“What will you do?”Miss Gibson asked.
“You should do it.”The last statement came from Miss Plane.
Miss Davis raised her hands.“We’re going home.There will be no more questions and no more opinions.Good night, Mr.Beaumont.Thank you for the tour and the tickets.”She left the room at such a fast clip, it could almost be called a run.
“We should go.Thank you, Mr.Beaumont.The show was ...interesting and the tour wonderful.”Miss Pelton nodded her thanks, then gestured for her friends to precede her out.
Ezekiel stopped them.“Might I ask one favor before you go?”
“It depends on the favor.”Miss Plane cocked her head with a scheming glint to her eyes.
“Might I have Miss Davis’s address?She mentioned some house repairs that need attention, and I’d like to surprise her by coming over to complete them.”
The three friends looked at each other.Miss Plane nodded, Miss Gibson shook her head, and Miss Pelton bit her lip.
After a silent debate involving many hand movements, odd expressions, and glares, Miss Pelton was the one to speak.“I will have Detective Abraham Hall contact you.He’s my fiancé.Provided hethinks you safe enough to have that information, you two can make arrangements to come over together.”
If it took involving a police officer to earn Miss Davis’s and her father’s goodwill, he would gladly oblige.“Thank you.I’ll be here all day tomorrow.”
The three women filed out of the now-empty room.Dirty dishes left by the performers remained on the table, but they could wait until morning.He locked up, checked the alley doors, and left through the front.The driver of the carriage holding Miss Davis and her three friends hopped into his seat as Ezekiel exited.Miss Davis either ignored his wave or gazed absently out the window.Introducing her to Mrs.Reed had gone poorly.He really should apologize and try to make amends for his blunder.
The carriage pulled away.
A man in a loose-fitting coat darted from the alley and ran toward the carriage with a hand holding his hat in place.Ezekiel squinted at his back as he passed beneath a street lamp.Adler?What was he still doing here?He should have left over an hour ago.Ezekiel quickly locked the door and jogged to catch up.
Before he could reach Adler, the man had boarded a waiting hack.Hand gestures indicated the driver should follow Miss Davis’s carriage.Ezekiel stretched into a run and called Adler’s name, but the hack took off without him looking back.Ezekiel glanced around, but no hacks remained.With no other choice he followed at a jog, but his pace was no match for a horse’s.By the end of the second block both the carriage and hack were out of sight.
Why was Adler following them?And how was Ezekiel to find them and ensure they were safe?
Chapter Ten
NORA STARED OUT THE WINDOW, her heart heavy with an unexpected grief, as Theresa’s family carriage trundled up Central Avenue.How had tonight gone so wrong?Attending the opera was supposed to be filled with awe and wonder.Instead, panic had robbed her of enjoyment and still nipped at her heels.Mr.Beaumont’s kindness in recommending her to Mrs.Reed had been well-intended, but it was rife with danger.What if Mrs.Reed recognized Nora as Constanza’s daughter?While Nora didn’t remember her from Mum’s opera days, that didn’t mean they hadn’t known each other.A single rumor, and Father’s concern of discovery could be realized.Until her panic during the performance, Nora hadn’t understood how much she feared being found again.Even reasoning with herself that no villain would chase her family for nearly twelve years failed to calm her.
Then there was the trouble of Mrs.Reed’s offer of formal training with the potential for Nora to take to the stage herself.It had both terrified her and struck a flint to her soul, igniting hope for the dream she’d dared not have.Should not have.Already she suffered the burns of tamping down the flames before they grew into a ferocity that could not be snuffed.It was one thing to sing with Mum at the asylum, something altogether different to pursue a career Father forbade.She couldn’t do it.Wouldn’t do it.Oh, but how she wanted to.
“I cannot understand why you will not accept Mrs.Reed’s offer.”Theresa would not let the subject die and be buried.She insisted on resurrecting it.
“Father will never allow me.It’s not worth discussing.”
“What if you told him how much you wanted to take the lessons?”
Curse Theresa’s persistence.
“You’re assuming she does,” Lydia chided.“You’ve been hounding her for the last fifteen minutes.It is up to Nora if she wishes to accept Mrs.Reed’s offer.”
“Doyou want to take the lessons and perform on a stage?”Flossie asked.“You’ve never told us what you hope for your future, aside from a husband and children.Whenever the subject has come up, you’ve always kept quiet.”
What could Nora say without revealing more of her family’s past?She couldn’t tell the Guardians how desperately she longed for her family to be whole again, for her entire life to once again be consumed with music, singing, and the chaotic marvel of always traveling.Her world back then had been perfect, innocent, and full of wonder.Did she want to sing for herself?To go on a stage and live as Mum once had?Her chest burned with desire at the thought of it.“It doesn’t matter what I want.Nothing will change Father’s mind.He has reasons, and I cannot defy them.”
“Why not?”Theresa’s foot tapped against the carriage’s floor, competing in volume with the rattle of wheels.“What possible reason could he have to keep you from pursuing this?The lessons are free.”
“You know the reputations performers have.Father would not want me so sullied.”It wasn’t his true reason, but one they should accept readily enough.
“Tell him it’s your ministry.Missionaries go into the savage wilds all the time, and there is nothing more savage than the stage.”
There was more truth to that than Theresa realized.Newspaper critics could be especially cutting.Nora had read plenty of reviews where the performer’s physical appeal had been more staunchly critiqued than his or her acting or singing ability.Maybe that’s whatNora needed to do to put out this flaming ember of a dream, to write a review of herself in the most cutting way possible.After all, Mum claimed there was no harsher critic than oneself.
“You didn’t answer the question.Is it something you want?”Now Flossie had taken up the persistent interrogation.“Be honest with us.You know you can trust us with the truth.”
