Once Upon A Regency Read online

  “How many are there?”

  “Eight players and four stagehands. We are short an actor, so one of the actresses performs as a man when needed.”

  If Mr. Gordon had discussed people instead of figures and sums, Russell would have taken more care with his decision.

  A smartly dressed couple strolled past en route to the hotel entrance. Russell waited as the footman opened the glass-front door, and they disappeared inside.

  “I’m sorry, Miss Bellerose. An offer has been received, and I would be a fool to decline it. Unfortunately, the theatre has proven to be a poor investment.” He tipped his hat. “I bid you a good day.”

  As he turned to go back inside, her light touch on his forearm stopped him. “Please, Mr. Hawke. Allow me to speak with Oliver. Perhaps there is a way he can purchase the theatre.”

  “I expect there is not, or he would have responded.”

  She grimaced. “That is because you don’t know him. He is brilliantly creative, but he requires a keeper. I realize you have given him plenty of time to respond, but I’m begging you for a little more. Could you visit the theatre this evening? We are in rehearsals until six. Please.”

  Russell rubbed his forehead. Jonas was in the wrong for ignoring Mr. Gordon’s correspondence, but Russell didn’t know if it was fair for everyone to suffer because of the manager’s negligence. “Why did you come in place of Mr. Jonas? He should have arranged a meeting with me himself.”

  “I know.” She sighed. “I volunteered. I think Oliver is too proud to approach you, and I don’t want to see him lose the theatre. It means everything to him. The cast and crew are like his family. But the truth is, I have another motive for coming to see you.”

  “Oh?” Russell cocked an eyebrow. The intimate nature of her relationship with the manager seemed rather obvious with the way she referred to him by his given name and spoke of what was important to him. It shouldn’t concern Russell in the least, but envy churned in his stomach.

  She took a deep breath. “I have written the play we are performing. It is my first, and I am funding it. If the theatre closes now, I have no chance of a return on my investment, and I truly want to see my work performed on stage.”

  “I see.” Why hadn’t he walked away when he had the chance? Her investment wasn’t his concern, and the welfare of the cast and crew was not his responsibility. His decision had been made. It was final.

  She gazed up at him with hope glimmering in her turquoise eyes. Her hand still rested lightly on his arm. Her long lashes fluttered, betraying her nerves. He couldn’t help recalling her claim in the restaurant that she didn’t need a rescuer, but she did. She needed him. And he needed to walk away.

  “Very well,” he said. “Tell Mr. Jonas I will come by later today. If he is interested in buying the Drayton, I will see if we can reach a mutually beneficial arrangement.”

  A beautiful smile played upon her luscious lips, and her fingers tightened around his arm. “Merci.”

  His mouth grew dry. Hellfire and damn! He really should have walked away when he had the chance.

  RESISTING ROMEO

  CHAPTER THREE

  When Claudine lost her place in the reading of the script again, Oliver tossed his hands in the air. “Stop watching for Mr. Hawke and focus. You are an actress. Try to act like you know what you are doing.”

  Claudine’s face heated under his criticism. Oliver was correct. She was better than this. She had performed Much Ado About Nothing with broken ribs and never missed a cue. Then there was the time her fellow actress had fainted on stage. Claudine had leapt over her and kept dancing, because everyone who worked in theatre was of the same mindset. Short of a fire, the show must continue. If the audience didn’t get what they paid to see, the players would go hungry when the seats remained empty the next night.

  “Sorry.” She lifted the script in front of her face to hide her embarrassment.

  “Start from the beginning,” Oliver said, softening his tone.

  The theatre door swung open, and a river of dull light spilled into the auditorium. Two men entered, their faces in shadow with the dwindling daylight behind them, but Claudine knew one of them was Mr. Hawke. Her body responded to his presence just as it had earlier at the hotel with pleasurable shivers racing through her. When his bare fingers had touched her skin in the restaurant, she’d felt the shock of his touch all the way to her toes.

  “Good afternoon,” he called out as he sauntered down the aisle. She noticed his eyes first, and they were locked on her. On the walkway outside the hotel, she recalled they had been brown, but not quite like any shade she had ever seen. His eye color hovered somewhere between a rich ebony and jade. Now, they radiated with vigor and a blatant sensuality that made her shaky inside. For a moment outside the hotel, he’d looked at her in the same manner, and she wasn’t any more immune to him now than she had been then. She hated that he held sway over her body. Her career was already at his mercy.

  Oliver glowered at the intruders. “Please come in, Mr. Hawke. You are only interrupting a rehearsal.”

  Tilde came up behind her and placed her hand on Claudine’s shoulder. “Very handsome,” she whispered. “No wonder you couldn’t concentrate. Which one is the owner?”

  Claudine allowed herself a brief glance at Mr. Hawke’s companion. Until now, she’d barely taken note of Mr. Fletcher’s looks. With his dark blond hair and strong jawline, the rogue likely collected his fair share of admirers—the poor saps. She, however, only had eyes for Mr. Hawke.

  “The one with dark hair is the gentleman in question,” she whispered.

  Tilde made a humming sound that conveyed her approval.

  “Enough of that,” Lars teased from his place at Tilde’s side. The couple had been together for fifteen years and often boasted that they’d never spent a night apart. They barely spent two feet apart. And they were Claudine’s proof that love did exist.

  Ignoring Oliver’s steely glares, Mr. Hawke made his way to the front row and lowered onto the bench. Stretching his long legs in front of him and crossing them at the ankles, he smiled at Claudine. “Please continue. I’ve been told this play is a masterpiece. I would like to see for myself.”

  She wrinkled her nose. He’d heard no such thing, and most certainly not from her. She knew her play wasn’t a masterpiece, but she hoped it was at least good.

  Mr. Hawke’s friend dropped down beside him and propped his foot across his knee.

  “You heard the gentleman,” Oliver snapped. His entire face, from his jawline to the tips of his ears, was scarlet. “Perform for him.”

  She’d never seen her friend in such a temper. Typically, he was a mellow gent. Perhaps too relaxed at times. She had a hard time reconciling this surly man with the amiable one she’d known for years. He wasn’t happy with her asking Mr. Hawke to the theatre, but Oliver needed to fight for what he wanted.

  His maternal grandfather had created this company. The Drayton Theatre existed only because of Timothy Jonas’s determination and sweat. Oliver had a chance to secure the company’s future by purchasing the building. No more leases, no more threat of being evicted. Not many managers owned their own theatres, and the opportunity seemed too good to ignore.

  Oliver waved his hand toward Claudine. “From the beginning once again.”

  She nodded sharply at Lars and raised her script. As she delivered her first line, the auditorium and her small audience faded away. She was no longer an orphan stealing to stay alive, former mistress to the Duke of Stanhurst, or even an actress when she stood on stage.

  When Claudine performed, she was the character she portrayed, and today she was imbued with confidence and courage. This play represented Claudine’s quest to seize control of her life and banish any fears that wanted to keep her oppressed—although to the uninformed observer, it was simply a story about a farmer’s daughter traveling alone to London to find her missing father.

  In the scene she and Lars were reading, Claudine’s character r
ealized she was falling in love with the investigator she had hired to find her father, using the last of her family’s savings. Lars played the investigator, and he was a delight to work with on stage, his timing impeccable. The scene unfolded effortlessly between them. Claudine’s real life burdens vanished, and she basked in this single moment of perfection while it lasted.

  Inspired by the love and gratitude she held in her heart for Nan, the woman who’d rescued her and had become like her mother, she delivered the scene’s closing line declaring her feelings. Lars hesitantly drew closer to her, correctly ascertaining his character’s conflict between falling in love and remaining objective while searching for the lost father.

  A quiet stillness lingered in the theatre. Claudine sensed Mr. Hawke’s gaze on her. Awareness of him rippled just beneath her skin. She swallowed and turned expectantly toward Oliver for further instruction.

  The manager’s mouth settled into a firm line. He removed his hat, swept his dark hair from his forehead, and plopped his hat back on his head. “That was acceptable. We will leave off here today. You may go.”

  Claudine and her fellow players hesitated. The outcome of Oliver’s meeting with Mr. Hawke would affect them all.

  “Now,” he barked.

  Everyone jumped and scrambled to go backstage.

  “I want Miss Bellerose to remain.” Mr. Hawke’s calm baritone was nearly as surprising as Oliver’s ill temper. She halted at the crimson velvet curtain and peered over her shoulder at Mr. Hawke. He unwound his legs and pushed from the bench. “If you please.”

  She stole a glance at Oliver’s stormy face. “I think it would be best for me to allow you and Mr. Jonas privacy.”

  “If you can waylay me at the hotel to champion the man’s cause, you can stay. Isn’t that right, sir?” Mr. Hawke’s dark brows arched high over his hazel eyes.

  A muscle in Oliver’s jaw bulged. “I didn’t ask her to speak to you.”

  “Perhaps that is your problem. You don’t recognize when you need assistance.”

  Oliver’s gaze swung toward her accusingly.

  She held up her hands in surrender. “I didn’t say anything.” Well, she’d said a few things, but nothing about offering Oliver the funds to make a good faith payment. She had only thought of the idea when it was clear Oliver wouldn’t have the necessary funds. She had a pension to sustain her, and it was more than she needed to live in modest comfort. Oliver had refused her offer of help, of course.

  “I must admit,” Mr. Hawke said, “I am disappointed that you seem to care so little about the Drayton. Miss Bellerose thought it held more importance to you.”

  She received another glower from Oliver, and she refused to look in his direction again.

  Mr. Hawke’s eyes sparkled when he met her gaze, and warmth rose in her cheeks. “Fortunately for everyone, she convinced me to make my final offer to purchase the theatre in person.”

  Oliver crossed his arms over his chest, wisely holding his tongue. He was a lean man, made of hard muscle. His heart was soft, however, although one wouldn’t know it with him behaving like a tyrant.

  Mr. Hawke strolled to the stairs to join them on the stage. Each step he took across the boards sent vibrations strumming through her. “I would prefer not to sell to a man who is only interested in the building. I would like the place to stay a playhouse. I assume my father intended to keep it a theatre when he purchased it. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have financed several plays throughout the years.”

  Oliver blushed and averted his gaze. “We always paid back the debt.”

  Claudine came forward to keep the peace between the men, directing her attention toward the current owner. “Regardless of how it might seem, Oliver does care about the Drayton. His grandfather formed the theatre company, and his family has been producing shows for many years. When his grandfather died, the building’s owner wouldn’t lease it to Oliver’s mother. Oliver tells me your father saved the Drayton.”

  “Given the abysmal income generated by this theatre, I would say his intention might have been noble, but his efforts were for naught. The Drayton is limping dangerously close to a freshly dug grave.”

  Claudine frowned in Oliver’s direction, but he refused to meet her eye. He’d mentioned nothing about the theatre being in trouble.

  “What do you know about the lease agreement?” Mr. Hawke asked Oliver.

  “There is no ending date as long as the company belongs to my family, and the property remains in your family name. Quarterly rent is based on a percentage of the profits earned.”

  The details surprised her. It was an unusual lease arrangement, to say the least.

  Mr. Hawke’s brows lowered. “At first, I thought it was a forgery, but I had my father’s signature compared, and it is legitimate. I don’t know what possessed my father to make such a foolhardy decision, although the theatre was making a decent profit in the beginning. Unfortunately, the lease agreement leaves me little room to maneuver. The Drayton is no longer a wise investment, and my only recourse is to sell it.”

  “Are you blaming me for the theatre doing poorly?”

  “You are the manager.”

  Law. What did any of this matter now? She sent Mr. Hawke a sweet smile, hoping to smooth over the rift between the men. “I believe we have become distracted. You came to offer Oliver a chance to purchase the theatre, and you mentioned that you might be able to make arrangements?”

  Mr. Hawke nodded slowly. “Yes, perhaps that is a possibility. If Mr. Jonas wants to pay installments—”

  “I don’t want to buy it.”

  “Oliver,” she said through gritted teeth. One more word from him, and she would be tempted to use one of the Wing Chun moves she had learned on him.

  “No, Claudine. I don’t want your charity, and no matter what you say now, you will resent giving me the money.”

  “I won’t. Besides, I wouldn’t be giving it to you. I would be investing in my future. If this play is successful, I want to produce more.”

  Oliver threw his hand in the air. “And what happens when the theatre goes under? You heard the man. Business has been bad for some time now.”

  “We can turn it around,” she said.

  Mr. Hawke looked back and forth between them as they continued to bicker.

  “Claudine, look at the mess I’ve made since I took over.”

  “You haven’t had someone to help you. You lost your mother. I could help you.”

  “Gads!” Mr. Hawke pinched the bridge of his nose and blew out a breath. “I can’t keep up with either of you.”

  Mr. Hawke’s friend slowly pushed from his seat and stretched with a slight groan. “Let’s bring this meeting to an end, Russell. We have plans, remember?”

  Oliver grimaced. “Thank you for coming, sir, but I’m not interested in purchasing the theatre.”

  Mr. Hawke’s eyes widened, and he gestured toward her. “Did you hear what he said? I’ve come all this way to offer him a way to keep the doors open, and he isn’t interested. I guess Mr. Jonas doesn’t care that your play won’t be performed, or that you will see no return on your investment.”

  “Wait one moment,” Oliver grumbled. “I never said I didn’t care about Claudine. She is like a sister to me.”

  “Then you don’t treat your family very well, do you?”

  Claudine frowned. Mr. Hawke was goading Oliver, and it would likely end in fisticuffs if he continued.

  Oliver puffed out his chest. “Who are you to judge me? What do you know about running a theatre? I think you know you would fail, so you are surrendering without ever trying. I’ve been with this company for years.”

  “Which likely explains the problem.”

  Oliver and Mr. Hawke were toe-to-toe now, standing so close, they could be taking position for a waltz.

  “Gentlemen, please.” Claudine backed up a step in case they came to blows. They were roughly the same height and build, and she wouldn’t want to wager on which man would win in a scuffle.r />
  Oliver jabbed a finger against Mr. Hawke’s chest. “I would like to see you do better.”

  The owner flashed a triumphant smile. “Challenge accepted. Tomorrow morning I want access to your ledgers, contracts, and any other records you keep.”

  “Why?”

  “I am going to get to the bottom of why this theatre hasn’t been making a profit and turn it into the best damned playhouse in Marylebone.”

  Mr. Hawke spun on his heel and stalked toward the stage stairs. He was almost to the front door when Oliver called, “Good luck. You don’t stand a chance.”

  As the two gentlemen passed through the front door, and it slammed behind them, Claudine laughed. “You do realize you just gave him your blessing to take over the company.”

  “His father always said he could never back down from a challenge.” Oliver flashed a coy smile. “Go tell the others they can stop packing.”

  RESISTING ROMEO

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Russell exited the theatre with a smile on his face. He would enjoy showing that corkbrain Jonas a thing or two about managing a successful venture.

  He trotted down the stairs en route to his friend’s carriage with ideas already filling his mind and almost plowed into a man on the walkway. “Pardon me.”

  Russell hadn’t seen him standing in the shadows. When the man moved into the pool of light cast by the street lamp, Russell quickly determined he was a vagrant. His ragged trousers bore a small slit across the knee, and if he didn’t have it mended soon, his skin would be peeking through. Russell withdrew a shilling from his purse.

  “For a meal and a place to lay your head tonight.”

  The man accepted his offering and shot off into the dark. Russell sighed softly and continued toward the carriage. He would speak with Jonas tomorrow about hiring guards to patrol the theatre entrances. Their first responsibility was keeping the cast and crew safe, and a man down on his luck could be desperate.

  Marcus followed him to the carriage at a more leisurely pace. “Do you care to explain what just happened? I thought you were selling the theatre.”