The very best of them – and even I saw it – was Rose. She was a beautiful actress. As Juliet, she made herself seem younger, more hesitant, but with a bold, funny spark in her that I could not help liking. I even believed that she adored Lysander’s rather aggressive Romeo.

Not again!’ cried Inigo from his seat in the stalls. ‘This is too distracting. Frances, I need Miss Torrera to focus on her role! She really can’t be the stage manager as well as the Nurse. Stop, stop!’ I had guessed as much,’ said Miss Crompton. ‘Well, well. That was wonderfully tasteless. You clearly have no formal training and a very active imagination, but I commend your enthusiasm.’ Yes, darling, because no one wants to see an actress called plain old Marta Pao. That’s show business – you know that. Everyone knows where Spain is and, besides, when we put you in heels you have the build to be a Spanish beauty.’ Rude!’ cried Daisy. ‘You’ve only been married to Uncle Felix for five months and you’re already becoming far too much like him.’ Has something been misspelled?!’ called Miss Crompton, striding up the aisle between the stalls. ‘All right, show us what the trouble is.’Daisy and I had discussed this, just in case we were asked to audition. I had spent the previous afternoon learning a very sensible speech by Juliet’s Nurse. But when I opened my mouth I froze. The words slipped out of my mind, and all I could think of was part of ‘Ode to a Nightingale’. I quite agree, Hazel,’ said Aunt Lucy. ‘You may not think yourself an actress, but I know better. You’ve been around Daisy for too long not to be able to pretend.’ For a while, I could not think what it was – but then I realized. The people on this stage might all be grown-ups (or at least older than us), but the way they were chattering and clustering together was exactly like a group of Deepdean pupils at the beginning of a new term. They had already made their alliances like the second form had when I first arrived at Deepdean. At the Rue, Daisy and I were the new girls. Darling Frances,’ I heard Rose say coaxingly. ‘Don’t you think that tiara’s a little too much? It’s Juliet who shines like a rich jewel, not Rosaline.’

Poor Rose,’ murmured Simon. His words were kind, but somehow I didn’t think he sounded kind at all. He was watching Rose with a small smile that was quite unlike his usual friendly grin. I’m not a nurse,’ said Bridget coolly. ‘I am a maid, and I am completing the task I have been given by my employer, which is to bring the girls to the theatre and ensure they are safe. Now that I have done so, I’ll be off to my real job. I’ll come to collect them at seven this evening.’ Goodness!’ cried Daisy’s voice from somewhere above me, a few moments later. ‘Hazel, you poor thing!’ She knelt over me, her knee pressing on my hand. Below the stage is the under-stage area and basement, and below that, after another turn of the stairs, are the service rooms: the generator room, the cellar and the old dark room that holds a well – a real one, we learned from Jim, that drops down into London’s water table. It’s all right, Hazel,’ she murmured. ‘You know perfectly well that I shall kill anyone who tries to hurt either of us.’Ah!’ cried Rose, whirling round to face Martita. ‘Then it’s YOU who’s behind this! It must be! You’ve been jealous of me ever since I got the part of Juliet, Martita. Admit it!’ She winked at us both in a way that was clearly a warning, just as someone came down the stairs towards us. When I got there, I commandeered a ship, and I made it sail all the way to England, and when I arrived I stole another horse and rode it all the way to London. I had always wanted to become an actress, you see, and I knew London was the best place to do it. When I got here, I was utterly destitute. I tried to get jobs, but I didn’t manage it.