The Girl from the Opera House: An ebook short story

The Girl from the Opera House: An ebook short story
Nancy Carson

DISCOVER A BRILLIANT NEW SAGA WRITER.CHARMING, AUTHENTIC TALES OF LOVES AND LIVES IN THE BLACK COUNTRY…Will Millie get what her heart desires?1920s Dudley. Millie is the proud owner of a daring Egyptian bob haircut and a job at the new opera house.So when Millie meets Augustus Johnson, a rich patron of the opera house, she dares to hope for more than a just a passing smile.Will dreams come true for Millie? Or will the past forever shape her future?***THIS IS A FREE 20 PAGE SHORT STORY***

The Girl from the Opera House

A short story

NANCY CARSON

A division of HarperCollinsPublishers

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

Published by Avon an imprint of

HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street,

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers 2015

Copyright © Nancy Carson 2015

Cover photographs © fourseasons/istock by Getty 2015, Cover design © Debbie Clement

Nancy Carson asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Digital eFirst: Automatically produced by Atomik ePublisher from Easypress.

Ebook Edition © February 2015 ISBN: 9780008141363

Version 2017-11-14

Contents

Cover (#ued58a003-1FFF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

Title Page (#ued58a003-2FFF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

Copyright (#ued58a003-3FFF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

The Girl From the Opera House (#ued58a003-5FFF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

Be swept away by THE BLACK COUNTRY CHRONICLES (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

The Girl From the Opera House (#ued58a003-4FFF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

The Opera House on Castle Hill in Dudley was opened in 1899 by the Earl and Countess of Dudley to much pomp and civic ceremony. The new theatre was mooted to be the safest and most convenient one in Britain; the safest because it could be emptied of patrons in three minutes flat; however, its claim to greatest convenience was less clear. Impressive, and some said, pretentious, with its sensational Italianate terracotta architecture, the Opera House was quite unlike any other construction in the town, standing as it was in the lea of the ruined Norman castle that sat perched on a steep and densely wooded hill at its rear. Despite the building’s name, it offered not only operas (its very first offering was The Mikado by the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company), but plays, music hall, variety, vaudeville, and even presented silent films on afternoons.

As patrons entered the warm and welcoming foyer an attendant with polished brass buttons and an amenable demeanour would greet them, and point them in the direction of the box office with the message, ‘Tickets here, please.’

The occupant of the box office to which all were directed was Millie Cutler, twenty-six years old and strikingly pretty with big brown eyes. Her lush dark hair was exquisitely cut in a fashionable and thoroughly modern bob, and she possessed a figure that was equally arresting. Such feminine characteristics were considered essential to her position. At work she wore a plain, but very smart dress in black and decorated it with a necklace made of colourful stones that lifted it from the ordinary. And all because the boss, Mr Edward Baring, did not care for his girls to look like the clerks and waitresses from the Station Hotel across the road. In the course of her ticketing, hundreds of people watched and admired Millie, especially men, as they paid for their entrance into the theatre. Consequently, her face was well-known locally. On the street people would recognise her, nudge each other and say, ‘That’s the girl from the Opera House’.

Millie was in her box office well before the doors opened for evening performances, and remained on duty until the money she had taken had been counted, and reconciled with the tickets sold. She treated every patron to an affable smile, whether the patron was pleasant or not – and all in the course of duty. In short, not only was she presentable, but amiable and efficient too. It was these qualities that continued to commend her to Mr Edward Baring.

Although she spent a great many of her waking hours in this opulent theatre with its regular changes of shows, actors, actresses, singers and other artists, she never had the chance to meet any of them. She had never seen a performance from start to finish. The only time she was aware of the entertainment was at those instances when the heavy curtain between foyer and auditorium was pulled aside, and she would catch the sounds of the orchestra or a few recited words of a monologue. She had no hankering for the artificial glamour and glitz of provincial show business; she was happy, and considered herself lucky to have regular employment, even though the hours did not coincide harmoniously with those of the rest of society.

In the autumn of 1920, a handsome man of about thirty, tall, straight-backed and impeccably dressed, appeared at the box office long after the current showing, which was a vaudeville production, had started. He asked if there was a private box available.

‘I’m afraid all the boxes are occupied this evening, sir,’ Millie responded apologetically through the gilt grating that separated them.

‘What a shame,’ the man replied, and took off his hat. ‘But are there any good seats available elsewhere in the auditorium, somewhere near the stage?’

Millie thought how refined he sounded, with his rounded vowels and clipped consonants, with no hint of Black Country twang. And he was so good-looking, with his sleek black hair, that she was overcome with a desire to impress him.

‘Let me just check for you,’ she answered, and consulted her seating plan which showed the seats sold for that performance as well as those left unsold. ‘Yes, sir, there are a few seats in the third row – row C – almost in the centre, and on the left hand side in the sixth row. Would one of those be all right for you, sir?’

‘Excellent, thank you.’ He smiled gratefully. ‘I’ll take just the one – in row C.’

He duly paid, and Millie sighed as she watched him disappear through the heavy curtain that separated the foyer from the auditorium, to be ushered into the darkness and shown to his chosen seat.

On the Monday evening of the following week, the same well-dressed handsome man presented himself at Millie’s box office again. Tonight, though, he was in good time to catch the entire programme. She smiled up at him in recognition, and he reciprocated pleasantly from his superior height.

‘Good evening, Miss,’ he said. ‘Do you have a private box available for tonight’s show?’

While trying to look pert as well as efficient, Millie made an exaggerated display of checking her seating plan, even though she was fully aware that one private box was empty; this, just to detain him a little.

‘You’re lucky, sir.’ She smiled up at him, wide-eyed. ‘There is one available. Would you like to take it?’

‘I would, rather,’ he answered. ‘How much is it?’

She told him and he handed over a gold sovereign. In return she gave him change and his ticket.

‘So that you’re not disappointed in future, you can always book a private box in advance,’ she suggested. ‘That is if you intend to visit the theatre regularly.’ This would be helpful to him, she thought, and added: ‘In the daytime you can book at Stanton’s music shop in the town, just below the Market Place.’