Ice and Embers (Regency Redezvous Book 10)

by Melanie Karsak

  Gasping, I leaned back.

  “Elyse,” he groaned softly, leaning his forehead against mine.

  My emotions tumbled over themselves. The deep affection I held for him was undeniable. And the stirring between my legs made me ache, but I also felt…embarrassed. Would he touch a fine lady so? Maybe I was just being silly. He touched me like that because he felt as passionate for me as I felt for him.

  Not seeming to notice my confusion, he whispered, “I must apologize, but I have some business in the city today. When will you be free?”

  “There is a pantomime this morning, then we break and set up for the evening performance.”

  “Then I will be back around noon. Wait for me?”

  I nodded.

  “What part will you play this morning?” he asked, gently touching my chin once more.

  “Columbine fashioned as Persephone.”

  John clapped his hands in delight. “I will clear my schedule and be here for the show tomorrow morning.” He rose. “Let me get on with my affairs so I may return by midday.”

  “Thank you again,” I said, looking down at the Frost Fair roses.

  “They are beautiful, but nowhere near as lovely as you.” He put on his hat and with a soft smile, took his leave.

  I lifted the roses and tried to breathe in their scent. They carried no perfume. It was as if the smell had been arrested in ice.

  I sighed.

  Lady Waldegrave.

  That was certainly a title worth waiting for.

  Chapter Eight

  As I approached the tent backstage, I heard Marion’s high-pitched tone matched in passion with Lizzie’s angry voice. Lizzie, from what I could tell, was beyond frustrated. When I rounded the corner, I found Marve standing between Lizzie and Marion while Hobbs, who would play Hades to my Persephone, stood in the background listening.

  “You’ve given Lizzie and Elyse the best parts in Midwinter. And now in the pantomime too. Given my years with the company, and my far superior talent to any actress in this troupe, it’s unfair,” Marion said.

  Her dark eyes flicked toward me. I could see her calculating, determining if I had heard her last comment. Deciding that I had, she smirked. “At least you could have given me Persephone,” she added then glared at me.

  Marve sighed then following Marion’s gaze.

  “What’s the matter?” I asked.

  Lizzie, Marion, and Marve all spoke at once. And of course, it was the expected argument.

  The truth of the matter was that Marion was a very good actress. She was better than Amy and Hannah who were still more enthusiastic than talented. But she was not better than Lizzie. And she was not better than me. She was also the oldest woman in our company, and her roles reflected that.

  Marve raised his hands. “You know Elyse gets all the dancing parts. She is the only trained ballerina in our troupe.”

  “Trained by her grandmother, which hardly counts,” Marion protested.

  “My grandmother was a ballerina for—” I began in protest but was cut off.

  “We are at the Frost Fair but a week, maybe not even that long, before the Thames takes the river back. Can’t you, not even for one performance, give me a lead role?” Marion demanded angrily. But this time, I saw a flash behind her eyes. Certainly, she was jealous. But it was more than that. She truly found it unfair. And maybe it was. I might be a better dancer, and our presence on the stage was very different, but she was a very good actress.

  I opened my mouth to offer her the role of Persephone, but the words stuck in my throat. Hobbs, seeing me move to speak, shook his head. Offering it would have been the right, the generous, thing to do. But somehow, I couldn’t bring myself to give up the role. My chances to do ballet on stage were so few, and if managers for the other stages were at the fair, it would be my chance to shine. Ever since I stepped foot on stage, I wanted to act for one of the big houses. Being part of a troupe at a more reputable house made me a more reputable woman, which was something I needed more than anything at the moment.

  Marion slammed down the faerie godmother’s wand then turned and headed deeper into the tent. “Ridiculous. All of you are ridiculous, talentless hacks. I have half a mind to quit!”

  Marve sighed heavily then pinched his brow.

  “You were right not to give in,” Hobbs told him. “If you give in now, she’ll try to pressure you every time.”

  “She’s terribly good at drama, but all we are staging is comedy,” Lizzie said.

  Marion played the darker ladies like Gertrude, Lady MacBeth, and the Duchess of Malfi. Drama was her specialty. But for the fair, Marve had planned only comedies to keep things light. Lizzie was right.

  Marve sighed once more. And this time, that sigh was pregnant with unspoken words. He turned and looked at me.

  “Elyse,” he began gently. “Marion cannot play the cinder girl. She is too old. But she has studied as Columbine and can play Persephone. Maybe, just this once, on account of the fair…”

  “Marve,” Hobbs exclaimed. “She doesn’t dance anywhere near as well as Elyse, and her timing for humor is off.”

  “True. But, as she said, we’ll be back to our playhouse in a week. And Elyse knows the faerie godmother lines. As well, you can wear Titania’s costume for the part. I’d rather return with a sullen and snobbish actress rather than have her leave our company.”

  I steeled myself against the frustration and jealousy that splashed up inside me. I strongly suspected that I was feeling exactly how Marion felt. “I can do what’s best for our troupe.”

  “This is poorly done,” Hobbs told Marve.

  “Maybe,” he said. “But it must be done. Thank you, Elyse.”

  I nodded then sat down on a barrel and started to pull my hair back into a braid while Marve went to find Marion.

  Hobbs shook his head in frustration then headed back to his section to get ready.

  “We don’t go on until after their set, and I’ve been smelling oil cakes all morning. Join me, faerie godmother?” Lizzie asked, extending her hand.

  I nodded. “After I get my hair in place.”

  “Are those more Frost Fair roses?” she asked, looking at the bundle in my hand.

  I grinned.

  “Would I get wooed as often as you. Your gentleman caller…I saw him waiting for you in the front. Handsome rake.”

  “Rake? On no. He is quite sincere, I assure you.”

  Lizzie lifted an eyebrow at me. The expression was charming. I remembered her using it on stage before. “Are you—please forgive me for asking—but are you certain? You know how some gentlemen look at us—”

  “Very certain.”

  “Oh!” Lizzie exclaimed, her other eyebrow joining the first in surprise. “Oh, that is good news. But what about Doctor Murray?”

  “What about him?”

  “I just thought…”

  “Heavens, no. He is like my brother.”

  Lizzie pursed her lips. “Well, if that’s the case.”

  I laughed. “He’s far too sullen for you.”

  She grinned. “I expected as much. What happened to your hair, anyway?”

  “A wind snarled it. Do you remember a gentleman at the show last night? You might have marked him. He wore a blue suit and coat. His hair was very pale blond, long, and not in the London fashion. He was very handsome.”

  Lizzie shook her head. “No. I don’t. But from the sound of it, I’m sorry I missed him.”

  “Perhaps he’ll be back today.” Odd. Lizzie always noticed the handsome attendees, which was, no doubt, how Kai had gotten her attention. Surly though he was, women always found his dark hair and hazel eyes very appealing.

  I finished tying off my braid then nodded to Lizzie that I was ready to go just as Marion appeared. Paying no attention to us, she was smiling at the ground. When she realized we were there, she quickly made her expression blank.

  “Have you been informed?” she asked, a smug look on her face.

 
Informed? As if I had not acquiesced. Informed, indeed!

  Her cheeks flushing red with anger, Lizzie opened her mouth to speak, but I took her arm and squeezed it gently.

  “Yes, I have. You’ll find Persephone’s costume in my trunk.”

  Marion nodded, gave me a half-snort, then turned and walked toward my section.

  “Whey-faced adder,” Lizzie grumbled in her direction.

  I elbowed her gently in the ribs. “Forget her. Let’s go.”

  Lizzie and I turned back toward Freezeland Lane and headed out in the direction of the oil cake vendor. The thoroughfare was getting very crowded as even more Londoners joined the revelry on the ice. The scent of oil cakes perfumed the chilly air. We approached the vendor.

  “Ladies,” the vendor called happily. “How many?”

  “One for each of us,” Lizzie said.

  “Shall I add some snow?” he asked, motioning to some powdered sugar.

  At the mention of the sugar, I was reminded of the gentleman who’d fallen into the ice. I’d have to stop by and check on him later that day. I’m sure Kai would not be opposed to visiting the Hawkings’ workshop once more.

  “Oh, please,” Lizzie replied, eyeing the cake hungrily.

  Trading coins for the cakes, we moved back into the gathering crowd.

  “There is a tent two rows over where they are selling handbills to commemorate the fair. Let’s get one,” Lizzie said, directing me once more.

  Though it was still morning, the crowd was already beginning to pick up. Slender rays of sunlight shone down on the Thames. If it warmed up, the fair would be over before it started. This, of course, was good news to all the sailors trapped in the ice. But my troupe, and many other vendors, were set to make a fat stack of coins from the impromptu festivities.

  A small crowd gathered around a painter who had set up his easel and was painting one of the ships trapped in the ice. We passed vendor tents where frozen meats, fish, and other goods were for sale. One baker sold gingerbread. The scents of the baking bread, cinnamon, anise, and other spices wafted through the air. Children laughed loudly as a man swung them on a massive swing built from tall timbers frozen into the ice, the swing made from a sleigh. Four children sat laughing, their cheeks red, as those around cheered and waved to them as they swung. Not far from them, the usual debauchery also found its home at The Frozen Mushroom. I caught the scent of opium on the wind and noticed people sipping gin.

  The first day of the Frost Fair had seen mostly commoners on the ice. Now, however, I noted more fine ladies and gentlemen in the crowd. Perhaps this was why Marion was so insistent on having a larger role. She knew the audience would be of a better sort today. This also meant that at tonight’s performance I would have to play Titania with renewed vigor. I was suddenly sorry I’d let Marion take the role of Persephone. I rarely had a chance to show off my skills in ballet, and Marve had written the script for me for that express purpose. Tomorrow, I would insist on having my role back.

  We approached the other end of the Frost Fair. The fair, situated on the ice between London and Blackfriars Bridges, thinned out near the Blackfriars end where the ice was said to be thinnest.

  “There,” Lizzie said, pointing to a line of people waiting to get a handbill.

  “Get one for me? I’ll get us both a hot chocolate,” I said, pointing to another vendor across the lane.

  I joined the long queue of people waiting to get a cup of steaming chocolate. The copper kettle from which the vendor was ladling the drink effervesced the sweetest perfume. The scent of cocoa filled the air. The delicious aroma fought off the smells coming from a makeshift tavern and gaming tent nearby. Someone had written City of Moscow on a board and had hung it over the entrance. The smells of ale and smoke billowed from the tent.

  I looked back at Lizzie who was chatting with two young women in line behind her.

  I finished off the last bite of oil cake then clapped my hands, freeing them of the loose sugar, as I waited. Once more, a strong wind whipped across the ice. The tents’ walls, many of which had been made from sails, snapped and shifted in the hard breeze.

  I pulled up my hood, afraid the wind would take my hair apart once more. Holding my cape shut at the neck, I turned from the wind and found myself facing the City of Moscow tent. The wind blew insistently around me, and with my other hand, I held down the skirts of my dress to fight off the unexpected updraft. The sharp wind pulled a peg from the ground, and one corner of the tent at the City of Moscow pulled free, revealing the revelers inside.

  “Next,” the gentleman at the hot chocolate stand called.

  With the tent flap pulled aside, I looked into the City of Moscow and spotted several gentlemen sitting at a makeshift gaming table, all of them drinking. And for a brief moment, I swore I saw John. He tipped his head back and laughed loudly. What was he doing here? Hadn’t he said he had some business in town?

  “Next! You, Miss. In the blue coat.”

  I turned to see it was my turn.

  “Sorry. Two, please,” I told the man, opening my bag to retrieve my coins.

  I set the coins on the table then looked back at the gaming tent. A worker had come to fix the tent flap, obscuring my view.

  Turning back, I took the steaming cups of dark chocolate from the vendor. “Thank you,” I said with a polite smile. The dark liquid, almost black in color, looked as thick as mud.

  “I got them!” Lizzie called, crossing the ice toward me.

  I handed her a drink.

  “I put them in my bag so the wind didn’t take them. Such an odd wind, wasn’t it? My dress blew up, almost showed a glimpse of my knickers. No wonder your hair came undone. Elyse? What’s wrong?”

  “Can you hold this a moment?” I asked, handing her my drink.

  Confused, she nodded.

  I went to the entrance of the City of Moscow and looked toward the table where I thought I’d seen John. Another man sat in his place wearing a coat that was the same deep green color. The man also had the same sandy-colored hair.

  “Miss?” a man said, meeting me at the entrance.

  “Is…is Lord Waldegrave within?”

  The man scrunched up his face and thought back. “Lord Waldegrave? No. Haven’t seen him since last night.”

  “Last night?”

  The man shrugged. “He was by for a few drinks.”

  Well, that was to be expected. It was a Frost Fair, after all. If he was partial to drink, that explained the taste of anise on his tongue: absinthe.

  “But not this morning?”

  “No, Miss.”

  “Very well. Thank you,” I said.

  I’d been mistaken. I chided myself for my distrust. What was I doing acting so suspicious? I turned and rejoined Lizzie.

  “Everything all right?” she asked, handing me the cup of hot chocolate.

  I nodded. “It was nothing. How is it?” I asked, motioning to the drink.

  “Ambrosia!” she exclaimed.

  Taking her word for it, I took a sip. She was right. The drink had been brewed thick, and it carried a hint of spice. It was an unusual but well-matched flavor.

  “Should we head back?” Lizzie asked.

  I nodded, and we turned back toward the Ice House. As we walked, Lizzie chatted happily, pointing out all the sights. My mind, however, was busy. What kind of woman was I to doubt my love at the first opportunity? Not a very true one. I had no reason to doubt John. He’d been nothing but forthcoming with me. I sighed. It had been an odd morning. As we passed the row where Kai and I had been met by the boy that morning, I paused.

  “Why don’t you go ahead? I want to check on Doctor Murray.”

  Lizzie raised one eyebrow at me again. “Do you want me to come with you?”

  “No, I’ll be fine. Kai—Doctor Murray went to check on a patient. I just thought I’d see if he needs anything.”

  Lizzie smirked but said nothing. “Don’t be long.”

  With a wave, I turned and headed acr
oss the ice toward the ship where the boy had led Kai. My nerves were rattled. Had I really seen John? I wasn’t sure. What I did know, however, was that nothing comforted me more than Kai’s advice and opinion. I knew that spending just a moment or two with Kai would make everything right again.

  Chapter Nine

  Outside the ship, a small area of the ice had been swept of snow. I wasn’t sure how they’d done it, but the ice appeared to have been washed. Its surface was an oval of glass upon which some of the sailors were skating. Their moves were sublime. They skated with such ease, moving around each other in a pattern that reminded me of a quadrille. Nearby, someone had carved a lovely castle made of ice. It seemed the sailors had decided to make their ship as festive as possible. Lanterns sat along the rail, and from inside the galley, I heard music.

  I approached carefully. I looked over the skaters and the other merry-makers but didn’t see Kai. A moment later, the boy who’d asked Kai to come with him appeared on deck. He grabbed a rope and slid down to the surface of the frozen Thames then ran over to me.

  “Miss?”

  “I was looking for Doctor Murray. Is he still here?”

  The boy scrunched up his brow as if he was not sure what to say. “Yes. He is still with the captain.”

  “May I see him? I just wanted a word.” A word. A comfort. A reassurance. A…something.

  The boy thought over my request for longer than seemed needed. “Certainly,” he said. He smiled then, both cheeks dimpling in a mischievous grin. Waving to me, he beckoned me to follow him.

  The skaters slowed as I approached. I noticed that, like the boy, many of them had long dark hair which they let hang loose down their backs. They were a very attractive group of men. The leatherworking on their attire was remarkable. Where were they from? They nodded to me then went back about their business.

  “This way, Miss,” the boy said.

  I walked up a plank onto the deck of the ship. There, several of the sailors sat around a brazier while they played unusual instruments: long-necked lutes, oddly-shaped harps, and one man even played what appeared to be a flute made of…ice? I stopped when I saw it.