Page 17 of The Songbird of Wychwood

Don’t get sad, don’t get bitter,

Though war is the shitter,

And fightin’s what you’re paid to do.

So, always look after your Privates,

And your Privates will look out for you!

A serving girl was swaying along with the song. I stood beside her and leaned in.

“Forgive the intrusion Miss, but who is he?”

“Oh, that’s our George, wonderful isn’t he,” she sighed.

“George?”

“George Dancie. He’s a regular; does all kinds of characters. The punters love ‘im.”

I looked at Captain Rimmer anew and my heart leaped. He was…marvelous, holding the audience in the palm of his hand, playing them as a conductor with his orchestra. My heart thudded in recognition. I had become so fixated on Miss Georgette, in her pretty dress, bodice, and blond ringlets that I hadn’t imagined what else she—HE could be. But now I understood she was one of many characters of an actor by the name of George Dancie. I knew that George’s secret preference was the same as mine and we’d shared a moment at Wychwood. I wanted to know if he’d felt the same attraction as I did, or if that moment was all we would share.

“I say, is there any way to get a note to Mr. Dancie?” I asked the girl.

“There’s always a way, sir, for a price.”

“Of course,” I removed the notebook and a pencil from my inner breast pocket. I found a page where a few lines of poetry were jotted, and I hurriedly added a note, then carefully tore the page out, folded it, passed it to the serving girl.

“I’m sitting at that table over there,” I said directing to the table of my work colleagues, who were singing the catchy chorus once more.

“Give him this and wait for a reply.” I then showed her a silver sixpence coin, which is probably more than she was earning from waiting tables tonight. “You’ll get this when you come back with the reply.” The girl nodded eagerly and when George had finished his song to riotous applause she moved off, vanishing through a staff only door that I supposed went back stage.

I returned to my seat, where my friends and colleagues raved about the wonderful, entertaining Captain Rimmer.

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