With a trembling hand, I turned the doorknob and was surprised and delighted to find it was unlocked.
“Hello,” I called as I opened the door and poked my head inside. It was even darker in the back of the stage. My eyes hadn’t adjusted yet, and I couldn’t make out any shape.
“Hello,” called a man, though I couldn’t see him. “What do you want? Looking for work?”
“No.” I tried to steady my voice. “I’m looking for an actress who might have performed here a long time ago.”
The man appeared from the shadows. He was an older gentleman with white hair and whiskers. His portly middle protruded over his waistband, and his trousers were held up by suspenders, but he wore no coat.
“An American, eh? You sure you’re not looking for a job?” he asked me. “You’ve got a face for the stage.”
“Thank you,” I said, swallowing my nerves, taking a step back into the alley. “But I don’t need a job.”
He looked me up and down as he stepped over the threshold of the door and held it open. “You sure don’t look like you need a job. That dress alone could pay for a month’s worth of wages around these parts. I should know, I’m the costumier.” He frowned. “Who did you say you were looking for?”
“I—I didn’t. Not yet.”
“Well, come out with it, then. I don’t have all day.”
“I’m looking for an actress by the name of Nellie O’Day. Have you heard of her?”
His face lit with something akin to adoration. “Sure, I have. She used to work right here at the Adelphi, oh, fifteen, twenty years ago now.”
Relief overwhelmed me. I hadn’t thought it would be this easy to find someone who knew her. “She doesn’t work here anymore?”
“No. She gave all that up years ago.” He scratched his head. “I haven’t heard Nellie’s name spoken in a long time. What did you say your business was with her?”
“I didn’t.”
He sized me up. “Say, you look like her. Any relation?”
“Perhaps a distant relationship,” I said, wanting to be vague and feeling oddly relieved that Ididlook like her, after all. “Do you know where I might find her?”
“Well now, I don’t think you’d want to go and look for her.”
It was my turn to frown. “Why not?”
“I live and work around a pretty tough crowd, young lady, and I usually say what needs to be said. But if I had to guess, I’d say you are a well-bred gentlewoman, and I wouldn’t want to embarrass you by telling you where Nellie is living.”
If he only knew my origins and where I had grown up, he wouldn’t be so hesitant.
“Please tell me,” I said. “I need to find her. It’s a very urgent matter.”
He ran his hand over his whiskered cheek and then sighed. “Last I heard, Nellie left the theater and went into business as a brothel owner somewhere in Soho.” He held up his hands. “That’s all I know—and that’s just hearsay, mind you.” He glanced up and down the alley. “If I was you, I wouldn’t linger ’round these parts too long. I have work to do. I hope you have some luck finding Nellie. If you do, tell her hello from Bernard.”
Bernard? I looked at him closely, trying to see if there was any resemblance between him and me. Could he be the B from my locket?
Bernard closed the stage door, and I was alone in the alley. A chill ran up my back. Had my mother started a brothel? And, ifso, how was I going to find her? I didn’t know where Soho was, and I wasn’t sure how I would get there.
But I hadn’t come this far to stop looking for her now.
I retraced my steps toward the Strand and when I rejoined the street, a man caught my eye. “Alec?”
He was just walking past the Adelphi but stopped and turned at the sound of my voice. Fear blanketed his face, but it was soon replaced with relief and then anger. He jogged toward me, pulling me into his arms to embrace me.
“Keira,” he said, breathing heavily.
My mouth slipped open in surprise as I let him hug me. “What’s wrong?”
