"How very dare you?! Of course it's my natural hair color!"
Mature Content: No
Author: Edward Darling
With: Miriam Kaufmann and supporting cast.
Location: Pettigrew's, White Rose Theatre.
When: September 4th 1876
Time of Day: 10am
Mr Pettigrew and the stranger had been up in his private quarters for over an hour now and apart from the occasional muffled sounds of talking, laughter, or the heavy tread of Mr P as he walked back and forth to the drinks cabinet, sounding through the floorboards above, neither Miriam Kaufmann nor Jemima Wigfall, serving in the dress shop below, had a clue what was going on.
Eventually, they heard Mr Pettigrew's door open upstairs and the sound of the two men descending the steps down, talking loudly with an air of bonhomie and good humour. The visitor was a man who should not have been attractive: slight, not particularly tall, getting on a little perhaps. Jemima, who was pretty good at guessing these things, reckoned him to be about 50: his hair was receding a little, his nose was too long and the tell tale crow's feet of age decorated the edges of his eyes.
Still, there was something not unappealing about the overdressed man with the Mephistophelian beard: a certain rakishness, a certain je ne sais quoi.
He shook hands with Mr Pettigrew and turned to the two of them as they stood behind the counter of the store, bowing and doffing his hat. "Ladies." It was one word, yet he said it in a way that, even to Jemima's provincial mind, brought forth visions of gallantry and knights of old and doings at the court of Catherine de Medici; and considering that Jemima had never heard of Catherine de Medici, this was some going!
As soon as he departed, Worchester turned to his two employees with a look of ebullient pleasure on his fat, florid features.
"Well girls!! This is a signal day, a signal day indeed!! That gentleman was the famous actor Mister Edward Darling! Why girls, do you know, I saw Mister Darling give his Coriolanus in New Orleans twenty years ago?! It was a triumph, I tell you! A triumph!" For a moment the rotund draper's mind drifted, overcome with nostalgia for his beloved Louisiana and the days when he still had something to offer another man.
"Anyway, I have offered Mr Darling your services for the rest of the week, I want you cut along to the theatre right away. Take your things, and report to him every morning for whatever tasks he may assign you. His main want and need is for a skilled seamstress, and I have informed him, Miss Kaufmann, that you are the most skilled young lady with a needle and thread in the whole of the territories, so do not let me down!" he admonished with his usual avuncular tone.
"What's he need me for?" asked Jemima in her flat, nasal voice.
"Well, there may be cleaning, painting, er, heavy lifting..." That was maybe not so flattering, Worchester quickly added "... and I have told Mr Darling that you are a competent seamstress to boot, Miss Wigfall."
Jemima's placid features didn't really register pleasure or pain at this backhanded compliment, she tust turned to her coworker with weary "Come on Miriam, we'd better get our bonnets and shawls."
Though she could of course hear nothing clear of the conversation above them, other than the footsteps of her employer, Miriam didn't think much of it but just kept working on the hem of Miss Mundee's latest dress. That woman sure went thru enough dresses, it must be nice to afford that many. Her focus was only interrupted as the men came down the stairs and past them. She had no idea who the fellow was, he did look rather fancy, dignified. Something about him said 'big city' sort, there was no way he was a rancher or farmer. She nodded politely toward him when he doffed his hat on the way out.
That's when Mr. P directly addressed her and Jemima.
"Well girls!! This is a signal day, a signal day indeed!! That gentleman was the famous actor Mister Edward Darling! Why girls, do you know, I saw Mister Darling give his Coriolanus in New Orleans twenty years ago?! It was a triumph, I tell you! A triumph!"
"Oh? How exciting, " Miriam lied with pretend enthusiasm, she had never heard of Darling and Coriolanus meant nothing to her either. But he was from the South. Very well.
"Anyway, I have offered Mr Darling your services for the rest of the week, I want you cut along to the theatre right away. Take your things, and report to him every morning for whatever tasks he may assign you. His main want and need is for a skilled seamstress, and I have informed him, Miss Kaufmann, that you are the most skilled young lady with a needle and thread in the whole of the territories, so do not let me down!"
Well, that was not expected. Miriam was taken aback by her sudden assignment but he was the boss and she would do as she was told. It would be different and might even be rather fascinating. Her uncle had once taken her to a theatre in NYC for a performance and it had been quite delightful.
Mr.P made it quite clear she had a reputation to uphold for quality work and Miriam nodded, "Of course, sir. I will do my very best. Oh...and thank you for the compliment."
Jemima was going along too, to do mostly drudge work it sounded like , poor girl. Miriam had gotten to know the other girl and they got along well by now. However she could not replace Arabella. Miriam missed her best friend. There had not been a fight or anything but Arabella was busy now with her new job and plus that Christian women's ...whatever it was. Miriam was not Christian so............Her parents had forbade she even enter the place.
"Come on Miriam, we'd better get our bonnets and shawls," said Jemima.
"Yes of course. Who knows, this might be quite.....exciting?" Miriam was usually an optimist in life.
"THERE'S SOMEBODY AT THE DOOR!!!"
"Oh? How exciting," Miriam lied with pretend enthusiasm, she had never heard of Darling and Coriolanus meant nothing to her either. But he was from the South. Very well.
Jemima cast Miriam a sidelong glance. The big suck-up! She gave the ginger fatso an equally unbenign look as he outlined their work for the rest of the week
Mr.P made it quite clear she had a reputation to uphold for quality work and Miriam nodded, "Of course, sir. I will do my very best. Oh...and thank you for the compliment."
"Come on Miriam, we'd better get our bonnets and shawls," said Jemima.
"Yes of course. Who knows, this might be quite.....exciting?" Miriam was usually an optimist in life.
Jemima just gave a non-committal grunt, but on their short walk from the drapers to the new theatre she waxed more loquacious .
"Now, you be on your guard with these theatre folk, Miriam Kaufmann." the older girl warned "They're not really respectable. That Mister Darling feller looks like he's got an oily tongue, and as for that beard!: looks like he got it straight off the devil's chin." In Jemma's world, the facial hair on a man was as a mirror to his soul.
"We need to make sure we protect our honour in this house of ill repute!" she added as she gingerly cracked open the newly painted door of the White Rose Theatre.
As they entered, a stentorian voice echoed from within.
"But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Miss Jemima Wigfall is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, Who is already sick and pale with grief, That thou her maid art far more fair than she."
Jemima screwed up her piggy black eyes and squinted into the gloom, emitting a bovine "Uh?"
As their eyes adjusted, the figure of Mr Darling could be seen advancing upon them.
"Aha, and the nibble fingered Miss Kaufmann, too. Splendid! A very Jessica in beauty and grace!!" he complimented her stooping to kiss her hand, although when he tried to do that to Jemima, she snatched it back.
"We're here to work, Mr Darling, not have our hands slobbered over!" she informed the fancy feller.
The actor's eye lit up as if with fire and he addressed Miriam "Ahh! Your friend Miss Wigfall has spirit as well as beauty, Miss Kaufmann! I shall clearly have to watch my Ps and Qs with you two nymphs of the prairies!!"
Nymphs?! Jemima crossed her arms over her chest protectively.
Evelyn had been out in the back checking the scenery when she heard Darling go into his soliloquy. They had been rehearsing almost every day since their arrival in Kalispell almost two weeks. Well, rehearsing was practically all they could do since the town offered very little else.
The White Rose Theatre was very small in comparison to what she was used to. Ben told her that it would seat about 100 people which to her seemed more than adequate for a town of this size. She would be surprised if they got fifty. The building itself had been some sort of boarding house but the top floor had been converted to house the theatre, and a backstage area with three small dressing rooms. On the bottom floor was a room that Ben called home, another that contained an office and a couple of other rooms. One of these rooms was for storage and the other, to her surprise (no correction...it wasn't really that much of surprise considering that Ben was a gambler) a room where Ben held invitation only poker games.
She had been only partially listening to what Darling was saying but she heard two more voices and female at that. Curious to see who the man was talking to, she walk out from behind the stage. Thankfully, Ben hadn't taken out the windows in the audience area during the renovation as it allowed the daylight to come and she could see who it was. Two young girls were conversing with him and one seemed to be very much on guard, which was good considering Darling thought he was still a young man of thirty. It was too bad that he hadn't yet settled into playing the type of roles he should be playing for a man of 50. The quicker she found someone younger to replace him as her leading man, the better.
Going up to the group, Evelyn smiled and said hello. She then turned to Darling, "And who do we have here?"
Upon entry into the newly remodeled building, now to be a theatre, none other than that actor fellow was there, the one Jemima had just warned her about and he greeted them with gusto.
Miriam nodded.
"Aha, and the nibble fingered Miss Kaufmann, too. Splendid! A very Jessica in beauty and grace!!" he complimented her stooping to kiss her hand.
Miriam had not expected that but did not resist, "Thank you."
'Nibble' fingered? Did he meant 'nimble'? She wasn't about to correct the man though.
Jemima would not have it though, pulling her hand away and snapping at him that they were only here for work purposes. But of course, Miriam just nodded in quiet agreement.
The actor's eye lit up as if with fire and he addressed Miriam "Ahh! Your friend Miss Wigfall has spirit as well as beauty, Miss Kaufmann! I shall clearly have to watch my Ps and Qs with you two nymphs of the prairies!!"
"Ummm, yes, I suppose you should, sir," Miriam honestly did not quite know what to make of the fellow. Nymphs?
There was another person now, a very nicely dressed young woman, another stranger to Miriam at least, who approached. Probably another member of the theatre seemed a safe guess.
Going up to the group, Evelyn smiled and said hello. She then turned to Darling, "And who do we have here?"
"Good day, ma'am," Miriam nodded acknowledgement.
"How very dare you?! Of course it's my natural hair color!"
Going up to the group, Evelyn smiled and said hello. She then turned to Darling, "And who do we have here?"
"Good day, ma'am," Miriam nodded acknowledgement.
Jemima looked the woman up and down and just gave her a sniff of greeting. She looked like an overdressed floozy, in her opinion.
"Ahhh, Evelyn these are the two girls sent by Mr Pettigrew at the drapers..." he leant in and told her the important bit soto voce: "... free gratis, of course, we've got them to slave-drive all week for the cost of a few tickets..." he whispered to Evelyn. Jemima leaned in a bit to hear what the sneaky actor-type fellow was saying, but then he turned to face them again and spoke up.
"May I present Miss Miriam Kaufmann, whose nimble fingers will race across our tired old costumery and breathe new life into our theatrical fustian and, mayhap, let out a few seams here and there, for those of us who have gained a few pounds as we have hit the maudlin miasma of middle age..." the fact he glanced at Miss Hardy's tummy at this point indicated he meant her, not him. Oh no, he was still as slim and lithe as a boy!
"And Miss Jemima Wigfall, a general factorum of, I am assured, multiple skills and a sturdy constitution. Ah yes, beneath that pretty face and those mysterious black eyes is no fey drooping girlish weakness, but the robust constitution and hard muscles of American womanhood!" he said, lightly squeezing the bicep of Jemima's upper arm and then exclaiming in shock "My God, they are hard!"
She shrugged him off and asked "Who's she?"
"Now girls, this is Miss Hardy, the leader of our merry troupe and our beautiful leading lady! You must obey her as you obey me." he told them.
Miriam listened wide eyed to the gentleman making very frequent use of a good deal of the English language to say the simplest of things. Probably the actor in him? No one else talked like that in Kalispell anyhow. Not even Clara Lutz.
"Now girls, this is Miss Hardy, the leader of our merry troupe and our beautiful leading lady! You must obey her as you obey me." the fellow declared.
Miriam's eyes narrowed for a moment, he was pushing the whole authority bit a little too much in her opinion. Mr. Pettigrew sent them over to help but neither she nor Jemima were going to be mindless slaves. Still Miriam was not the sort to protest aloud.
"Nice to meet you, Miss Hardy. I just love your dress," Miriam offered her best smile.
Evelyn looked at both girls and nodded. "Well Edward, it seems you have chosen two competent young ladies...unlike that time in Laramie."
She grimaced at the thought of nincompoop of a seamstress Darling had hired who had single-handedly almost ruined most of the costumes. From then on she had taken of hiring girls to look after the costumes in each town they were in. However, Darling saw Kalispell as his redemption, especially since he found out that the local fashion emporium belonged to a friend. He had re-assured her that his friend would only hire the best and she had agreed to let him take care of it. Besides, she had enough trouble in trying to make this engagement profitable since they were being paid the minimum. Drat, that Ben Simons and drat her own foolishness for being in a position of owing somebody a favour.
Remembering that Miriam had complimented her dress, she turned to the girl. "By the way, I forgot to thank you for your compliment about my dress."
Looking down at the plain dark green dress she wore when she was working backstage, Evelyn grinned and returned her gaze to Miriam, "If you'll come with me I will show you where we keep the costumes. As for you, Miss Wigfall, what would you like to do? We have a number of tasks that need to be done."
"How very dare you?! Of course it's my natural hair color!"
Laramie!
LARAMIE!!
She always had to bring up Laramie.
Well... they had been very pretty girls. Very pretty. All right, maybe not the greatest with a needle and thread. But very pretty. Now these two girls, these two Kalispell girls: only one was pretty. To be fair, only one was great with a needle and thread, too. But still, it looked better, didn't it? It looked better that one was pretty and the other was... well, the Jewish looking one was pretty.
Remembering that Miriam had complimented her dress, she turned to the girl. "By the way, I forgot to thank you for your compliment about my dress."
Ah, the pretty one was clever, too: complimenting that dowdy green number. Green! An unlucky color for an actor, she might as well prance around with a peacock feather in her hair shouting the name of the Scottish Play at the top of her voice!
Looking down at the plain dark green dress she wore when she was working backstage, Evelyn grinned and returned her gaze to Miriam, "If you'll come with me I will show you where we keep the costumes. As for you, Miss Wigfall, what would you like to do? We have a number of tasks that need to be done."
"Have no fear, my dear, I shall take Miss Wigfall here under my birdlike wing. With her magnificent musculature, we shall transform and transmogrify this bare interior with trappings fit for a palace of the imagination, in short... a theatre!" Darling declaimed, throwing up a hand, dramatically.
"By the way, I forgot to thank you for your compliment about my dress," the woman remembered, which pleased Miriam.
"You're welcome, ma'am," the youthful seamstress smiled.
Looking down at the plain dark green dress she wore when she was working backstage, Evelyn grinned and returned her gaze to Miriam, "If you'll come with me I will show you where we keep the costumes. As for you, Miss Wigfall, what would you like to do? We have a number of tasks that need to be done."
Miriam nodded, "Yes of course. Might I ask what play will you be putting on for the opener? I used to live in New York City and saw a few theater plays. I enjoyed them though Father thought them a bit of an expensive extravagance...his words not mine."