Death Treads the Boards

by Lesley Cookman

  DEATH

  Treads the

  Boards

  LESLEY COOKMAN

  Table of Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  DEATH PLAYS A PART

  CHAPTER ONE

  ‘So you see, I thought she might make a good – um – addition to your company.’ Mrs Jeremy Coutts smiled nervously across the desk at Dorinda Alexander.

  ‘Oh, go on, Dolly.’ Ivy, Lady Anderson, seated next to her friend, leant forward across the desk and poked Dorinda on the arm. ‘You took in that Velda, and Amy here, when they was – were – both in trouble.’

  ‘And look where that got everybody,’ said Dorinda. ‘I really don’t want to go bringing trouble down on the house any more. I’ve had three lots of trouble in my life already and it sounds as though this – Jessie, is it? – is more of the same.’

  ‘Jessie Jones,’ confirmed Mrs Coutts – formerly Amelia, Lady Washington, alias Amy West, Music Hall performer.

  ‘You’ve heard of her, Dolly, ’course you have.’ Ivy gave Dorinda another poke. ‘Doing well, she is. Smaller halls, mainly, but she’s popular.’

  Dorinda sighed and looked out of the window at the slope up to Victoria Place. The sun was shining, and as yet few holidaymakers graced the promenade. It was barely the beginning of the season, and The Alexandria Concert Hall hadn’t yet opened. In fact, the company – or concert party, as they were still being called – hadn’t been finalised, so Ivy and Amy’s request was not quite so impossible as she hoped it was. She turned back to her petitioners.

  ‘If she joins us she will be expected to be part of the ensemble. It won’t be all solo spots. She might not be prepared to do that.’

  ‘Oh, she is!’ Amy assured her quickly.

  ‘You’ve told her all about it, have you?’ Dorinda gave her a mocking smile. ‘And I suppose she’s sitting in a carriage just out of sight?’

  Ivy and Amy looked at one another guiltily and Dorinda, who hadn’t really thought this was the case, started. ‘Oh, she isn’t! You don’t mean it!’

  ‘Well, we thought you’d want to see her,’ said Amy. ‘You did me.’

  Dorinda subsided into her chair, shaking her head. ‘Ivy, was this your idea?’

  ‘No, it was mine,’ said Amy. ‘And, er, Maude’s.’

  ‘Maude?’ Dorinda fairly shrieked. ‘Maude?’

  Ivy was on her feet. ‘Calm down, Dolly. She ain’t done nothing wrong.’ Ivy’s accent had a tendency to slip under stress.

  The office door opened and Maude Beddowes hovered in the opening. Plump, comfortable-looking and at the moment red-faced with embarrassment, she was Dorinda’s right-hand woman in the company and married to Will, the former leader of the concert party.

  Dorinda passed a weary hand over her brow, hiding a smile.

  ‘Come on, traitor,’ she said. ‘Tell me all.’

  ‘Oh, I’m sorry, Dolly.’ Maude hurried in and hovered beside the desk. ‘Will and I saw her in London when we was up doing that series of smokers last winter.’

  The smokers were private events at which concert party performers could earn money during the off-season.

  ‘Good, isn’t she?’ Amy turned enthusiastically to Maude. Her accent tended not to slip quite as much as Ivy’s, although they both came from the same East End of London background.

  ‘Very good. We ’aven’t seen Vesta Tilley, but we was told she was as good as ’er.’ Maude peered into Dorinda’s face, anxious eyebrows raised.

  ‘Vesta’s something special,’ said Dorinda, who had seen the exceptional lady in question. She stood up. ‘Very well, then. Bring her in, Maude. I take it you actually told her about us?’

  ‘No, Miss.’ Maude shook her head vigorously. ‘It was Amy – Mrs Courts – ’ere. And Ivy backed’er up.’

  ‘Since when have you called me “Miss”?’ asked Dorinda. ‘You must be worried! Oh, go on, go and fetch the lady.’

  All three women watched Maude hurry up the slope and turn left, and out of sight at the top.

  ‘Tell me again why she wants to come here?’ Dorinda sat down again.

  ‘Well.’ Amy sighed. ‘It’s her pa, see. He belongs to one of those chapel groups.’

  ‘Methodists?’ suggested Dorinda.

  ‘I don’t know.’ Amy shook her head.

  ‘They don’t ’old with drink,’ said Ivy, with a sniff. ‘Or anything on the stage.’

  ‘Temperance Movement?’

  ‘Dunno,’ said Ivy. ‘I don’t reckon there’s that many o’ them, but they started linin’ up outside the last couple of Halls Jessie was playin’, and in the end she got the sack. Oh, you know: “We don’t like to lose you, but...” And she don’t want to go back to dashin’ between the grubby little supper rooms like they used to.’

  ‘Is she underage?’ Dorinda was even more wary now.

  ‘Gawd luv you!’ said Ivy. ‘She’s nineteen! She’s been doin’ this for three or four years now. See it isn’t ’er real pa – it’s ’er step-pa. ’E married ’er ma after Jessie went off to London. Welsh, ’e is.’

  ‘Ah.’ Dorinda was aware of the strong Chapel movement in Wales. A chapel on every corner, some said, and militant with it. She could imagine how well a male impersonator from the Music Halls would go down with them.

  ‘And this is her, is it?’

  Maude was coming back down the slope, accompanied, a little reluctantly it seemed, by a slight young woman in a plain grey jacket and skirt with a small straw boater on her head.

  ‘That’s ’er.’ Ivy peered through the window. ‘Not much to look at, is she?’ She grinned at Dorinda. ‘But you wait!’

  They heard the main doors open, and after a quick knock on the office door, Maude appeared, triumphant.

  ‘Miss Jessie Jones, Miss, er, Dolly.’

  The small grey person followed Maude into the room. Dorinda stood up and held out a hand.

  ‘Miss Jones,’ she said with a smile. ‘And you know Lady Anderson and Mrs Coutts, of course.’

  Jessie Jones gave her a nervous smile and briefly shook hands.

  ‘Well, sit down.’ Maude had fetched an extra chair from the foyer and shoved it against the back of Jessie Jones’ legs. She sat down abruptly.

  ‘I hear you’d like to work for us?’

  ‘Er – yes.’ The voice, like the person, was small.

  ‘And you realise it’s mainly ensemble work interspersed with solo spots? You’d be prepared for that?’

  ‘Oh, yes.’

  Dorinda regarded her, head to one side. Jessie began to fidget.

  ‘I’m a little worried,’ said Dorinda after a moment, ‘about your reasons for wanting to come here.’

  Jessie’s mouth dropped open, and after a shocked gasp, Amy and Ivy broke into simultaneous protestations. Dorinda turned to them in some amusement.

  ‘I know what you’ve told me, ladies, but now I want to hear Jessie tell me herself. This would be a very different life she’d be living.’

  Jessie directed panicky eyes at Maude, who frowned at Dorinda.

  ‘She’s only a kid, Dolly.’

  ‘And I’m not her mother,’ said Dorinda abruptly. ‘Neither are you, Maude. Jessie has to stand up for herself. I’m sure she had to do that on the halls in London, didn’t you, Jessie?’

>   ’Er, yes.’ Now Jessie wouldn’t meet Dorinda’s eyes.

  Dorinda let out an impatient exclamation. ‘Ivy, Amy -are you sure about this?’

  Ivy and Amy exchanged glances.

  ‘Well, we thought so,’ said Ivy.

  Dorinda stared out of the window for a moment.

  ‘So what is it, then, Jessie? What are you not telling me?’ She turned sharply towards the girl, silencing the others with a raised hand. After another moment’s silence she spoke again, less sharply.

  ‘Jessie, you must see that I can’t take you on if there’s any doubt about your motives or your honesty.’

  ‘We told you, Dolly,’ Ivy interrupted. ‘It’s her dad. Step-dad.’

  ‘Is that all it is, Jessie?’ asked Dorinda, watching Jessie’s face go white. She seemed to crumple before her eyes, and Maude hastily stepped forward. Dorinda’s eyes narrowed.

  ‘Ivy, Amy – could you leave us for a minute?’ She smiled at the two women, who looked indignant, but did as she asked. Maude moved up to sit alongside Jessie and took her hand.

  ‘Do you know what the trouble is, Maudie?’ Dorinda kept her eyes on Jessie’s face.

  ‘I guessed a bit of it.’ Maude cleared her throat. ‘You have, too, ain’t you?’

  Dorinda nodded, then said gently: ‘He attacked you, didn’t he, Jessie?’

  The white face turned bright red.

  ‘Where was this?’

  Jessie had difficulty speaking, but eventually managed. ‘On me way home.’

  ‘More than once?’ asked Dorinda.

  Jessie nodded.

  ‘Just because of what you were doing for a living?’

  ‘He said...’ Jessie swallowed. ‘He said...’

  ‘She didn’t deserve no better,’ put in Maude. ‘So it wasn’t simply a beating?’ said Dorinda.

  Maude shook her head.

  ‘Ah.’ Dorinda looked down at her desk, then stood up and went to the door. Outside, Amy and Ivy stood looking anxious.

  ‘Come in, ladies.’ Dorinda held the door open for them and they both hurried forward to Jessie.

  ‘Well now, all we’ve got to decide is whether Jessie keeps her name or we change it.’ Dorinda smiled as four faces looked up hopefully.

  ‘She can stay then?’ said Ivy.

  ‘Oh, I think so. But we’ve got to think of the circumstances, and we don’t want any more of the company being put at risk, do we? So what we’ve got to weigh up is whether Jessie’s name is well enough known to be a draw, or well enough known to bring her step-father down here.’

  ‘She was getting quite well known,’ offered Maude.

  ‘We had this same situation with me, didn’t we?’ mused Amy. ‘People do find you.’

  Jessie sat up straight, assuming a determined expression. ‘I’ll change me name.’

  ‘Are you sure?’ said Maude. ‘Seems a pity.’

  ‘What’s yer middle name?’ asked Ivy suddenly. ‘’Ave yer got one?’ In her excitement, Ivy’s accent had slipped disastrously.

  ‘Matilda!’ said Jessie, looking surprised.

  Ivy and Dorinda looked at each other and beamed.

  ‘Jessie Matilda!’ they said together.

  ‘But won’t her pa recognise that? He’d know her middle name,’ said Amy.

  ‘No, ’e don’t.’ Jessie shook her head. ‘Took no notice of me or me brothers and we’d all gone by the time ’e moved in.’

  Dorinda took a deep breath. ‘That’s it, then. We’ll take a chance. Now, Jessie, would you like to show me what you can do?’

  She led the way into the empty auditorium and up to the stage. Amy and Ivy sat down in the front row, while Maude urged Jessie up the steps to the stage and stepped back. Dorinda sat down at the piano and waited.

  Jessie came nervously towards her.

  ‘It won’t be the same without me clothes,’ she said.

  ‘I know.’ Dorinda smiled. ‘I won’t bite. Can I play something for you?’

  ‘I got me own songs. I could do one without music?’

  Raising an eyebrow, Dorinda nodded. ‘Do you want a note?’

  Jessie’s face broke suddenly into a broad smile. ‘That white one right in the middle!’ she said.

  Dorinda grinned in return and struck middle C.

  And before their eyes, Jessie became a street urchin. Completely without self-consciousness, she strutted and tumbled about the stage until she finally came to a halt leaning on the proscenium arch.

  ‘Bravo!’ called Dorinda as she, Ivy, Amy, and Maude broke into spontaneous applause.

  Flushed and smiling, Jessie came back down the steps. ‘Was I all right?’

  ‘You certainly were!’ Dorinda patted her shoulder. ‘You won’t mind being a girl for the ensemble numbers, will you?’

  ‘No, I done that in London. ’Ow many in the company?’

  ‘At the moment, three men, Will, Ted and Algy, and four girls, Betty, Phoebe, Patsy and Maisie.’

  ‘I tell you what, Dolly,’ broke in Amy. ‘I could teach her a couple of the numbers, couldn’t I? See, Jessie,’ she turned to the younger woman, ‘I come down last season -’ Dorinda noticed that Mrs Amelia Coutts was slipping into the former Amy West, ‘to hide, exactly like you, so I learnt all the routines.’

  ‘We might not use all the same ones, Amy,’ warned Dorinda.

  ‘Well, you got to keep The Fairies!’ said Amy.

  The Fairies, a routine first seen on the London stage, had been adapted by The Alexandrians, being improved by a new member of the company and further improved by Amy. It had been a great favourite of the audiences last season.

  ‘Oh, yes, The Fairies!’ chorused Ivy and Maude.

  ‘Is that the Gaiety one?’ asked Jessie.

  ‘Based on that, yes,’ said Dorinda. ‘You know it, then?’

  ‘Not to say I seen it,’ said Jessie, ‘but I’ve ’eard of it.’

  ‘Good.’ Dorinda nodded. ‘And now – have you got digs yet?’

  Amy opened her mouth, but shut it again as Dorinda glared at her.

  ‘No.’ Jessie looked worried.

  ‘I daresay the girls will be able to sort you out, eh, Maude?’ Dorinda made a face at Maude, who nodded. ‘Are you going back to London tonight?’

  ‘She’s coming ’ome – home – with me,’ said Ivy. ‘I’ll bring ’er down when you want ’er.’

  ‘I’ll let you know when we’ve sorted out her digs,’ said Dorinda. ‘I’m sure Jessie won’t mind sharing with a couple of the other girls, will you?’ She turned and smiled at Jessie.

  ‘You ring me up,’ said Ivy, who was inordinately proud of being the owner of a telephone. As she and Sir Frederick had also caused one to be installed at The Alexandria, this was a not unreasonable suggestion.

  ‘So, Maudie,’ said Dorinda when Ivy, Amy and Jessie had gone, ‘tell me the rest of the story.’

  Maude looked surprised. ‘Rest?’

  ‘How did you find her? Or how did Amy find her? She didn’t just pop up out of nowhere, did she?’

  Maude sat down on the other side of the desk and stared at her steepled fingers for a moment.

  ‘Well,’ she began, ‘we come across her when we were doing the smokers, as I said. And then Ada – you remember Ada?’

  ‘Ivy’s sister? Of course.’

  ‘Well, she come to see us. She says there’s this girl who looks like she’s going to get the sack and what about bringing her down here? She remembers Velda, and then Amy.’

  Dorinda sighed heavily. ‘Yes, you said. What happened next?’

  ‘So Will and me went to see her – Jessie, I mean – and sort of suggested it, but she said she wasn’t going to run away.’ Maude looked up, straight into Dorinda’s eyes. ‘So then when we met Amy – took us to tea at a posh ’otel, she did – we told her about it. And – well, you know Amy.’

  ‘So Amy went to see her and convinced her to come down here.’ Dorinda scowled at her friend.

  ‘No, no, Dolly! You’ve got
it wrong. Jessie still didn’t want to come down. See she hadn’t been sacked then. But then her pa starts up these – I don’t know what to call them...’

  ‘Protests?’ suggested Dorinda.

  ‘Yes, them, and making a fuss, so the owners of the halls just says enough’s enough, sort of thing. And then, although we didn’t know that till after, he attacks her.’

  ‘And then she came to you?’

  ‘No.’ Maude shook her head. ‘She went to Ada. So Ada took her in for a few nights and telephoned Ivy.’ Ivy and Sir Frederick had a telephone installed for Ada as well, although she kept it quiet in her own neighbourhood. ‘And Ivy telephoned Amy. And there we are.’

  Dorinda sat for a moment in thought. ‘And when her stepfather attacked her – it wasn’t just an ordinary attack, was it?’

  ‘No.’ Maude’s face glowed red. ‘Disgustin’ old... Practically his own flesh and blood.’

  ‘Yes.’ Dorinda shivered. Maude was instant contrition. ‘Oh, Dolly – I never thought!’

  Dorinda looked up and tried a smile. ‘Oh, come on! At least I had the protection of Sir Frederick and Ivy, not to mention all of you. Most girls in my position would have been left on the streets. And at least Jessie isn’t expecting a child.’ Dorinda glanced quickly at Maude. ‘She isn’t, is she?’

  Maude shook her head. ‘I think we’d have known by now.’

  ‘All right.’ Dorinda nodded again. ‘And now Aramantha’s gone to try her luck in London, we’ve got room to fit her in without too much trouble. Betsy and Maisie could fit her in at their lodgings, couldn’t they?’

  ‘At least they won’t be as much trouble as Aramantha would have been,’ said Maude with a sigh.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Three weeks on and Jessie Matilda had fitted in very well, as Dorinda had predicted. Her seemingly mouse-like persona came alive on stage, but she was quiet enough off stage for Betsy and Maisie to positively mother her. She shared their lodgings, made no trouble, and altered her own Silver Serenaders pierrot costume. Amy had donated hers, but being a little more statuesque than Jessie, a certain amount of taking in and taking up was necessary. Jessie’s routines, The Urchin, The Respectable Tramp, The Man-about-Town, and The Soldier were all diverse, allowing Dorinda to feature different combinations as she changed her programme twice a week.