“Goto hell,” shouted a man in the audience. The suggestion was met with catcalls and encouragement.
Kate endeavored to carry on, except her concentration had been broken. The hissing was disconcerting. She forgot her lines. Her mind was blank.
Silas picked up on her distress. He delivered his next line. “Hast thou, spirit, perform’d to point the tempest that I bade thee?”
She knew where she was. She answered, “To every article—” The shouting and hollering had ceased when Silas spoke but now they called out even louder. She could barely hear herself as she said, “I boarded the king’s ship; now on the beak—”
“You can feel mybeak,” a man yelled. He stood and grabbed his crotch to let her know what he meant. The mass of people in front of him jeered their responses. The audience echoed the wordbeak. Kate was stunned by this behavior.
She’d been before difficult audiences. Having the Matrons of Maidenshop shout names at her had not been easy. Of course, they had not been the only ones who had attempted to degrade her with words. Over the years she’d been called all sorts of things.
But this was different. This was London. She’d once ruled here.
Or had she?
She looked to Jess sitting smugly in the audience. She appeared young, clueless, and vindictive and Kate realized Silas had been right, talent had nothing to do with the milkmaid’s success.
It also might not have had anything to do with Kate’s success years ago either. She’d just been the next new ingenue and so many of those around her gave her credit for being nothing more than the pleasure of the moment. It was a startling and humbling realization.
And then, through the din of the crowd, she heard her name being called. Brandon was standing and shouting for her attention.
She almost cringed. She didn’t want him here to see her humiliation... until she heard what he was saying. “Go on, Kate. It is your stage.Make them listen.” He clasped his hands together, the sign of a champion. He believed she could turn this around. He was here for her.
In the middle of the chaos, Kate found her strength. It came from his faith in her.
She remembered Brandon asking if she ever felt her mother’s spirit and she’d claimed she did before a performance. She reached for that spirit now. She was Kate Addison, an actress, a woman with a will of her own.
Whether this audience listened or not made no difference. In fact, considering what was happening, Mr. Arnold would probably shut down her play. Audiences could riot if they were not controlled. More than once, they had been known to tear up a theater, causing great damage.
However, before she was shut down, Kate was going to give a performance that few would forget, and she’d do it for Brandon—because he believed in her.
She drew a breath, returning to her character. Silas had dropped character and looked as if he’d like to head into the crowd and knock heads together. She blocked his path. When she spoke, her voice was louder and stronger than it had ever been. She hadneverbeen like Jess, and this was her chance to prove it.
“To every article, I boarded the king’s ship, now on the beak, now in the waist, the deck, in every cabin, Iflamedamazement—” She threw her arms out, indicating the spell she had delivered in destroying a ship because she wasthatpowerful a fairy.
“Sometime I’ll divide,” Ariel said, indicating where she’d created havoc with fire. “And burn in many places; on the topmast, the yards, and the bowsprit, would I flame distinctly, then meet and join.”
The shouting was quieting.
She didn’t care. On the surface, she was a fairy meeting the will of her master.
Inside, she could feel the blood of her mother, another woman who dared to be up on the stage, and the heartbeats and souls of every actress who had come before her. She was the emissary. They would not bow to such a crowd, and neither would she.
But best of all, Brandon was here for her. No matter what happened this night, he would be here.
Lost in the words and the magic of the theater, Kate gave a performance like no other.
The catcalls stopped. She could feel the audience move to the edge of their seats as if they dared not miss one word of the play. They believed there was a magic island where love battled the forces of vengeance and won.
And when it was done, when Prospero said his final lines, the audience rose to their feet in applause.
The actors came out for their bows. Kate always had them bow as an ensemble because she believed it took the full cast to make a play succeed. However, it was obvious the audience cheered for her.
Since she would not step forward, Silas and the others stepped back. The crowd clapped and stomped their feet all the harder, but theirs wasn’t the adulation she wanted.
Her gaze searched the crowd until she found Brandon. He was applauding harder than anyone else, his eyes shining with pride.
And suddenly, overwhelmed, she fell to her knees, tears of relief and gratitude running down her cheeks.
