“Actor entrance,” she explained as they stepped into the cool darkness.
It took a moment for his eyes to adjust as she closed the door and left them in dusty, filtered darkness. During the day the building was quiet, with none of the bustle or noise of a night of a performance.
“Is anyone here?” Graham asked, whispering like they were in a church or on other hallowed ground.
She nodded. “Yes, there’s always someone hard at work here. Actors rehearsing, stage people working on props or other set dressing. There’s a world of effort that goes into entertaining theton, Your Grace.”
She guided him through back hallways that he’d never seen during his times visiting her here, and finally they popped up behind the stage. A lady stood in the middle of the stage, a seamstress adjusting her hem as she read over lines, testing out different ways to say the same words as she called them out to the empty seats before her.
“Katie?” Adelaide called out, and the actress turned her head. When she saw Adelaide her eyes went wide.
“Good Lord, Lydia! Melinda has been worried sick.” Her gaze moved to Graham, curious, wary, and he inclined his head slightly as a greeting.
“Have you heard about Sir Archibald?” Adelaide asked, her tone carefully neutral.
The actress flinched. “Aye, it’s all the talk. After what he did to you, to Melinda, and to some of the others, I can’t say anyone’s sorry for that bastard’s demise.”
Adelaide’s lips pursed. “Yes, there were plenty just within our walls who might want to see him dead. Does anyone know what happened?”
Katie’s cheeks paled slightly, and the way her gaze darted away made Graham think shedidknow more. But with him standing there, she clearly had no intention of saying anything.
Adelaide sighed. “Is Melinda here? Or Toby?”
Katie motioned off stage. “Back in your dressing room.”
Adelaide reached back and took Graham’s hand. “Thank you!” she called out as she guided him down another hallway, the familiar one he’d traveled when he came to call on Lydia after her shows.
“She didn’t want to speak in front of me,” he said.
She nodded without looking back at him. “For many of these women, a title just means a rich man who does as he likes. Not safe.”
He shook his head. “Life for a woman is so very dangerous.”
She stopped before her dressing room door and turned to him, smiling. “Yes. Most men don’t recognize that, but it’s true. And the less power a woman has, the more dangerous it becomes. We have very few laws to protect us, so we must depend on men to do what is right.” She reached up and touched his cheek. “Thankfully, some do.”
“Not enough,” he said softly.
She leaned up to kiss him briefly, then set her shoulders back and opened the dressing room door. As they entered, Graham caught his breath. Adelaide’s understudy Melinda was seated on a settee along the wall with a young man who had shown Graham back to Lydia a few times. Toby, he assumed, based on Adelaide’s earlier conversations. Melinda’s pretty face was battered, both eyes blackened and her cheeks swollen.
Adelaide made a sound of horror and released his hand, rushing into the room as Melinda stood, silent tears streaming down her face while the two women embraced.
“Oh, Lydia,” Melinda sobbed. “I was so worried about you.”
“I’m fine,” Adelaide soothed her as Toby stepped aside and let the two women sit together on the couch. Graham noticed the man watching him warily.
He supposed he’d earned that after the last time he was here and his behavior. All those who worked here must suspect he murdered Sir Archibald, just as the captain had. If he were in their position, he would, too.
“What in the world happened to your face, Melinda?” Adelaide asked, tilting her friend’s head gently to look at the damage in better light.
Melinda shot Graham a look, and he frowned. Here was more proof that men of his kind were a threat to women like this. That they lived in fear until they knew a man wouldn’t use his power over them.
Adelaide followed Melinda’s stare and smiled briefly at Graham. “His Grace is a friend, my dear. I promise you he is not here to do any harm, but to help. You may speak in front of him.”
Melinda didn’t look entirely certain of that fact, but she swallowed hard and her gaze flitted to Toby. “If Lydia says he’s safe,” Toby said softly.
“Very well.” Melinda took a deep, shaky breath. “After you and His Grace left here two nights ago, Sir Archibald was escorted back to his carriage and sent on his way. But he…but he didn’t go home.”
Graham clenched his hands behind his back. He could already see the trail of this story. He already knew the end.
