A Country Girl

‘Oh, I’m available.’

‘Oh, are you, Kate?’ Harriet sounded surprised. ‘Algie told me not so long ago that you were seeing some chap … Somebody called Hodgetts, I believe he said.’

‘Our Algie told you that?’ Kate became suddenly alarmed. If news of her wantonness at the back of the shed had reached Harriet after all … ‘When did he tell you that?’

‘Oh, before he … before he became interested in that … that other girl.’

‘Well, our Algie was wrong, Harriet,’ Kate said emphatically. ‘And I’ll tell him as much when I get back home. I ain’t tied up with nobody. ’Specially nobody called Hodgetts. I don’t know where he got that daft idea from. Wait till I see him.’

‘He was quite concerned for you,’ Harriet persisted, loyally defending Algie. ‘He said he didn’t like him very much. The thing is, Kate, you could have your pick of men, if you don’t mind me saying so, a girl with your looks. It’s why I mentioned Mr Froggatt. He seems to look at you with such great interest.’

‘Me? I don’t think so, Harriet. I think you must be mistook.’

‘Well, I don’t believe so. I’ve witnessed it with my own eyes. How he looks at you when he’s reading the part … And, oh, my goodness, how he held your hand so tellingly in the scene where he proposes to you in front of Powhatan. Even though you were only reading, and not yet acting.’

‘Oh, I think he was just trying to get into the mood of the part, Harriet,’ Kate responded dismissively. ‘Anyway, he’ll have a long wait if he thinks I’m going to be interested in him … I could always tell him that you fancy him, though, Harriet. I’d be happy to give your chances a boost.’

‘Oh, no, please don’t, Kate. Oh, I beg of you, don’t say anything.’

‘Are you sure? I could have sworn I detected some interest in him.’

‘Oh, I think he’s very nice, to be sure, but he’s hardly for me …’

‘What do you mean, hardly for you?’ pried Priss.

‘Well … it wouldn’t be fair on him …’

‘Oh? Why on earth not?’

‘Because I’m still smarting over Algie, to tell you the truth.’

‘Lord knows why,’ Priss remarked disdainfully, and rolled her eyes.

Harriet shrugged. ‘It’s easy for you to scoff, Priss, but losing him has hurt me far more than ever I thought it could.’

‘Good gracious, Harriet!’ Kate exclaimed. ‘You really do surprise me.’

‘I surprise myself, Kate. He wrote to me, you know, apologising for not being straight with me sooner.’

‘He wrote?’ Kate queried. ‘What did he say?’

‘As I say, it was just an apology. I ought to reply soon.’

‘I wouldn’t,’ Priss said. ‘After the deceitful way he treated you.’

‘But there’s no reason why we shouldn’t still be friends, Priss. I like Algie. He’s basically very decent …’ She turned to Kate. ‘So what’s he been doing lately? Seeing his new lady friend, I imagine.’

‘I don’t think he’s seen her for weeks. She hasn’t been our way at all lately, as I know to.’

‘Maybe it’s all over with her then?’

Kate shrugged. ‘I couldn’t say. He don’t tell me his secrets. But I wouldn’t trouble myself over him, if I was you. He ain’t worth it. I told you … And the best way to get over one love affair is to get started with another. It’s better than any poultice, you know.’

Harriet smiled demurely.

They arrived at the Drill Hall and entered. The Little Theatre group was a mix of all the social classes, people with a shared interest in being involved, in however small a way, for the satisfaction it gave them. Seats had been set in a circle in the middle of the room, and several were occupied already by an assortment of women, some not so fashionably dressed, others in tight-bodiced costumes and the latest in toques and bonnets. Harriet, Priss and Kate sat down and said good evening to those already seated. Murdoch Osborne was standing by the stove, talking to the assembled males of the group and Katie Richards. Presently, Clarence Froggatt, well-dressed in a smart jacket and a necktie, arrived and made his way at once to the three girls.

‘Good evening, Pocahontas,’ he greeted, beaming with abundant good humour. ‘Good evening, Miss Alice. Good evening, Miss Anne.’

‘Good evening, Mr Rolfe,’ Kate answered for all three, likewise using his character name, while Harriet blushed decorously and averted her eyes.

‘Learned our lines yet, have we?’ He looked from one to the other expectantly.

‘I’ve been working hard learning mine,’ said Kate.

‘Splendid. Maybe we should attempt a first run through without the script, you and I at any rate, Miss Stokes.’

‘If you like, Mr Froggatt.’ She smiled at him, more coquettishly than previously, after hearing Harriet’s observations of his apparent regard for her. ‘But I would’ve thought that was up to Mr Osborne.’

‘Oh, he’ll be delighted that we’re both being so conscientious, I’m sure.’

More of the players arrived and eventually Murdoch Osborne called them all to order. Accordingly, the men drifted towards the vacant seats within the circle.

‘Miss Stokes says she’d like to go through the play without the aid of her script, Mr Osborne,’ Froggatt announced, glancing at Kate for her approval. ‘Is that all right by you? I’ll endeavour to do likewise.’

‘Learnt your parts already, ha?’ said Murdoch. ‘Well, let’s hear it then. Let’s see if you can get through it without referring to the scripts. I’ll be pleased as Punch if you can.’

So they began running through the play. Some received coaching from Mr Osborne as to how they should express their lines, including Kate and Clarence Froggatt. Kate felt herself blush as Clarence harkened to Murdoch Osborne and gave greater expression to Rolfe’s admission of love for Pocahontas.

‘You’ve just got rid of your comrades and you’re thinking aloud about her, as you’ve been left to keep watch over that part of the forest,’ Murdoch directed, interrupting Rolfe’s flow. ‘But you ain’t seen Pocahontas yet, remember. All you know about her is what you’ve been told, and that she saved the life of Captain Smith. Try it again.’

Clarence Froggatt cleared his throat. ‘How I wish I could catch sight of her. Such a gentle maid would be much pleasanter acquaintance in these wilds than yon rough comrades. I am already half in love with this forest maid for saving my friend Smith … ’ He glanced at Kate hoping for some unfeigned reaction, watched closely by Harriet. But Kate’s eyes were in her lap.

‘That’s more like it,’ Murdoch said with approval. ‘Now … you see a panther stalking his prey and you follow it. Suddenly, you spot a Red Indian girl reclining under a tree and you realise the panther is about to attack her. You begin to tremble at the responsibility that befalls you … Carry on …’

‘Beneath the shade of yon tree a Red Indian girl reclines. I’ll nearer steal … Is she the panther’s prey? Yes, there he is, crouching low, unseen.’ He pretends he is levelling a gun. ‘Heaven nerve my arm!… Well shot! The brute is down, the maid unhurt … She comes this way.’

‘Aye, that’s passable for now,’ Murdoch claimed with a nod to Froggatt. He turned to Kate. ‘Right-ho, then, Pocahontas. What have you got to say to this pale-faced stranger who just saved your life?’

Pocahontas looked at Rolfe with contrived coyness. ‘So thou art the stranger whom the forest maid must thank. Within yon shady nook where she a moment sat to rest, a panther lies dead. One instant more, without thy aid, and it is she who would have been the dead one. How shall the forest maid thank the stranger?’

‘Nay, no thanks, sweet maid. It is enough to have saved thee. Mention it no more … May I ask thy name?’

‘Matoka is my name. The tribes of this land, which your people call Virginia, know me as Pocahontas …’

‘Well spoken, both,’ Murdoch Osborne remarked with an amiable smile.

They continued their reading. At each attempt the company’s confidence grew, the meaning they put into the words became more earnest, and the whole play more believable. At the end of it, Murdoch Osborne took Kate to one side.