Page 17 of A Snowfall of Silver

“I told you it was going to be too tight,” Nora sighs.

There’s a knock at the door. It’s Kit.

“Hello!” I greet him with enthusiasm. I can’t wait to tell him everything that’s happened since he left me.

“Oh, it’s you,” Russ says dismissively.

“Yes, it’s me,” Kit replies easily. “Came to see how the newest recruit was getting on. I see you’ve put her straight to work, Nora, but I need to steal her away. Miss Meriden needs her to fill out some paperwork.”

Nora nods. “Yes, yes, take her. She’s done more than enough. There’s only Eileen left today anyway.”

“Oh, but—” I start to protest.

Nora laughs at my crestfallen expression. “Don’t worry, you’ll meet her another time. You’re going to be seeing plenty of this lot.”

“A pleasure I am particularly looking forward to,” Russ says. His voice is warm honey, and the look he gives me is mischievous, designed, I think, to rile Nora. I wonder what happened to the old assistant.

“Thank you for today,” I say to Nora, ignoring Russ. She waves me away, already absorbed in fitting a jacket. I quickly tidy away the sewing kit I’ve been using and follow Kit out.

“Kit!” His name bursts from me, once we’re away from the others and walking down the corridor. “Can you believe it? I’m coming on tour with the company, and it’s all down to you.” I give a little skip. “I can never, never thank you enough.”

Kit shakes his head. “All I did was make the introduction. You’re the one who won over Mr Cantwell, and Miss Meriden, and Nora. No small feat for half a day’s work.”

“I can’t believe I’m going to meet Eileen Turner,” I murmur. “I’ve had a photograph of her as Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream up on my wall for years.”

In the picture, Eileen Turner must only be about Nora’s age, with long, pale hair tumbling almost down to her knees and threaded through with flowers. I used to hold whole conversations with this picture, about my dreams, and the theatre, and the adventures I would have – but the Eileen Turner on my wall, she was my Eileen Turner. Now, though it still seems absurd to contemplate, I am going to meet the real star herself.

“It’s quite the coup that Mr Cantwell managed to get her out of retirement,” Kit says, breaking into my daydreams. “She’s extraordinary onstage.”

“I suppose if anyone could do it, he could.” I lower my voice. “Miss Meriden says Mr Cantwell hasn’t worked much lately.”

Kit rubs the back of his neck. “Yes, he went over to America for a while, to give it a shot in Hollywood, but I don’t think things went as well as he’d hoped. He doesn’t talk about it.”

I wonder what it must be like to be so stunningly successful and then to fail at something when all eyes are on you. Not nice, I expect.

“I met Viola and Russ,” I say, changing the subject.

“Oh, yes, those two,” he says absently.

He glances at me and his face suddenly becomes more serious.

“Freya,” he says a little awkwardly. “About Russ… I think I should… I mean, I think someone should – well, warn you…”

“That he’s a tremendous womanizer and I should be careful?” I finish for him.

Kit laughs, looking relieved. “Yes.”

“You don’t need to worry about that,” I say reassuringly. “Of course he’s wildly good-looking, but I have no intention of falling for his well-oiled charms. I don’t have any intention of falling in love at all.”

“You don’t?” Kit asks, coming to a stop in the hallway.

“Of course not. My focus is on my career. One must dedicate one’s whole self to the craft!”

He looks as though he’s thinking this over. “I see,” he says finally. “But don’t you think – as an actress, I mean – that experiencing all sorts of emotions can only enrich your performances?”

I stare at him, struck by this observation. Penlyn is hardly a seething hotbed of romantic opportunities, but I never went about with the local boys like Alice and Lou did when they were my age. To be honest, if anyone ever invited me to the pictures it certainly wasn’t hand holding that I was interested in, it was whatever was happening up there on the screen. I prefer to go to the pictures alone. That way, there are no distractions.

But now, I wonder. Would a love affair improve my acting? I think of Viola. She must have had plenty of love affairs; why, she’d implied that Marco the producer she was out with right now was head over ears in love with her. How could you act falling in love if you never had?