Venus (v-8) by Jane Feather

Author:Jane Feather [Feather, Jane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: love_history

Chapter 13

Where are your wits this morning, Polly?" demanded a puzzled Killigrew the following day as she stumbled for the tenth time over her lines. "You had the part word-perfect yesterday."

"I seem to have forgotten it," Polly said apologetically, stepping to the front of the stage. "Will ye grant me some time to con the lines anew?" She smiled at him, but the smile was really directed over his head to where the Duke of Buckingham sat in the dim light of the auditorium. His Grace was not the only courtier in the theatre this morning, although Nick was absent. Watching rehearsals was one of the favorite activities of those who enjoyed the play, and often enough dabbled in the art of the playwright themselves.

Thomas sighed. "I suppose I must, since we can achieve nothing while you stumble and stutter in this manner."

Polly gathered up her skirts and stepped lightly into the pit. "Mayhap Your Grace will assist me?" She gave Villiers the lodestone of her smile. "If you would read with me, sir, then the task will be all the easier."

Buckingham rose immediately to his feet. "I can imagine nothing that would give me greater pleasure, Mistress Wyat."

"Then let us repair to the tiring room, where we may

have a little privacy." She turned back to the stage, still smiling at him over her shoulder. It was not an unusual service she was requesting; indeed, it was one eagerly performed by those gentlemen fascinated by the theatre and its actors. But this was the first time that Mistress Wyat had requested the help of any but her protector.

Buckingham hid his satisfaction. It was as he had expected. The lady had decided it was time to move onward and upward, and was delicately indicating her willingness to accept the invitation that he had issued at court the previous evening.

He reposed his elegant frame on the scroll-ended couch in the tiring room. "I am honored to be singled out in this fashion, my dear."

Polly merely smiled again, an enigmatic smile that hinted at much. "If you would read the other lines, my lord duke, I will test my memory." She handed him the script before sitting upon the couch beside him, carefully arranging her skirts, using the movements to conceal the quick look she cast up at him. Had he grasped the message? He would have to be a fool not to; and George Villiers, in matters such as these, was no fool.

She had the part by heart, but she made sufficient errors to add credence to her ploy, and to give her companion the satisfaction of correcting her and receiving her blushing thanks in return. Members of the company wandered in and out of the tiring room while Polly played her game. The lack of complete privacy suited her purposes perfectly. At no point did she wish to find herself in the position of having to declare herself openly as interested in the duke's patronage. With hints and innuendo she would

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