Part 7 (1/2)
Todd heaved a sigh so deep that the edges of his luxuriant mustache quivered. ”What's done is done. I can hardly complain when the story's true. It wasn't any secret that Lavinia replaced Jerusha in my bed.” He signed again, then managed a smile. ”The gossip did nothing but help us at the box office. Your column brought them in droves.”
”To gawk and speculate, Toddy.”
He chuckled. ”They think I'm a fine fellow, thanks to you. How can I be angry about that?” He puffed out his chest, which had the unfortunate effect of exaggerating a developing paunch.
”Dare I hope the others will be as understanding?”
Toddy's snort spoke volumes.
Jerusha Fildale, solid, reliable Jerusha, who'd taken Diana under her wing when Evan first married her, was not the sort to hold a grudge. Lavinia Ross was another story entirely.
As if conjured up by Diana's thoughts, the young actress swept into Grand Central Station. She seemed to think the railroad platform, lit from above by both hanging lamps and skylights, was just another stage, a four-story-high set designed specifically to show off her dramatic entrance.
Diana could not help admiring the performance. And the costume Lavinia had chosen for it. She wore a fur-trimmed mauve traveling outfit in the latest style. A female pa.s.senger about to board the Chicago Limited caught sight of the fas.h.i.+onable attire and sighed with envy, no doubt imagining herself in Lavinia's place, traveling the country, seeing the world.
As she drew close to the other woman, Diana saw that the actress's face had been carefully painted and was artfully arranged into a smile. The effect was only slightly marred by the fact that wet snow had pocked her veil, adhering it in patches to her skin.
When she recognized Diana, Lavinia's mouth pursed with displeasure. ”What are you doing here?” she demanded in her breathy, little-girl voice. The look in her eyes was one of intense dislike.
The hiss of steam and the loud clanging of bells momentarily drowned out Diana's answer. One train pulled out. Another was coming in. Conductors shouted, adding to the din.
In order to be heard, Diana stepped closer. With only inches between them, she could see that the dye in Lavinia's veil had begun to run. Mottled streaks of mauve decorated the actress's scowling face.
”I came to apologize,” Diana said in a rush. ”I know I cannot make up to you the harm that has been done to your reputation, but I want you to know that I never meant that story to appear in print.”
”Who told you about me in the first place?”
That was the one question Diana did not want to answer. ”Your relations.h.i.+p with Toddy was hardly a secret,” she equivocated, thankful that the time for Lavinia to board the train was fast approaching.
Right on cue, Nathan Todd called for the members of his company to gather for departure. Diana watched as the first to respond, Charles Underly, did a cla.s.sic double-take at the sight of her. Scowling, he gripped the top of his walking stick more tightly. No doubt he thought she had a nerve showing up here after all she'd said about his performance in print.
To Underly, at least, Diana did not feel she owed any explanation or apology. She'd given her honest evaluation of his acting ability -- his portrayal of Ferdinand had been ”bombastic and unbelievable.” And to confirm her a.s.sessment, Underly had gotten even worse reviews from other New York newspapers.
”Cow,” Lavinia muttered, drawing Diana's attention back to her.
The epithet had been directed at Jerusha Fildale, whose entrance caused a stir sufficient to put Lavinia's in the shade. The long-time star of Toddy's company, Jerusha knew how to command attention. This morning she did so by sporting a hat which seemed to be a recreation of an eagle's nest, complete with bird. Diana wondered how she had kept it from being drenched or blown away in the gale outside.
Intent upon upstaging her rival, Lavinia turned her back on Diana and sashayed across the platform. Every male eye in the vicinity followed her bouncing bustle. Her tight-waisted corset tipped her forward at a highly suggestive angle.
That, Diana thought, was something she would not mention in her column, although she would put in a notice about Toddy's tour. Careless comments about the morals of one actress slandered them all and most, as Diana well knew, were as upright as any women obliged to work for a living.
Better than some.
As Diana scanned the crowd, she had to smile. People's reactions were so predictable. Only three females unconnected to the theatrical company waited to board the train to Hartford. One looked fascinated, the second repulsed, and the third envious. The faces of the men revealed an equal diversity of expression -- here salacious speculation, there desire, and there -- There, Diana realized with a sense of shock, was Damon Bathory with a pile of baggage beside him. She felt as if she'd been drenched by the icy water pooled on the gla.s.s ceiling above.
He was leaving, sneaking out of town when he had promised -- Too infuriated to think straight, she seethed in silent rage until a whistle sounded to warn everyone on the platform that the train was about to depart. Propelled into action by the sound, and by the call of the conductor, Diana hurried forward.
The engine pulled only five cars and a caboose on this run, four for pa.s.sengers and one for baggage. Bathory entered a first-cla.s.s car.
It did not matter to Diana that she was unprepared for a journey. Grimly determined that, this time, she would discover the whole truth about Damon Bathory, she boarded the train.
At this early hour, there were not a great many travelers. The members of Todd's Touring Thespians -- seven men and three women -- had a coach-cla.s.s car to themselves. Diana had known most of them for years, and they knew her, both as Evan Spaulding's widow and as the woman who wrote ”Today's Tidbits.” Hamilton Fields, Ralph Leighton, Jeremy Fargo, and Amos Singleterry had been with Nathan Todd's company back when Evan was alive, as had Jerusha Fildale and Patsy Jenkins, a plump and cheerful older woman who played character parts. The new additions were Underly, Lavinia, and a young man named Billy Sims. Patsy sent a cheerful smile Diana's way. Underly and Lavinia greeted her appearance with hostile stares.
Diana hastily slid in next to Jerusha Fildale on one of the bench-style seats and turned beseeching eyes towards the woman who had once been so much more than a mere friend.
In the past, Jerusha had always taken Diana's part, even once against Evan. If, in their days at school, Horatio Foxe's sister had a.s.sumed the role of the sibling Diana had longed for when she was growing up, then after her marriage it had been Jerusha who had fallen into the role of slightly older but much more worldly-wise relation.
”I'm sorry,” Diana whispered. ”Forgive me?”
Jerusha glowered. She frowned. Then she sneezed. She still had the heavy cold that had marred her performance in the t.i.tle role of The d.u.c.h.ess of Calabria.
”You should take better care of yourself,” Diana chided her. ”Why did you go on if you were sick?”
Jerusha beetled her brows. ”The alternative was to let Lavinia butcher the part.” She fished a delicate, lace-trimmed handkerchief out of her bosom, blew her nose with a resounding honk, and glared at Diana through bloodshot eyes.
”Oh.”
”Yes -- oh. But there's no need for you to apologize. I knew what you did for a living when I told you about Toddy and Lavinia.”
Impulsively, she hugged Diana, engulfing her in a wave of lavender scent tinged with the less pleasant smell of h.o.r.ehound drops. She was sucking on one to ease her cough and sore throat.
Her generosity only made Diana feel worse. Jerusha had confided in her as a friend, sharing the painful details of Nathan Todd's betrayal of her affections. He'd abandoned a long-time relations.h.i.+p with Jerusha for a fling with the younger woman, a no-talent hussy whose only previous experience on the stage had been as a magician's a.s.sistant.
”I know Toddy says any publicity is good publicity, but I never meant so much to be printed.”
Jerusha shrugged. ”I am resigned to my situation now, and your column did do some good. After it appeared, every one of our performances sold out.”
”Yes, so Toddy said.”
Suddenly, Jerusha grinned. ”And Lavinia was fit to be tied. Did my poor old heart good to see her so angry.”
”Does she know you're the one who talked to me?” Diana asked.
”If she didn't before, she does now.” Jerusha swiveled around, a self-satisfied smirk on her face.
Diana glanced back. The subject of their discussion sat two rows behind them, next to Toddy, who looked a trifle puzzled by Diana's presence.
”Ticket, miss?” The conductor stood beside her, his hand out.
Diana burrowed in her bag for money and came up short. To get enough to pay for a ticket all the way to Hartford, she had to dip into the emergency billfold secured by her garter. As she paid the conductor, she tried not to think of how very little money she had left. If Damon Bathory changed trains in Stamford or New Haven, she would not be able to afford to pursue him.
”You hadn't planned to make this trip,” Jerusha observed.
”No,” Diana agreed as the red-faced conductor moved on.
A few rapid calculations sent her spirits plummeting. She'd need to send a telegram to Horatio Foxe at the first stop to ask for more funds and for authorization to send news dispatches over the wires leased from Western Union by the a.s.sociated Press.
”Cash in the ticket before we leave the station,” Jerusha urged her. ”There's no point in coming with us. Even if you pursue Lavinia all the way to the next stand, she won't accept your apology.”
”That's not why I'm here.”