Applause (The Dudley Sisters Saga Book 2)

by Madalyn Morgan

  She’d rest for ten minutes; half an hour at most. Then she’d feel better, refreshed. Her eyes felt heavy, so she closed them.

  ‘Margot? Margot, wake up!’ George was pulling her, dragging her to her feet. ‘Stand up!’ she ordered. ‘Margot? Can you hear me?’

  ‘Of course I can hear you. What’s the matter?’

  ‘Thank God. Are you all right?’

  ‘Yes. Why?’ Margot opened her hand. She had fallen asleep holding the bottle of pills.

  ‘How many have you taken?’

  ‘None! I was going to, but I didn’t. And I won’t. I promise. I’ll never take them again. Would you get rid of them for me?’ she asked, handing the bottle to George, who was leaning suspiciously close to her. ‘And the brandy you can smell was one sip. Honestly,’ Margot said, allowing George to take the bottle from her.

  All the applause in the world, all the cards and the flowers, couldn’t make up for Bill not being there, waiting for her at the stage door, his motorbike helmet in one hand and hers in the other. She had been embarrassed the first time he arrived at the theatre on his motorbike. The boyfriends and husbands of the other dancers called for them in cars. Salvatore sent a car for Nancy, Kat’s married politician boyfriend collected her in a chauffeur-driven limousine, and Bill turned up on his motorbike. What she would give now to see her handsome husband waiting for her in his leather overcoat and old motorbike boots.

  Margot kicked off her shoes and sat down. ‘It’s no fun without Bill,’ she told her reflection in the dressing table mirror. Her feet ached and her ankle was swollen. ‘These shoes are too tight, or I’ve overdone it again,’ she said, rubbing one foot and then the other. ‘If Bill was here he’d take me home, give me a gentle ticking off for working too hard, and then put me to bed and rub my feet until I fell asleep.’ Margot smiled through a yawn. She was tired; she’d hardly slept since Bill left. She hated going home to the empty apartment and she hated sleeping on her own.

  While she took off her show jewellery, Margot looked in the mirror and gurned a couple of facial exercises, twisting her face into grotesque expressions. She looked absurd. Daubing cold cream across her face to remove the stage makeup, she smiled a wide theatrical smile before wiping the cream off with a soft cloth. Her face was clean, but looking closer to see if the cream had removed her eye makeup Margot recoiled. Her eyes were dull with dark shadows beneath them and her skin had blemishes that she hadn’t noticed before. Makeup covered up most things, even exhaustion, but without it...

  Feeling tearful and irritable, and generally unwell, Margot went to see Dr Thurlingham.

  ‘There doesn’t seem to be anything physically wrong,’ he said. ‘Have you considered that you may be pregnant?’

  Margot’s mouth fell open. ‘No! Do you think I am?’

  ‘It’s too early to tell. I’ll do some tests. It may just be that you’re suffering from exhaustion. Pregnant or not,’ he said, looking at Margot gravely, ‘unless you want to end up back here, you must take a break. Twelve months,’ he said, ‘of complete rest.’

  Shocked, Margot agreed to take time off once the current show closed. Leaving the doctor’s surgery, she could think of nothing else except whether or not she was having a baby. No point in planning anything until the results of the tests came back. In the meantime there were people she needed to see, if she was going to take a year off.

  Artists and performers from all over England, as well as London, were in the audience to see Margot Dudley’s last West End performance. At the end of each number the audience stood up and applauded. After the last song, Margot was joined on stage by her friends George and Betsy, who had brought their army, navy, and air force caps. Artie played the piano and the Albert Sisters fell into line and sang “Bugle Boy” as they had done in the ENSA concerts.

  At the end of the show, as was the tradition, a pageboy entered the stage and gave Margot a bouquet of roses. What wasn’t traditional was Anton arriving on stage with not only all the artists, but with Natalie, and the backstage and front of house staff. After thanking her for all the wonderful performances she’d given over the years, Anton told the audience how much everyone at the Prince Albert Theatre was going to miss their leading lady. ‘And,’ he said to Margot, ‘we’re keeping your name plate. Stan assures me that it will only take him a minute to put it back on the door of dressing room one.’ Everyone applauded and Margot blew Stan a kiss.

  She had arranged for food and drink to be brought to her dressing room for theatre staff who weren’t able to go onto the Prince Albert Club after the show. They crowded in with gifts and flowers. Looking around the room, Margot smiled and thanked everyone – and then she froze. Bill was standing in the doorway. Hardly able to believe her eyes, she made her way to him. ‘Bill!’ was all she said before falling into his arms.

  Margot and Bill, Natalie and Anton Goldman, and George and Betsy ended the night at the Prince Albert Club as Salvatore’s guests. When Margot walked in, customers who were already seated at their tables stood up and applauded her, as did the bandleader – and she promised to sing for them.

  ‘You’ll miss all this, you know, back in Lowarth,’ Bill said, as they sat down.

  ‘Not as much as I’d miss you if I stayed.’

  ‘You said there was a lot more you wanted to do the last time I was down.’

  Margot laughed. ‘I’ve had some of the most wonderful roles in one of the best theatres in the West End, I’ve topped the bill in cabaret and I’ve toured with ENSA. What more is there?’

  ‘Not so long ago you wanted to get into movies,’ Bill said.

  Margot thought for a moment. ‘Maybe I don’t want to be in movies, if it means being without you.’

  ‘I don’t want you to end up resenting me – us – if you give up your dream.’

  ‘I won’t.’ Margot looked into her husband’s eyes. ‘What about your dream, Bill? What about what you want?’

  ‘Me?’ A look of surprise spread across Bill’s face. Both he and Margot had focused on what Margot wanted for so long that he’d forgotten what he wanted.

  ‘Yes.’ Margot leant forward and whispered in Bill’s ear. ‘What about your dream of settling down and starting a family when the war ended?’

  ‘What? Are you saying that we’re… that you’re …?’

  ‘No! Maybe. I don’t know... I’ll know more next week.’

  ‘Well, I’d better go home and find us somewhere to live, just in case,’ Bill laughed.

  Margot left her stunned husband. She walked across the dance floor to rapturous applause and spoke to the bandleader. The band began to play the introduction to “They Can't Take That Away from Me”. She walked to the microphone. The club was full. Everyone’s gaze was fixed on her standing in the spotlight. But Margot couldn’t see them. Her audience now was just one: Bill.

  THE END

  Outlines of the other books in The Dudley Sisters Quartet.

  The third book, China Blue, is about love and courage – and is Claire Dudley’s story. While in the WAAF Claire is seconded to the Royal Air Force’s Advanced Air Strike Force and then the SOE. Claire falls in love with Mitchell ‘Mitch’ McKenzie, an American Airman who is shot down while parachuting into France. At the end of the war, while working in a liberated POW camp in Hamburg she is told that Mitch is still alive. Do miracles happen?

  The fourth book, working title, Bletchley Secret, is about strength and determination – and is the story of Ena, youngest of the Dudley sisters. Ena works in a local factory. She is one of several young women who build components for machines bound for Bletchley Park during World War 2. The Bletchley secret costs her the love of her life. In the 1960s, a successful hotelier and happily married, Ena encounters someone from her past, leading to shocking consequences.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Madalyn Morgan has been an actress for more than thirty years working in repertory theatre, the West End, film and television. She is a radio presenter and journalist, writing arti
cles for newspapers and magazines.

  Madalyn was brought up in a busy working class pub in the market town of Lutterworth in Leicestershire. The pub was a great place for an aspiring actress and writer to live. There were so many wonderful characters to study and accents learn. At twenty-four Madalyn gave up a successful hairdressing salon and wig-hire business for a place at E15 Drama College, and a career as an actress.

  In 2000, with fewer parts available for older actresses, Madalyn learned to touch type, completed a two-year course with The Writer’s Bureau, and began writing. After living in London for thirty-six years, she has returned to her home town of Lutterworth, swapping two window boxes and a mortgage, for a garden and the freedom to write.

  Madalyn is currently writing her third novel, China Blue, the third of four books about the lives of four very different sisters during the Second World War. First and second novels, Foxden Acres and Applause, are now available.

  Click to visit Madalyn Morgan online:

  Non-Fiction Blog.

  Fiction Blog.

  The Foxden Acres Website

  Actress website.

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