Player's Wench

by Marina Oliver

  'Though it does not suit me so well as comedy,' Nell said candidly. 'I was certain you would get it, especially since Gervase Dunstone has been teaching you. It seems he is not so influential as I once thought, and you did not choose well when you took him as a lover!'

  Honey shook her head vehemently.

  'He is not my lover!' she answered quickly, but Nell laughed knowingly.

  'Oh, come! No one would believe that! You may pretend, in some vain attempt to be thought virtuous, but no one thinks actresses are, so why bother? But mayhap you should have chosen Michael Mohun or one of the Shatterells. I'll not suggest my Charles, though I'm aware he once fancied you, for I'm well satisfied with him myself!'

  Honey shuddered, and Nell laughed.

  'So you prefer a young and handsome man? Is that why you accepted Mr Dunstone? Or is it his position at Court which makes him more exciting than a mere player? I'll grant he's a damned attractive man, and you're the envy of all the women here, but is it worth it when you lose chances of good parts?'

  Honey protested vigorously, roused out of her lethargy by this accusation, and strenuously denied Gervase meant anything to her, or she to him. Nell simply laughed, and shook her curls in disbelief.

  'Do you not wish your other gallant to discover it?' she asked laughingly. 'I would not be concerned, for he does not bother to conceal his other adventures.'

  'Robert? What do you mean?'

  Nell looked at her closely.

  'Do you mean to tell me that you do not know?' she demanded. 'Oh, Lord, now I've let the cat out of the bag!'

  'Please tell me what you mean,' Honey demanded. 'What do you know of Robert?'

  'Well, little enough, to be sure, and 'tis no more than most men do, after all.'

  'What is?'

  'Well, he keeps a doxie in a house in Long Acre,' Nell explained reluctantly. 'But you cannot think the worse of him for that! If you hold back, what is he to do? Why, he even made a play for me, that night when he was so eager to escort me home! He's not slow, your Robert! We'd only just met, remember. But he must be really taken with you to wait so patiently.'

  Honey shook her head, and changed the subject. Nell was willing enough to talk of the other parts, all minor ones, that she had been given, and commiserate with Honey for the meagre ones she had herself been entrusted with.

  'But they do give you some opportunities to shine,' she consoled, 'and you have several dances.'

  *

  In some ways Honey was glad not to be overburdened with parts in the next few weeks, for neither Robert nor Gervase returned, and she was consumed with anxiety about them. At night she imagined horrifying scenes where they confronted each other, and possibly fought, and many times she was convinced they had killed one another. She longed for them both to return, telling herself she could not be easy until she knew what had happened, and yet at times she wished she could be rid of them both. In the face of that conversation on the night Gervase had left, she could not cling to her belief in his innocence, and Nell's revelations about Robert had destroyed her trust in him. Could he be so anxious to marry her if he made overtures, though admittedly of a different kind, to Nell, and if it were true that he kept a woman in the slums of Long Acre? Honey wanted to think Nell had been mistaken in this latter assertion, but she knew the girl could not be lying to her when she told of Robert's advances to her, for Nell was straightforward, and Honey's friend.

  In addition to these personal worries, there was the war, which had finally been declared at the beginning of March, with the two heralds and their attendant trumpeters proclaiming the fact at the Exchange and other places. For some time nothing more seemed to happen, and then in the middle of April came the news that some Dutch ships had been taken, and a few days later the fleet sailed from Harwich. Now we would show those Hollanders we meant business, the warlike declared, and waited news of a certain victory with great impatience.

  A few days before this, and totally distracting Ben's mind from it, he had been called to assist at the first performance of a play in the a new theatre in Whitehall. The Great Hall, set behind Inigo Jones' Banqueting House, had been converted into a permanent theatre, supervised by John Webb, Jones' son-in-law, and scenery was installed. It was to help in the handling and setting up of this that Ben was called in, for he had shown a decided talent, not only for painting the scenes but also for cunning contrivances in arranging them, and Tom Killigrew was perfectly willing to loan him for this new venture. He talked of little else for days before and afterwards, forgetting along with the war the second comet that had been seen, less bright than the other, but causing a great deal of speculation on its meaning.

  By the middle of May Honey was pale and thin with worry. Gervase and Robert had been gone since the end of February, and she had not received a word from either of them. She could not rejoice when news was brought of eight Dutch ships taken, and she listened with scant attention to Nell's laments that her performance as Cydaria had not been attended with the acclaim she had hoped for.

  'I knew that it did not suit me! Now Tom will be reluctant to give me better parts, and I shall not be able to show him what I can do with a comic one! Charles tells me to wait, and be patient, but it is hard!'

  Honey could have told her how hard waiting was, but she did not want to discuss her worries with anyone, since she could not explain, even to herself, just why she was so distressed at the discovery of Gervase's treachery.

  Mistress Carter was less reticent, coming out of her kitchen every time Honey entered the house to see whether it was Mr Dunstone returning, and lamenting his long absence.

  'He's never been away before for so long, without telling me,' she said one day after Honey had told her for the hundredth time that she did not know where Mr Dunstone could be, and had heard nought of him at the theatre. 'I can't help feeling he's in trouble. Let's hope he's not been taken with the plague!'

  It was a new and disturbing thought. Vaguely Honey had been aware that there was more talk of the plague this year than last, but she had taken little notice, for no one seemed particularly concerned.

  'There is not much chance of that, is there?' she asked fearfully.

  Mistress Carter shrugged, her normally cheerful face drooping dolefully.

  'Who's to tell? There's many died of it this year, and the bills show near five hundred a week instead of less than three hundred. And it begins to spread. Most of them have been in the parishes of St Giles and St Andrews, but I hear that this week one has died in the city itself, in Bearbinder Lane. That's the first case in the city, but there are some in other parishes as well now. It's my belief folk are concealing the causes of death, since they don't want their houses closed.'

  'But Mr Dunstone is not in those areas, so he will be safe,' Honey said, trying to reassure herself as well as Mistress Betsy.

  'Who knows where else it may be? And if the weather stays as hot as it has been today, the pestilence will spread, as it always does in the summer.'

  *

  It seemed many people were afraid of the plague, for those who could do so were beginning to leave the town. The Lord Mayor was besieged with applicants demanding bills of health, without which they were prohibited from staying at inns or passing through other towns. Since the only case within the city itself had been a man who had moved there from Long Acre, where the first noted cases had occured, and it was hoped that his death would be an isolated one, the Lord Mayor gave his bills freely. Many left for the country during May, so the normal business of the city declined, and the playhouses noticed a great fall in the numbers of the audience. People crept about the streets, afraid of contacts with one another, and carefully avoiding the houses which were infected, and shown to be so by the painted red cross, a foot high, which was put by law on their doors.

  The war continued. The fleet, after a brief visit to Harwich to take on more supplies, set off again, and on the first of June news came that the Dutch Fleet had been sighted. On the third the asto
nished populace of the city heard the sound of guns, and waited in fear for the Dutch to land, certain they were sailing unhindered up the Thames. All was well, however, for news soon came that the English had won a battle off Lowestoft, and the more optimistic were ready to celebrate the end of the war.

  The theatres were in a less cheerful situation, for on the fifth they were closed, since such gatherings of many people in close confinement were thought to spread infection. Some of the actors were thankful to be able to escape from London, and packed their bags with all speed.

  'Where will you go?' Nell asked Honey as they were searching for their own belongings in the dressing room.

  Honey shook her head.

  'I have nowhere to go,' she replied. 'I suppose I will remain with Mistress Carter, though I hope I will have enough money to pay her. I have not been able to save much out of the ten shillings I have been paid, for so much had to be spent on shoes and stockings and gloves, and I had nothing when I left home.'

  'No doubt Gervase will return soon, and he will pay her, so you need not be concerned,' Nell replied cheerfully. 'I wish you could leave London though. We are going to Oxford. Come with us, and he can follow you,' she suggested generously, but Honey declined, not wanting to explain that while Gervase would not be paying for her lodgings, as Nell seemed to take for granted, she did not wish to leave London until she knew what had become of him. If she went to Oxford she would lose touch, and if she had to take another job, as seemed likely, to support herself, she would be better able to do that in London than in a small country town.

  *

  Chapter 8

  Within a few days most of the people Honey knew left the town. The actors scattered, planning to reopen the theatre when the plague should have died out, and life was curiously empty without them and the excitements of the theatre Honey had been so deeply involved in for almost a year. Ben, who had saved some of the money from his wages, wanted to go to Bristol to visit his family and, Honey suspected, boast to them of how well he was doing in his new life. He nobly offered to remain with her, saying Mr Dunstone would expect him to take care of her while he was away and unable to provide such protection himself.

  'I do not belong to him, and am perfectly capable of taking care of myself,' Honey retorted. 'You must go, Ben. Your family will have been so worried when they heard my father had thrown you out, and I know you have written only to reassure them you were alive and well. They will be pleased to see you have been successful, and there may not be another chance, if the theatres reopen soon, as we all hope.'

  He allowed her to persuade him and departed, leaving her feeling very much alone. Fear of the contagion kept her from wandering out into the streets, and there was little to do at her lodgings. She had copies of many of the plays Gervase had used to teach her, but there did not seem much point in learning parts she had little hope of playing, and merely to read over the passages they had worked on together increased her melancholy, and caused the strain of not knowing what had become of him or Robert to be almost unbearable.

  *

  When Robert appeared, therefore, a week or so after the playhouses had closed, she forgot her distress at his behaviour with Nell and the story of his doxy in Long Acre and greeted him joyfully.

  'Robert! Oh, I thought never to see you again! Where have you been? What has kept you away so long?'

  He strode into the room and took her hands in his, smiling warmly down at her.

  'Honey, my love! I did not think you would still be here! I thought you must have gone to the country, and feared I would not know where to start looking for you.'

  'How could I go when I did not know what had happened to you and – and everything!' she substituted quickly. 'Did you get to Holland? Was – Gervase there? Did you find him? Oh, tell me what you have discovered!'

  'Steady now,' he laughed, and drew her down onto a settle, still keeping tight hold on her hands. 'Oh, how I have missed you, and cursed the fate that tied me in Holland.'

  'But what kept you?' she demanded.

  'It was not easy to escape from an enemy country, when the fleets were patrolling the Channel and likely to sink any boat they saw!' he replied with a laugh. 'I could not leave, so I stayed and tried to learn what I could. It was only when the fleets were engaged in the battle off Lowestoft that I contrived to slip away, and bribed a fellow to land me near Dover.'

  'What of Gervase? Did you see him?'

  'I did not see him, though I picked up his trail and followed him to Amsterdam.' He shook his head slowly. 'Do not be imagining he is innocent, my dear,' he said softly. 'I talked with several men I knew he had spoken with, and it was clear he had been giving them information. I heard afterwards he had joined the Dutch fleet in Admiral Obdam's ship, and since it is freely rumoured that Obdam was killed in the battle, and several of the Dutch ships sunk, he may well have been killed. Better for him so, indeed, than be discovered a traitor!'

  'No!' Honey gasped. 'He cannot be dead! No, Robert! You must be mistaken!'

  Gently he put his arm about her shoulders. 'I cannot be sure, but it is likely. Honey, do not look so! He was a traitor, and meant nought to you! There are many other men better than he!'

  'I cannot believe it, that he can be dead!' she whispered.

  'Well, he may not, and if not, then it is more important I stop his activities once and for all! I heard – never mind how, it is too long a tale – that he keeps a journal, and in it there must be the names of the men from whom he obtains information, and possibly the methods he uses, as well as those he contacts on the other side. I know some of them, of course, but not all. I must get that book! Is it possible for me to get into his room, or is it kept locked?'

  'You cannot search his room!' Honey exclaimed in dismay. 'You must not!'

  'Why not? For pity's sake, Honey, this is no time for such scruples. He is likely dead, and we can expose anyone who helped him, and prevent the channels he used from being used by anyone else. Do not believe this one battle was the end of the war! The Dutch do not consider it a defeat, merely a minor setback. And if he should still be alive, it is doubly important to stop his betrayals of us!'

  'His door is locked, and you must not search! I will tell Mistress Carter if you do, and she will call the constable. I mean it, Robert, whatever excuses you make for doing it. It is not right.'

  He argued, but she was adamant, and realising she would not relent he eventually departed, but not before they had both grown very angry and cast hot words at one another. He had accused her of being stubborn and foolish, and she had called him dishonest. The charges she wanted to make which her hurt vanity felt more important, of whoring and betraying her, she could not voice because he had given her no positive cause to think he was in any way bound to her.

  When he flung out of the room, saying she would be sorry for her obstinacy, she gritted her teeth hard, and held back her sobs until he was safely out of the house, and then she flung herself down, weeping in abandon, but not knowing whether it was for the quarrel or the possibility of Gervase's death.

  *

  It was hours later, when she was sitting listlessly at her small window, watching the clouds drift across the sky, that Mistress Carter again announced him. Honey turned to watch as he followed her into the room, but did not rise to greet him.

  'What is it now?' she said quietly.

  'Honey, my dearest love, I have come to apologise!' he said, casting himself down onto his knees at her feet. 'I spoke in anger, and said things I am ashamed of. Will you ever forgive me?'

  She surveyed him calmly, and read the anxiety in his eyes.

  'I was angry too,' she replied at last. 'Let us forget it all. Except you shall not break into Mr Dunstone's room.'

  He smiled, pityingly.

  'It shall be as you wish. Honey, my dear,' he went on, rising from his knees and taking her unresponsive hands in his, 'I have more news for you, I fear. I have just been to visit my family in the city.'

  She lo
oked at him in alarm, wondering what he was about to say.

  'What is it? Oh, tell me!' she begged. 'Is it my mother?'

  He shook his head.

  'I do not know,' he replied quickly. 'My own family are all gone out of London, apart from a couple of old servants, and they have kept so close to the house they could tell me nought. It was the cross – on your father's door.'

  'No! Oh no! Then they are all condemned! They shut all people who are in a house up, and they nearly always die,' she cried out. 'Do you know if it has been there for long?'

  'I did not wait to make enquiries,' he answered quietly. 'It would be to no avail in any event, for even if they live now, as you say there is little hope for them.'

  'I must go to them! I cannot let them die so. Not my mother, and dear little Patience! Oh, how can I find out who is ill? I must go and find a neighbour who is still there. Robert, will you come with me? I – I am afraid to go alone!'

  'You must not go at all!' he exclaimed. 'You would catch the plague for certain, and they would not desire that. Whatever your father did to you, he would want one of his children to live and if possible carry on his business.'

  'What does that matter? And there is still Temperance, she lives outside the city near St James in Clerkenwell.'

  'That was one of the first parishes to be infected, after St Giles. They have suffered heavily there, so there is little chance she escaped, unless she left London early. Do you know if she did?'

  'I have heard nought of them for these many months. But I must go!'

  'Much better for you to go into the country while it is safe. Going to them will serve no purpose except to put you in danger. Come away into the country with me. I will take care of you, and when all fear of infection has gone we can return and discover what has happened, and claim your father's possessions for you.'

  She shook her head.

  'I will go,' she declared. 'Afterwards, if there is no one left – ' her voice broke on a sob, but she struggled to control it and continued, 'then I might go, for there is nought to remain for.'