt) 📕

‘You know what he said.’ Margot glared at her mother who stood red faced. ‘Sorry, that wasn’t fair. He doesn’t want me to join ENSA, he thinks it’s too soon.’

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Margot watched as Bess pulled a Fair Isle jersey over her head. Then, looking in the mirror above the fireplace in the sitting room, she brushed her hair. Holding her thick auburn curls in the nape of her neck with one hand, and a ribbon in the other, she chopped and changed hands until she had tied the ribbon securely. Then she folded a headscarf corner to corner, and after floating the floral triangle over her head, tied it under her chin.

‘How do you do it, Bess?’

‘Do what?’

‘Hold it all together?’ Looking at her sister’s reflection in the mirror, Margot saw a combination of strength and sadness in her eyes. She didn’t reply. Instead she busied herself by tucking stray curls under her scarf. ‘You work on the estate, organise the land girls, keep the farmers happy – and if you’re lucky you get an hour to yourself to exercise your horse. And what about the servicemen up at the Hall, and James--’

‘The servicemen are not my responsibility. As for James, I promised him I would look after his estate, and that is what I’m doing. I also made a commitment to the Ministry of Agriculture to turn Foxden Estate into arable land, and that is what I’ve done. And I shall keep doing it until this damn war is over.’ Bess turned and walked across the room to the hall door. ‘I keep busy, Margot,’ she said pointedly. ‘And talking of keeping busy--’

‘Which I wasn’t,’ Margot said.

Bess wiped a tear from her cheek and at the same time laughed at her sister. ‘Why don’t you come up to the Hall with me? Meet the boys in the hospital wing? They know my sister, the famous Margot Dudley, is here and they keep asking me when you’re coming up.’ Wrinkling her nose, Margot bit her bottom lip. ‘I know you don’t like hospitals,’ Bess said, ‘but the lads aren’t ill. They’re at Foxden to convalesce. Most of them don’t even need medical treatment. They’re recovering from pneumonia or shell shock. A couple have lost limbs, and our old friend Frank Donnelly has lost an eye, but there’s nothing unpleasant to see. And they’re all in good spirits.’

‘Right.’ Margot said. ‘I’m coming up!’

‘Atta girl! I’ll wait for you.’

‘No. I need to do my hair and put on some decent clothes if I’m going to meet my public,’ she said, laughing. ‘I can’t have the friends of my clever sister seeing me like this, can I?’

Margot popped in to see Foxden’s housekeeper and cook, Mrs Hartley, and swapped her wellingtons for shoes. While she was there she checked her appearance in the mirror hanging in Mrs Hartley’s washroom. Dark rings under her eyes made her look tired. She felt a hundred years old. Fishing in her handbag she found her make-up. After patting rouge on her cheeks and applying red lipstick she looked and felt much better.

It was raining when she left the kitchen, so she kept her head down and walked quickly. She hadn’t worn shoes with heels for what seemed like an age. Every time she put her foot to the ground a sharp pain stabbed at her ankle, so she slowed down and walked more carefully. After mounting the steps to Foxden Hall’s main entrance, she leant against a pillar to steady her nerves. Could she do this; could she put on a smile and be Margot Dudley?

‘Hello?’

‘Ah!’ She spun round. ‘I didn’t see you there.’

‘Sorry.’ A young soldier stepped from behind the pillar. He threw down his cigarette and put his hands up. ‘I’m Sid,’ he said. ‘Bess told me to come and find you.’

‘Margot! How do you do?’

Sid opened the door and stood back to let Margot enter. She followed him across the marble hall. Except for the floor to ceiling blackout curtains, it looked pretty much the same as it had the last time she was there, before the war. Sid opened the door to the ballroom and ushered her in. As soon as they caught sight of her, the boys began to whistle and cheer. She was amazed to see so many soldiers, sailors and airmen. Some were in beds along the walls, others were in armchairs in the bay windows – and they were all clapping and smiling. She took a few steps into the room and they cheered again. She laughed, put her hands up as if in a prayer and mouthed, ‘Thank you.’ One of the boys approached her on crutches. ‘I play the piano, Miss Dudley. Would you sing for us?’

Margot turned too quickly and went over on her already painful ankle. The boy’s request had taken her by surprise. Her stomach lurched. She was out of practice. She didn’t know whether she could do it. She looked around the room and found Bess. ‘I want to meet you all first.’

‘Over here, Miss Dudley,’ several of the lads shouted at the same time. ‘No, over here.’ Margot waved to the lads on the left side of the room as she walked over to Bess on the right. ‘We’ll start at the beginning,’ Bess said, steering Margot to the first bed inside the door, where she received more applause.

Margot shook the hands of the soldiers and answered their questions; questions that she had been asked a hundred times before…. ‘What is it like being famous? How can you live in a place like London? Aren’t you scared you’ll be bombed in your bed? Do you drink champagne every night? What does your husband think about you singing and dancing in a West End show?