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

back and picked up the telephone. He said a couple of words that Margot couldn’t hear and replaced the receiver. He’s got a kind face, she thought. Bert had a kind face, but he’s gone. ‘I’m sorry. For a moment I--’ She spotted the rehearsal schedule on the wall. It was in a different place, but that didn’t matter. She read the artists’ names over and over, looking for Nancy’s name. She shook her head. ‘I thought I could cope,’ she said to the man in Bert’s office, ‘but it’s too hard.’

‘Margot?’ How lovely to see you. Welcome back.’ Pamela Lesley was standing in the doorway leading to the backstage area. ‘You’re early, dear. Let’s go through to the front of house and have a cup of tea. Stan will let us know when the rest of the company arrives.’

Margot looked at the new stage doorman, ‘I’m sorry, Stan,’ she said. ‘What must you think of me? Please accept my apologies.’

‘Nothing to apologise for, Miss Dudley.’

Margot acknowledged Stan’s kindness with a smile. Then she took a deep steadying breath and turned to Miss Lesley. ‘Thank you, Miss Lesley, I should love a cup of tea.’ Still feeling overwrought, Margot allowed the front of house manager to lead her along the corridor behind the stage, through the pass door and into the small staff room that she had known when she was an usherette.

Once inside, Miss Lesley took the kettle from the stove, filled it with water from the tap in the washroom and replaced it. Then she turned on the gas, struck a match and held it against the ring of hissing jets until they ignited with a loud pop. Margot jumped.

‘I have some sugar in my office,’ Miss Lesley said, conspiratorially. ‘I’ll be back in a jiffy.’

Margot hadn’t been in the front of house staff room for a long time; probably since she was an usherette. She looked around. There was no bomb damage. The staff room was far enough away from the stage door. She ran her fingers along the shelf. She could see by the shine that it had been recently painted – and about time.

The kettle began to whistle, softly at first and then louder, until it became shrill and piercing. Margot turned off the gas and the whistle lessened until there was no sound at all. She spooned two scoops of tea into the pot and added the boiling water.

A second later Miss Lesley returned. ‘Thank you, dear,’ she said, taking the caddy spoon out of Margot’s hand. Margot sat down and watched Miss Lesley pour the tea. She added two spoons of sugar to Margot’s and handed her the cup. ‘That will do you good.’

Margot smiled at the kind woman who had given her a job when she first came to London. Because of Miss Lesley’s tolerance she had climbed the career ladder to where she was now. And where was she now, she wondered.

They drank their tea in silence and when they’d finished Miss Lesley said, ‘Feeling better?’

‘Yes, thank you. It was seeing Stan in Bert’s place, and then not seeing Nancy’s name on the call-sheet.’ Margot broke down. ‘She’s gone, Miss Lesley. Nancy’s gone, hasn’t she?’ Pamela Lesley held Margot in her arms. ‘She was so beautiful, and so kind. If only I hadn’t stopped to autograph that girl’s programme, I might have been on Maiden Lane earlier. And Nancy might have got out of the taxi before--’

‘There was nothing you could have done,’ Miss Lesley said. ‘Besides, if you had arrived sooner, you would have been there when the building collapsed and you would have been killed too. It was lucky that you--’

‘My good luck, but Nancy and Bert’s bad luck. How unfair is that?’

‘I know.’ Then, gently pushing Margot away and holding her at arm’s length, Pamela Lesley looked into her tearful eyes. ‘It was unfair, Margot, terribly unfair. Thousands of people have been killed in this war – mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, husbands and wives – and their deaths were unfair too. But we can’t change what has happened. All we can do is remember our loved ones and get on with our lives.’

Margot looked surprised, but said nothing.

‘It might sound harsh, but we owe it to them to carry on,’ Pamela Lesley said. ‘And we must!’

A knock on the staff room door startled Margot, and she flinched.

‘It’s all right. It’ll only be Stan,’ Pamela Lesley said, and she called, ‘Come in.’

The stage doorman poked his head round the door. ‘Rehearsal is about to start. Shall I tell them five minutes?’

‘Yes, thank you, Stan.’ When the doorman left, Pamela Lesley said, ‘Ready, Margot?’

Margot nodded and dried her eyes. ‘Thank you, Miss Lesley. I am.’

As she entered the auditorium Margot was aware that the chatter and laughter, which was as much a part of getting ready to rehearse as the warm up, came to a sudden hush. George and Betsy ran over to her, and Natalie and Anton Goldman, who were sitting in the stalls, left their seats and joined her on stage. Anton turned to the artists and nodded to them to carry on, while Natalie put her arms around Margot and assured her that if she needed to take a break, she only had to say.

Margot looked into the auditorium. The lights were off, but she could see Pamela Lesley sitting in the usherette seat that used to be hers. Grateful to her for her kindness, Margot blew her a kiss. Then she turned and hugged Betsy and George – who weren’t scheduled to rehearse until later – and welcomed the chorus members, old and new. Then, after shaking hands with the director, Richard Smiley, and hugging choreographer Lena Di Angelo, Margot kissed and congratulated her friend Artie Armitage, the Albert Theatre’s new pianist.

‘Everyone had time to look at their song