The Mermaid in the Basement (2 page)

“You shouldn’t torment the young fellow, Kate. I think it’s green as grass, he is.”

“It amuses me.” She suddenly smiled, took his arm, and pressed her body against him. “You’d better not give a good performance tonight. Ash won’t like it. He’s jealous enough of you as it is.”

“I’ll be as bad as I can, me.” Dylan grinned.

Kate reached up and pushed back the lock over his forehead. “Why don’t we go to my place after the performance?” she whispered. “We could get to know each other better.”

Dylan could not miss the sexual overtones of the invitation, nor the edacious look in her eyes. He shook his head, saying, “Not into that sort of thing anymore.”

Kate Fairfield’s eyes glinted with anger. “I don’t believe you’re as holy as all that.”

“It’s only a Christian I am—and not the best in the world, either.”

“Everyone knows you’re preaching, or something, down on the waterfront in some sort of mission work.”

“It’s what the Lord wants me to do, though I don’t know why. There’s plenty can preach better than I.”

Kate Fairfield stared at him, and she wasn’t smiling—indeed, Dylan saw a small stirring of sadness in her eyes. She did not like to hear talk about God or religion, and releasing her grip on Dylan’s arm, she shook her head. “You’re a fool, Dylan Tremayne!”

The play fascinated Clive, but his eyes were fixed on Kate while she was onstage. He knew the drama well and followed it almost unconsciously. All the rest of the actors seemed drab and pale compared with the luminous quality that Kate possessed.Her hair caught the lights, and the clean bones of her face were ageless, a hint of the strong will that drove her visible in the corners of her lips and in her eyes.

Clive had seen
Hamlet
many times, returning night after night, always for the sole purpose of watching Kate. There was something in her that he had never found in any woman, and she created in him a desperate loneliness and a devastating sense of need so that he ached for her.

Finally the play ended with the stage littered with corpses, and the curtain calls began. Clive applauded until his palms hurt when Kate took her bows, but he couldn’t help but notice that Dylan Tremayne received much more appreciative applause from the audience than did the star of the play,Ashley Hamilton. He did not miss the angry looks that Hamilton shot at Tremayne and muttered, “Dylan makes the star look bad. I wonder if he knows that.”

The crowd began to file out, and Clive passed through the side door, then made his way backstage. He saw Kate surrounded by the usual crowd of admirers and shook his head impatiently.

“Hello, Clive. How are you tonight?”

Clive turned to see Dylan beside him. The two had become friends of sorts. Clive had chased after Kate for weeks now, haunting the dressing rooms and the theatre. Dylan had invited him to a late supper on one of those nights when Kate had gone off with someone for dinner, and the two men had continued to dine together when Kate fobbed young Newton off. Dylan had a fondness for the young man and had gently tried to warn him about Kate, but to no avail. “I’m waiting for Kate,” Clive said, hopefully.

“A bit of fatherly advice I have for you, “ Dylan said. He had a smooth voice that could show power at times, but now his tone was merely confidential.“ Put Kate out of your mind, yes? It’s a nice young woman you need. Court her and marry her.”

“I can’t do that.”

Dylan shook his head. “You are naive, Clive. Don’t you know Kate Fairfield eats innocent young fellows like you?”

“I don’t want to hear talk like that—” Clive was interrupted as Ashley Hamilton walked up to them. The actor was half drunk, and he glared at Dylan. “Well, you ate up the scenery again tonight, Tremayne. You’ll do anything to upstage me, won’t you?” Ashley was a fine actor—or would have been—but he had a drinking problem that cut the edge off his fine talent.

Dylan said mildly, “You’re twice the actor I am, Ash. Sad it is to see you waste your talent.Why don’t you stop drinking?”

Ashley glared at him with red-rimmed eyes. “You’re nothing but a hypocrite! Why don’t you go down to the docks and preach instead of cluttering up my stage?”He turned and walked away unsteadily.

Elise Cuvier had stopped long enough to watch the encounter between Hamilton and Tremayne. She was a small woman but well formed, with bright blonde hair and enormous brown eyes. The bony structure of her face made strong and pleasant contours. She served as Kate’s understudy, and she had a dissatisfied look on her face. She said, “You were wonderful tonight, Dylan.”

Dylan shrugged. “Thank you, Elise.”

Elise turned to Clive and said, “Mr. Newton, I hope Dylan’s giving you good advice about Kate.”

Clive frowned at the actress, then wheeled and moved away.

“Trying to warn him, I was, about Kate.”

“He seems like a nice young man.He needs to find another woman.”

“So I told him.”

“Kate enjoys destroying men.” An unhappy expression crossed her face, and Dylan said gently, “You’ll get your chance, Elise. It’s a fine actress you are. Don’t get discouraged.”

Her eyes seemed to glow with a sudden inner fire, and her lips drew into a thin line. Her voice was no more than a whisper as she said, “Not unless Kate dies.”

“Don’t be saying that, Elise! She’s bad, but the good God loves her.”

“I could strangle her, Dylan! She’s got everything, and I’ve got nothing!”

Dylan reached out and put his hand on Elise’s shoulder. “It’s a hard world, the theatre.”

“It’s dog-eat-dog! Actors and actresses will do anything to get a better part—lie, cheat, steal!”

“There’s more to life than acting, yes?”

“Not for me,” Elise said, and a vehemence scored her tone. She suddenly looked up at Dylan and gave a strange, harsh laugh. “If I believed in prayer like you, Dylan, I’d pray for Kate to die.”

Tremayne stared at the young woman, and words of rebuke came to his lips. But he saw the adamant cast of her features. She was a beautiful young woman, but there was a hardness in her that he hated to see. He was a compassionate young man, and for a moment he stood there wondering if he might say anything that would mollify Elise’s obvious hatred. Finally he said gently, “When you hate someone, Elise, it doesn’t really hurt them. It’s yourself will bear the hurt.”

“I know that’s what you believe, but I don’t.”

“Hatred makes people ugly.”

Suddenly Elise laughed. “You’re preaching at me, aren’t you, Dylan?”

Dylan grinned, which gave him a boyish look and made him seem even younger than his years. His lips turned up at the corners, the right side more than the left, and he admitted ruefully, “Right, you! But you ought to be used to it by now.”

“Don’t you ever give up on anyone? I think you’ve tried to convert everybody in the cast. As far as I can tell, you haven’t made any progress whatsoever. We’re all headed for the fiery pit, Dylan. I don’t think it’s possible for anybody in our world to live a godly life.”

“I’d hate to think that, because that’s exactly what I want to do.”

Elise stared at him, a mixture of wonder and disbelief on her features.

“Have you always been like this, preaching and reading the Bible and talking about God?”

“No, indeed not. I grew up rough, Elise. Rougher than you can imagine. As a matter of fact, I was practically reared by a family of criminals.”

“I don’t believe that.”

Dylan shrugged. “True enough it is. My father was a coal miner in Wales. He and my mother died of cholera when I was ten. I was turned over to an uncle whose chief fun in life seemed to be beating me.He made me go down to the coal mines when I was no more than a boy. I stayed there until I couldn’t stand it, then I ran away and came to London.”

Elise stared at him. “What did you do? Did you have friends here?”

“No friends, me. Mostly I starved. I wandered the streets and stole food and slept in alleys and under bridges. Then a family named Hanks took me in. I didn’t know they were criminals at the time, but I soon enough learnt. They taught me how to survive. I stole with the rest of them. I was the smallest, so they’d put me through a small window in a house, and I’d go open the main door for the rest of the family to come in.We’d steal everything we could.”

Elise stared at the young man. “How long did that last?”

“Until I ran away when I was seventeen.Went into the Army, I did.

Then when I came out, I was almost starving again, and somehow I got a job working in the theatre. Tried out for a part.” He laughed ruefully.

“And here I am rich and famous.” He gave Elise a warm smile, and the young woman understood why women flocked to him.

“I think you will be succesful. You’ve got whatever it is that makes people look at you. Some actors are like that.When they’re onstage, the audience can’t look at anybody else.”

“Oh, I don’t expect I’ll be doing this forever.”

Elise shook her head. “Well,
I
will be! It’s my whole life, Dylan.” She glanced over at Kate and said, “Look at her toying with that poor young fool! Doesn’t he see that she’s nothing but a carnivore?”

“I think the old saying that love is blind is true. In for a fall, that boy is!”

Kate had let Clive into her dressing room. She changed clothes behind a screen, and when she came out wearing a gown of apricot-coloured silk with delicate lace a shade or two deeper, Clive went to her at once. “I have something for you.”

“Really? A present for me? What is it, dear?”

Clive reached into his pocket and brought out a small box. He opened it, and saw Kate’s eyes grow wide, and heard her catch her breath. “It’s . . . beautiful!” Kate took the ring, an emerald-cut diamond, and slipped it on her finger. “Why, I hardly know what to say, Clive!”

“A little token of thanks would be appropriate.” Clive held his arms toward her, and she willingly walked into them. Her lips were soft and yielding under his, as was her body.He drew her closer, but then suddenly the door opened, and Kate quickly drew back. Clive turned to glare at the man who stepped inside. He knew him, of course—Sir William Dowding, the producer of the play. He was tall, and at the age of sixty-five had gained a little weight. Still, he made a powerful impression. He had grey hair and light blue eyes, and now his lips were twisted in a cynical grin. “Have I interrupted something, Kate?”

“Oh, Sir William, come in. Look, Mr. Newton has given me a gift.”

Dowding looked at the ring. His eyebrows lifted quizzically. “Well, that’s a beautiful stone. You must be quite a wealthy man, Mr. Newton.”

Clive felt anger rushing through him, for he felt that Dowding was laughing at him. He knew, of course, that Dowding often took Kate out after the performance. He was a powerful figure in the world of drama, and had made his wealth in steel mills. He also had a wife and three grown children. It infuriated Clive that an old man, which is how he thought of him, would dominate Kate.

“Let’s go, Kate. I’m hungry,” Clive said quickly.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Clive, but Sir William came earlier. He wants to discuss my next play. It’s very exciting.”

“But you promised—”

“Oh, I know, dear, but he’s my employer. He has great plans for me, and I can’t offend him.”

Sir William Dowding laughed. “Perhaps another time, dear fellow.

Come along, Kate.”

Clive was an amiable young man, but under the surface of that amiability lay a temper that sometimes escaped. It did so now as he stepped forward and ripped Kate’s hand away from where it rested on Dowding’s arm.“Miss Fairfield is dining with me!”

Sir William Dowding was not a man who liked to be crossed. His eyes suddenly turned cold, and he said, “Who is this puppy, Katherine?”

“Puppy! You call me a puppy!” A red curtain seemed to fall before Clive’s eyes, and he shouted something in anger. He doubled up his fists and started for Sir William, but Kate had come between them. She put her hands on his chest and said urgently, “Clive, I’ve told you how it is. This is business. You can come back after the performance tomorrow.We can go out then, but I have to talk to Mr. Dowding about my next play.”

Kate took Dowding’s arm, and Dowding gave Clive a triumphant smile as the two walked out. Clive, still blinded with rage, followed them out shouting, “You think because you have money you’re something, but you’re not a man!”