The Paris Affair by Melanie Hudson

Author:Melanie Hudson [Hudson, Melanie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780008420956
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Chapter Twenty-Four

But let us move forward to the night of the play.

I was on stage in Dame Sibyl’s garden and we were several acts in. It couldn’t be regarded as Sark Theatre Society’s most successful performance. Audience numbers were high – the whole of the island was there, or those of us that were left, at least – but the atmosphere, like the performance, was wanting. Dame Sibyl was sitting in the front row, willing us on with what could only be described as a painted smile, and the prompt – Margery – had spoken more lines of verse than all the players put together.

Going ahead with the performance was supposed to prove that life goes on, that the islanders of Sark would not bow down under tyranny – a tyranny every bit as powerful as we sat in its shadow as it would be in actuality. German jack boots may not as yet have stepped as much as a toe on that tiny rock in the sea, but their heavy footsteps already echoed down every street and across every field. It is said that humans have lost the ability to sense imminent danger … that was not the case tonight. The air was charged with nervous energy and every soul in the audience could feel it. Nevertheless, we must finish what we had begun – die show muss weitergehen.

‘Did my heart love till now?’ I asked aloud. I was supposed to engage the audience at this point but I caught the eye of Sophie who was waiting in the wings. She glanced away. Every time I tried to approach her off stage when out of character, she offered only a weak smile and turned away. As Juliet, however, she was electric. No more was she the jovial, happy-go-lucky (slightly wooden) Sophie, pretending to be Juliet. There was only Juliet, and I was humbled by her performance. ‘Forswear it, sight!’ I went on, acutely aware that my accent sounded harsh against the beauty of the words, especially while shouting against the noise of the poplar trees that were swaying in the strengthening breeze. ‘For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.’

And thus the show stumbled on: from scene to scene, act to act, with poor Margery becoming increasingly hoarse, until finally – finally – I found myself looking down on a shroud-covered Sophie lying on a crypt. We were performing the scene that never was – the death scene – and suddenly there was no audience, there was only Romeo and Juliet, Sebastian and Sophie. My heart was an echo chamber and my words of love and regret utterly real and brutally honest.

Oh, my love, my wife, it is time to join you in all eternity.

Somewhere in the distance a phone rang and yet I did not lose the moment. I would not lose the moment. I pulled back the shroud. Sophie lay there as still as death. I took her hand and lifted it to my face.

Eyes, look your last.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.