Next Richard inspected William’s face, stroking his fingers across William’s smooth cheeks and chin.
William had no hair there yet, which had been a source of displeasure for him in the past, but now he was grateful for it. Richard’s fingers were gentle compared to his own rough, work-worn hands, and he fought the urge to lean into the caress. All his attention must be on his performance tomorrow if he wanted to make Richard his permanent lover.
“We will not need to shave you yet, but once we do, you will not have long in skirts.”
Richard disappeared back to the trunk and returned with a small box that contained three little pots. He removed two—one rouge, one kohl—and lightly painted William’s face before standing back and inspecting his work.
“You could not pass for a real woman. Here.” He handed William a mirror. “Your thoughts?”
“I’m not beautiful.”
“Most girls aren’t, and men struggle even more.”
William inspected himself again. He might not have fancied women, but he knew what a handsome one looked like, and it was not him. Nick made a pretty girl; even Francis said so.
“I’m not good enough, am I?” he lamented, handing back the mirror.
Richard looked at him gravely for a moment and then chuckled at his misery. “You’ll do for the stage. The crowd will not be so close, and your paint will be thicker. Besides, they like to see you’re a man. Everyone knows what they’re dealing with then.”
Richard wet a rag and roughly scrubbed the rouge from William’s cheeks and lips before starting a more delicate cleanse around his eyes. “Keep it on no longer than necessary; it’s not good for your skin. White paint is the most expensive, so we only use it for playing royalty, and you will not need it tomorrow. If you’re lucky, you may not play girls long enough to wear it. God only knows what I will do with a bearded apprentice, but I suppose there will be servants enough for you to portray.”
That was a more comfortable proposition. The only possible advantage to the female roles was the opportunity to be kissed by Richard during the play. “What sort of woman will I be playing tomorrow?” William half expected her to be a nun.
“Minor nobility, unmarried. A country girl.”
William vaguely knew the type. He didn’t mix with that class, but he’d seen them. She would be a little haughty, despite knowing her place, and she would be playful. As an unwed woman of that breed, he believed she would be as chaste as him. Not that he intended to remain pure much longer. Once the idea was in his mind, he couldn’t avoid the question. “Will you kiss me?”
Richard cocked his head, and for a moment, William thought he saw the ghost of a smile. If William had looked away for even a second, he would have missed it and only seen Richard’s disapproving glare.
“It is part of the script. You are here to focus, remember, not to beg me for kisses.”
“I was asking if it would happen tomorrow, not if you would kiss me now. But thinking about it, we should practice.”
“Practice kissing?” Richard snorted. He appeared to be going for derision, but his eyes twinkled merrily. “I should have thought that was natural enough.”
“To a man who has been doing it twenty years, I am sure it is. However, as you know, I’m just beginning.”
“Have you honestly never even kissed a girl?” Richard asked, incredulous.
“No. Nor a boy neither.”
Richard raised an eyebrow but made no comment on that. “Let me show you how your character would like to be kissed tomorrow.”
William’s stomach fluttered violently. This was the moment he’d waited his whole life for. He puckered his lips slightly, the way he’d seen girls do with their swains, and leaned forward eagerly.
Richard smirked at him and leaned in close.
His lips left the faintest brush on William’s cheek, and William wasn’t sure they had touched at all. “Is that it?” he asked, pulling himself back upright.
“You didn’t like it?”
It would have thrilled William if he didn’t know Richard could do better. “That’s not how you kissed Nick today,” he grumbled.
“That was a different play with different characters. He was my wife. You will play a virtuous country girl who has nothing but her chastity and her dowry. She’s not going to give up one without the other.”
“I expected more.”
“Your problem is that you’re a country boy, not a girl.” Richard laughed. “Men will always expect more, no matter what their experience. You need to feel your character’s desires and put aside your own.”
Clearly Richard didn’t know a thing about women. “Are you sure she doesn’t desire you to kiss her on the mouth? I’ve stood next to women at your performances who would attest otherwise.”
“On this I am firm. A kiss that was any more forceful would not be welcome, even if she finds herself desperately in love with the giver. Think of her like our fair Queen Elizabeth: the only terms she will accept are her own.”
William huffed but offered his cheek again. “Go on, so that I may react with more affection.”
“No.”
“No?”
Richard wore an evil grin now. “You’re annoyed. That’s good because she will be too. Focus on that and remember the feeling. We’re going to try a range of emotions. Ready?”
Unsure what he meant, William nodded anyway.
“Good. Now, give me joy.”
Richard looked at him expectantly, but William hadn’t a clue what to do. “I don’t understand.”
“If you want to be an actor, you’re going to have to present a range of emotions. Pretend to be joyous.”
William remembered the moment he found out he was coming to London. He beamed broadly and bounced on his heels, clapping his hands together.
“That was tolerable, but you need to exaggerate for the crowd. We’ll try a few others.”
They went through a range of emotions, and William performed as asked.
Richard sat on a stool and reeled them off one after the other, giving him a fair amount of time to think about and try each one. “Anger. Happiness. Misery. Contentment. Aggression. Passion.”
William paused longer than usual.
If I show you passion, one of us will not be able to sit down for a week.
Was this a test of his focus? “I can’t do it,” he muttered, disliking the feeling of being toyed with.
Richard was sympathetic. “Just show me in your face. I will not judge or laugh at you.”
“I don’t know how.”
The sympathetic look was replaced by a frown. “I know you’ve seen less action than Queen Bess, but you have shown me you understand passion as well as I. How old are you?”
“Twenty.”
“Twenty! You look it too.”
William didn’t know whether that was a compliment, so he made no comment and hoped Richard wouldn’t let him go for being too old.
“You’re the oldest apprentice in England,” Richard continued. “If you’re twenty and anything like I was in my youth, then you’ve known your own hand a thousand times, and probably a lot more. You know passion.”
“I don’t know what it looks like. I’m not thinking about my face.”
“What are you thinking about? Wait—don’t answer. You’re blushing, and that’s not what we want.”
A knock at the door interrupted them. “Come in!” Richard called.
Geoffrey opened the door sheepishly. He dipped his head in greeting to William, not blinking at the sight of him in female garb.
“What is it?” Richard asked impatiently.
“Here are the lines and my cousin’s few things.” Geoffrey set his load down on the table and stood awkwardly beside it.
“Thank you. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Richard refused to look at him.
“Please, Richard, don’t be like this. Can I speak to you? Alone?”
Richard shook his head but then relented. “Stay here,” he sa
id to William. “Don’t even think about stepping out of the room in that dress unless you want to earn a coin from one of the other tenants.” He left for Geoffrey’s room next door.
William hurried to the wall and pressed his ear against it. He could hear nothing. It didn’t matter. He had a fair idea what was being said and would wager his cousin was playing the dog in the manger, warning Richard off again. He would die a virgin if Geoffrey had his way, and right then, when he was so close, William could think of nothing worse than that.
It was harder than he imagined, being near enough to touch Richard but not being able to. Geoffrey was only making it harder. It seemed impossible to focus on a job he would like when there was a man he would love, and William’s thoughts were consumed by Richard alone. Reminding himself that only hours had passed since they’d become properly acquainted and he might have to wait days, or even weeks, until Richard gave in, William knew he should give up teasing himself with playful banter. More direct action was required, and if that didn’t work, he would just have to wait.
For a moment, he felt peace, knowing he had something of a plan in place. Then he dashed over to the window to see if he could hear better from there.
Chapter Four
“I’VE NOT touched him, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Richard muttered as he stepped into Geoffrey’s room. “You don’t have to worry about me turning him into a sodomite. He’s halfway there of his own accord.”
Geoffrey winced. “I know what he is, all right. He made no secret that he was coming here for your bed, and I brought him regardless. In all honesty, I don’t care what he does, and if he likes the company of men, then let him have it. Even better, let him have it here in London, where word won’t get back to his mother. But you and I have known each other for fifteen years, and you have called almost as many men lover. I can think of only one you truly cared for at that.”
“What exactly is your point?”
“I don’t want him heartsick over you in six months’ time when you have moved on to a new man, or worse, back to an old one, and left him regretting he ever fell into your arms. He won’t take a pallet next to the bed while you have a stranger in his place. When you and he are finished, he will be gone. This is his one chance to be a success. I don’t want him to squander it.”
Richard did not like the way Geoffrey painted his character. He’d lain with many men, but he didn’t just toss them aside when they were done. His lovers were his friends; they regarded each other as convenient bodies, and emotions weren’t often involved. He never understood why woman-lovers felt at least one person in the bed should have a tender heart, especially when society did not often expect it to be those men.
That was not to say Richard hadn’t been in love. He’d loved long and deeply in his time and had even been as amorous a youth as William. Yes, he knew love, but many years had passed since he’d felt that way about a new man, and with the fresh disappointment of Nick in mind, he was not disposed to fall in love again now.
“Our relationship will be that of a master and apprentice,” he snapped, “and any man I have known in the past is nothing to do with that.”
“You were master to Nick for a few days too before he got into your bed.”
“That was not a love affair. It was an opportunity for him to increase his allowance and an arrangement for me to enjoy myself occasionally without having to go looking. There were no feelings involved. You know Nick is incapable of loving men.”
Geoffrey took a seat at his table and huffed. “We are not talking about Nick. William has his head and heart filled up with thoughts of you, and he will make it easy for you if are feeling lonely one night. I’m just asking you to bear in mind how simple it will be to let go of him afterward. If it will cost you nothing to end it, then it might be best not to start, for his sake.”
As aggrieved as Richard felt, he knew there was truth in that. If William believed he was in love, then better for Richard to maintain his distance. He didn’t play with men’s emotions, and he didn’t appreciate when others did. “I won’t break his heart,” he promised.
“Thank you. He’s young. I’m sure his ardor will diminish, and you can do what you like with him then with my blessing. Just promise me you’ll wait. The only other person I know who needs an apprentice is Will Shakespeare, and he’s randier than you are.”
Richard left feeling a little better about his friend’s interference. He returned to his room and found William slumped on the bed, still wearing the gown.
“Get me out of this,” William grunted. “I leaned out the window, and a wag offered me a penny for a suck.”
Richard laughed and hauled him up to unlace the back of his bodice. “A whole penny? You must look expensive in this dress. What did you say to him?”
“I was too stunned to speak. I just shut the window.”
“Next time tell him it’s a groat to see your ankle, and he couldn’t afford the rest. What were you doing leaning out the window anyway?”
“Nothing.”
William replied far too fast for that to be true. Richard guessed he’d been trying to listen to the conversation in Geoffrey’s room, and let it go.
William was quickly naked—and now there was no shirt to cover his modesty.
Richard made a point of not looking, but he was aware of creamy skin and something darker hidden among a bush of black hair. Strangely it was more exciting that he couldn’t stare. While William had been enticing before, having sworn off him made him temptation itself.
“Rare organization!” Richard said, turning away from the sight and snatching up the script from the table. “You’re in luck getting your lines a day early. You can read?”
“I’ve had schooling.” William didn’t appear to be in any hurry to dress.
“You’ve not seen the handwriting yet. It’s just your lines. We’ll do a read-through tomorrow at the theater, and I will rehearse with you this evening. Learn it well, I’ll test you in an hour.” He thrust the paper into William’s hand and then hurried to the door.
“Where are you going?” the lad asked, seeming slighted. “I thought we had work to do.”
“For this part, you will work far better without my distraction.”
Richard left the room and let out a sigh of relief before heading down to the bar for a drink. He needed it, but he was mindful that he ought not to have too many. Even with the day he’d suffered, knowing a willing youth was in his bedroom would be too much of an invitation to mischief.
The tavern was as crowded as ever. The Spurre had long been one of the most popular in town, doing double duty as an alehouse and a brothel. Women plied their trade openly, leaning against the wall, tits already out, waiting for a buyer, but you had to ask at the bar if you wanted a man’s attention. It was rough, but Richard had called it home more than once in London, and he liked it.
As he walked through the throng, he caught snippets of gossip. Lord Strange was dead, a victim of the Catholics’ fondness for him, if the tavern talk was anything to go by, though many a man had died of a stomach malady without being poisoned. Richard had met him numerous times and admired the man for his lack of political ambition. Strange was a lover of the arts above all else.
The notion of a plot intrigued Richard, but he let it go. Not even the death of an acquaintance could compel him to dwell on the machinations of the day. A nice, quiet life, that was all he wanted these days.
Of more concern was what it meant to the other playing companies. There was no Lord Strange’s Men without the earl as patron. Will Shakespeare would be looking for more than an apprentice.
Richard spied a table in the corner with a single stool and sat, then called over the serving girl to fetch him something to eat and drink. He’d been expecting to feast tonight, but as Nick had cleaned him out, it would be simpler fare. After ordering a mug of ale, cheese, fruit, and some bread and butter, he sent the same up to the room. It should guarantee William was clothed when he ret
urned.
What a pity William was Geoffrey’s cousin. If he’d been just another admirer who’d taken a fancy, Richard would have obliged him with a turn in his bed. Even if Nick hadn’t betrayed him, he could have fitted William in. It would be nice to lie down with someone more interested in his body than his purse.
Thankfully he was back in London now, which meant plenty more opportunities for a fuck if he wanted it. The men of the provinces were far more cautious than those in the city. Here bedfellows were easy to come by, especially south of the river. Vice was a given in Southwark.
His food soon arrived and he tucked in. As he was finishing up, a familiar figure entered the bar, and Richard reflected that he should have taken his chances with William in his room.
Bennett Goldfox ordered a cup of French wine and approached with a smug expression. He was nearly fifty now but still handsome. His clothes, cut to the latest fashion and trimmed with green velvet, were expensively tailored and a perfect fit to his hard, tight body. He fenced, which kept him in excellent shape. Bennett could hold his own with men twenty years younger. Nevertheless, his hair and beard had taken on a fetching silver tone, and he had lines around his eyes and across his forehead. Despite Richard being thirty-four years old, looking at Bennett made him feel like a boy.
There were no greetings or pleasantries, although more than a year had passed since they last met, and that had not been a fond farewell. Bennett simply took an empty stool from the nearest table, sat next to Richard, and said, “I heard about young Nick.”
Probably from the lad himself.
Richard wondered if Bennett came to commiserate or crow. “It’s all right,” he replied nonchalantly. “I’ve already moved in his replacement.”
“That’s unlike you.”
“Someone has to play his part tomorrow, and this one is a keen apprentice.”
“You know that’s not what I meant.”
Richard knew, all right, but he hadn’t wasted any love on Nick. The betrayal made no difference to his need for a new apprentice.
The First Act Page 4