Page 26 of No Mistress Of Mine

“You seem surprised,” he said, watching her.

“Not surprised.” She rose to her feet. “Stupefied is more like it.”

That made him smile a little. “So is Roth. You impressed him, and that’s no easy task.”

“And you?” she couldn’t help asking. “Were you impressed?”

He stirred, as if the question made him uneasy. “You said your lines at the end in the wrong order.”

She waved that aside. “But do you think I’m any good?”

“Does it matter what I think?”

She held his gaze steadily. “Whether you believe it or not, your opinion has always mattered to me, Denys.”

“If that’s true, you’ve demonstrated it rather poorly in the past. Still,” he added before she could reply, “you did well today. Very well.”

She caught the surprise in his voice. “You didn’t think I would,” she said, watching his face. “Did you?”

“No,” he admitted, and looked away. “I did not.”

She studied his profile, knowing full well what his thinking had been. “You let me audition, but you were sure I’d fail. What did you think? That losing one part would send me off with my tail tucked in defeat?”

“Something like that,” he muttered, and looked at her again, his expression rueful. “I should have known better. Defeat is a circumstance you don’t seem to accept.”

She grinned. “Not for long, anyway. I’m to play Bianca, then?”

“Yes. And you’ll understudy Desdemona, too. If you think you can manage both?”

“You watch me.” She laughed, jubilant, exhilarated, and so, so relieved. “Thank you, Denys.”

“Thank Roth. He wanted you. He was quite adamant about it.”

“Well, we both know how you feel about me, so the two of you must have had quite a row on the topic.”

“On the contrary, we were in complete agreement. You rather stole the show.”

“Oh.” Lola stared at him, and in his countenance she saw—or thought she saw—a trace of the Denys she used to know, but it was gone before she could be sure. “So,” she said, forcing herself to speak. “Who did you choose to play the lead?”

“Arabella Danvers.”

“Ugh.” Lola groaned, seizing on that diversion like a lifeline. “You must be joking.”

“I never joke about business.”

Lola frowned, not quite convinced. She’d been jumpy as a cat on a hot sidewalk this morning, true enough, but if Arabella had auditioned, she was sure she’d have noticed. That woman was the sort who, when she arrived anywhere, made sure everyone noticed. “But Arabella didn’t audition today, did she?”

“Mrs.Danvers needs no audition. I offered her the part without one.”

Lola made a wry face at him. “So exceptions to the rules can be made for her but not for your partner.”

“She’s played Shakespeare. You haven’t. And she’s one of London’s most successful and popular actresses. You’re not.”

“Ouch.” Lola grimaced. “You don’t have to rub it in,” she grumbled. “And Arabella may be popular with audiences, but not with anyone else. You must know her reputation? It’s legendary. She’s temperamental, difficult—”

“A case of the pot and the kettle if ever there was one.”

“I’m serious, Denys. If you take on Arabella, you and Roth will be regretting it in a week.”

---