Goddess of the Green Room: (Georgian Series) Read Free

shop which she had left to go on the stage.
    It was a morning of gloom. Mr Ryder, who was a kindly man and who knew the poverty of the family and knew also that what had happened to Hester did not mean that she was not an actress, called to see them.
    He was immediately aware of the deep depression although he did not see Hester; Grace’s eyes, however, were red-rimmed with tears and sleeplessness.
    ‘Well,’ he said, ‘it was a bad business, Grace.’
    ‘I can’t think how it happened.’
    ‘Easy enough. She’s never faced an audience before. What are you going to do!’
    ‘I don’t know.’
    ‘Now look here, Grace, there might be some parts for you. You must be a bit out of practice but you could get that back… say a small part to begin with. And what about that other girl of yours?’
    ‘Dorothy?’
    ‘I’ve noticed her. There’s something about her.’
    ‘She’s a bit of a tomboy.’
    ‘She’ll grow up.’
    ‘She’s not as good-looking as Hester.’
    ‘By God, are you telling me you’re not going to let me try the girl in my theatre?’
    ‘Try her in your theatre! Why, she has never shown any inclination for the stage.’
    ‘Call her in.’
    ‘Good gracious me, I doubt she’s fit to be seen.’
    ‘Fit for me to see. I’m not looking for a tidy Miss but an actress.’
    ‘Dorothy an actress!’
    ‘Please may I see her?’
    ‘Dorothy,’ called Grace, ‘come here.’
    She came. Ryder studied her. She had something. What was it? A gamin quality. She might have been an untidy schoolboy exceptfor the fact that she was so dainty. Yes, there was some quality – latent perhaps, but he was sure it was there.
    ‘Hello, Dorothy,’ he said. ‘Let’s hear you play a part. Do you know any?’
    Her imperturbability delighted him.
    ‘Phoebe,’ she said, ‘from As You Like It .’
    ‘Good,’ he said. ‘That’ll do.’
    To see her strut before him like that was amazing, thought Grace. She did not declaim as an actress would. She played it naturally as though Dorothy Bland was a shepherdess, and for a moment one felt that the shabby room was the forest of Arden. It wouldn’t do. It wasn’t acting. It was being natural.
    Ryder felt differently. Her voice was most unusual. It was almost as though she sang the words. She seemed to give them a music of her own.
    ‘Look here, Dorothy Bland,’ he said, ‘how would you like to take your sister’s place? H’m? I’d pay you what I’ve been paying her. I don’t think you’ll suffer from stage fright.’
    ‘I’ll do it,’ said Dorothy as though she were promising to wash the china or make a dish of tea.
    ‘That’s the spirit,’ said Ryder. ‘I can give you a part in The Virgin Unmasked. It’s not much, but it’ll be a good way of making your stage début. Be at the theatre tomorrow morning.’
    He left them and Grace looked in astonishment at her daughter. Dorothy was smiling. Everything had turned out for the best. The only difference was that she, not Hester, had to make the family’s fortune.
    So Dorothy became an actress. She played in The Virgin Unmasked without causing a great stir in Dublin theatrical circles; and after that she was Phoebe in As You Like It .
    Thomas Ryder was not displeased; he might not have a star performer, he told himself, but at least he had a tolerable actress.
    Dorothy was delighted. It was more fun than making and selling hats; moreover, she had prevailed on Hester to accept a small part and once Hester had done this successfully, she was ready to undertake bigger parts and so overcome the terrible fear of appearing on the stage.
    Life was easier; there was more money. Ryder often talked toDorothy in whom he felt a special interest because he had selected her to play in his theatre before she had realized she was an actress.
    ‘We have to do better business,’ he said, ‘or we’ll be running at a bigger loss than I can afford. Did you know the house was half empty last night?’
    ‘I was aware of