Her aunt’s husky, warm tones had an immediate soothing effect on her frayed nerves. She listened in silence as Kirsty poured out all her woes, although she was careful to make no mention of Drew.
‘I wish you had more than one day off,’ Chelsea complained. ‘You could have come up to us. I was speaking to your mother last night, she’s worried about you.’ In Northumberland Kirsty imagined Chelsea grinning sympathetically. Both of them had suffered in their time from Ann Stannard’s mothering tendencies, and Ann was inclined to be rather proud of the fact that she had been instrumental in bringing Chelsea and her husband Slade together.
‘Try not to worry, Kirsty,’ Chelsea told her. ‘I wish I could see you—it’s so frustrating only being able to talk. You don’t sound the same somehow. I have the feeling something’s changed, but I don’t know what. Are you all right?’
‘Fine,’ Kirsty assured her brightly. ‘I’ve just grown up, that’s all,’ and then she rang off quickly before Chelsea could ask any more questions.
‘Oh, Kirsty, you look absolutely fantastic! Your waist’s so tiny!’ Cherry enthused, perched on a stool in the crowded, hot dressing room, watching them all struggle into their costumes.
Hers was very attractive, Kirsty owned. Of bright crimson taffeta with a soft cream underskirt, it had originally been intended for Beatrice, but despite her dark wig, Rachel had categorically refused to wear the crimson, claiming that it destroyed her complexion.
‘They’re getting ready for first calls,’ Cherry warned her. ‘Oh, I always love the first dress rehearsal. Somehow when you see the play performed in costume for the first time it really comes alive. The scenery is fantastic too. It was clever of Drew to suggest that we use the local art school. They’ve certainly come up with some clever ideas.’
The art students had done an excellent job, under Pete’s able direction. A familiar tension gripped Kirsty as she stepped on stage behind Rachel—and then she wasn’t Kirsty Stannard any more; she was Hero, placid, good-natured cousin to the fiery, temperamental Beatrice, but beneath that placidness was resolution and courage, and those were the qualities that must show through to the audience, and it was up to her to make sure they did!
Leonato was speaking the opening lines, Geoff replying ably in his role as Messenger. Then it was Rachel’s turn, quick-witted and faintly cruel as she asked after Benedick.
Leonato’s, ‘What is he that you ask for, niece?’ was Kirsty’s cue and she took a deep breath, her smile and demeanour calm and unruffled, but there was a twinkle in her eyes and a lilt to her voice as she said demurely, ‘My cousin means Signior Benedick of Padua…’
After that the lines and acts followed one another in steady succession until just before the marriage scene where Claudio was to reject her. Kirsty came off stage to find everything in a complete uproar.
‘Talk about the show must go on!’ Cherry was muttering through clenched teeth, her expression lightening as she saw Kirsty. She grabbed hold of her and pulled her into the dressing room.
‘Drew’s on his way back,’ she told her quickly.
‘Drew? You mean from New York?’ Kirsty asked faintly. Her heart was pounding heavily, Hero completely forgotten.
‘I mean from London, to here,’ Cherry told her. ‘It all blew up last night. Did you know Simon wasn’t here?’
‘Yes, someone said he’d been delayed.’
‘Half right. Helen wasn’t well all day yesterday, and then last night she had to be rushed into hospital. Simon rang Drew in New York, and he announced that he was coming back to take over so that Simon could be free to be with Helen. It’s pretty serious,’ Cherry added gravely. ‘They may well have to induce, both for the baby’s sake and Helen’s, but I thought I’d just tell you. In all the panic I thought Drew might not have been able to let you know he’s coming back. First available Concorde flight, and then an internal flight to York. He should be here soon. Simon told me that Drew said he wanted to be in time to catch the dress rehearsal if he could. Quick, you’re back on,’ Cherry added. ‘I just thought I’d give you the good news—cheer you up a bit.’
Cheer her up! The thought of Drew witnessing her performance was enough to give Kirsty a severe case of tummy butterflies, but worse, far worse than that, was the thought of the inevitable confrontation when the rehearsal was over and she was forced to listen to him telling her that his plan had worked; that he and Beverley were back together, and that she in his role of ‘fiancée’ was no longer needed!
Somehow she managed to get back on stage, although she was barely aware of what was going on until Rafe started on Claudio’s rejection speech. Had Drew arrived yet? Cherry in her role of A.S.M. was keeping an eye on proceedings, but it wasn’t the same as having Simon there, and Kirsty could sense the production beginning to lose its sharp edge as the news of Helen’s condition and Simon’s absence began to filter through, and Simon’s young assistant, Brian Felton, strived desperately to keep things going.
‘Watch out for Rachel,’ Cherry warned Kirsty when she came backstage to change. ‘She’s tried already to throw you off guard. If Simon were here she wouldn’t stand a chance of getting away with it.’
‘Any news about Helen?’ Kirsty asked as the dresser used the hidden Velcro fastening to snap her second gown closed.
‘Only that they’re still waiting—Simon rang while you were on stage. He wanted to know if Drew had arrived.’
‘You know what this means, don’t you?’ Rafe muttered to Kirsty as they waited to go back on stage. ‘Another dress rehearsal almost straight away. I don’t know why Simon simply didn’t cancel today’s. God knows how they moved in all this gear!’
Kirsty smiled, but her heart wasn’t really in it. She was too keyed up and tense.
She made several small slips in the lead up to the wedding scene, forcing herself to listen to Rafe’s rich baritone as he started to denounce her. This was almost her most important part of the play, and her hands had gone icy cold with dread. She started to speak, her voice, low but carrying, forcing herself to concentrate on Hero’s shocked disbelief. She had barely started the speech when she was distracted by a small commotion off stage, and she didn’t need to turn her head to look fully at the man striding towards them, commanding her to stop, to know who it was.
‘No, Kirsty, that’s not right,’ she heard him saying crisply, and then he was facing her, looking surprisingly fresh after his long journey, in a plaid shirt open at the throat, his dark hair unruly.
‘You’re too passive,’ he told her. ‘At this stage you’re still unable to believe what you’ve just heard, still unable to accept what’s happening, and your voice must convey that to the audience. Outwardly your protest is contained, but inwardly, you can’t endure the agony of hearing Claudio denounce you. You thought he loved you. How can he believe such terrible things about you? You must have fallen in love as a teenager. Try to recapture the emotion you felt then, the agony of losing that first love. It can’t have been so very long ago…’
‘Think about how you would feel if you lost Drew,’ Rachel suggested silkily, and even though she knew Rachel was waiting and watching for her response, Kirsty couldn’t prevent herself from going white. She had lost him already, and her pain was unendurable.
Somehow she managed to get through the scene, doing as Drew instructed, trying to blot out the reality of his presence and concentrate instead on his instructions. The difference was immediately noticeable; the entire play took on a new sharpness. During a brief respite between scene Kirsty learned that Drew had phoned the hospital.
‘Helen is responding better to treatment than they expected,’ he told Kirsty when she asked anxiously after Simon’s wife. ‘But they’re still going to keep her in for observation for a few days anyway. Simon will stay with her, and I’ll direct Much Ado.’
‘But your work on the script?’ Kirsty demurred.
‘More or less finished, but even if it hadn’t been, I was planning on coming home anyway. There’s something I want to discuss with you.’
‘I’ve got to go back,’ Kirsty interrupted desperately. ‘Cherry’s waving to me.’
Despite all her efforts it was virtually impossible for her to concentrate after that. No matter how much she tried to throw herself into her role, Drew’s words kept coming between her and the play. She no longer cared that Rachel was constantly trying to upstage her, using her more powerful role to either obscure her visually or destroy her concentration.
At last the play was reaching its close. Soon she would have to listen to Drew, would have to hear him saying that he and Beverley were back together and that his engagement to her could now be brought to an end.
Claudio’s familiar lines accepting her as his bride in the place of the Hero he thought dead washed over her. Rafe was stepping towards her so that they could exchange the kiss Simon had decided was symbolic of their reunion . Kirsty stepped back as Rafe released her, preparatory to saying her final lines, and then suddenly Drew was on stage with them, ordering them to stop.