Audrey felt another prickle of envy. When had she ever felt a sense of belonging? Or celebration? “What do you suggest?” she asked.
“Do you like to dance? There’s a little dance hall nearby where my friends and I sometimes go to have a good time and maybe meet some boys.” When Audrey didn’t reply right away, Eve laughed. “You probably only know the waltz and all those other ballroom dances, right?”
What was it about Eve that always made Audrey feel prissy and stiff? She longed to enjoy life as much as Eve did, to try new things. This time her envy inspired her to action. “I’m willing to learn if you’ll teach me. Let’s do it, Eve. Let’s go dancing tonight.”
Eve leaned toward her, staring as if to see if Audrey was joking. When she saw that she wasn’t, she jumped to her feet and offered Audrey her hand. “Come on, let’s go up to my room and change clothes. You can borrow some of mine this time. They’ll know you’re not one of us if you’re dressed like that.”
Once Audrey got used to the dim, smoky dance hall with its loud music and boisterous patrons, she was surprised to find herself having fun. The social events she usually attended were formal and contrived with everyone sizing each other up to an exacting set of standards, trying to gauge how much money they were worth. Eve seemed to be having such a good time on the dance floor that Audrey let her teach her the swing dance and the shag so she could join the fun. The music came from a recording, not a real band, but the lively beat made it impossible to sit still and not tap your toes. The fun seemed contagious. Audrey was even more surprised as young men approached from time to time, inviting them to dance or offering to buy a lemonade.
“You’re the two prettiest girls here,” one of them said. “Are you sisters?”
“Best friends,” Eve replied. “You may have one dance with us, but no more.” She leaned close and whispered in Audrey’s ear. “It’s the only way to get rid of them. Otherwise they’ll pester us all night.”
It was great fun to hold a young man’s hand and swing around the dance floor with the other couples. “I’m very new at this and not very good yet,” Audrey explained, panting for breath.
“You’re doing great, doll.”
Afterwards, she and Eve collapsed onto their chairs, laughing. Audrey wondered if her face was as flushed and beaming as Eve’s. “Mother would be appalled if she knew I was here,” Audrey said, fanning herself with a paper napkin.
“I’ll never tell. Cross my heart and hope to die.” Eve made the sign from their childhood ritual, then took a sip of lemonade. “So, tell me, are you and your brother supposed to marry aristocrats or can you marry for love? I don’t understand how it works in your world. You’re a member of the nobility, right?”
“Well, Mother is, at least. Her brother, Roger, sits in the House of Lords, and their family tree goes back forever. I find all that history boring, and my mother does, too. We rarely socialize with her relatives.”
“But she didn’t have to marry a nobleman, right?” Eve asked.
“No. My father is wealthy but it’s ‘new’ money. He earned it himself instead of inheriting it. The only reason the snobs don’t look down on him is because he has piles of it.” Audrey paused as she remembered her mother’s confession: “I liked the life he could offer me. And he liked my father’s title.”
“So you and Alfie could marry commoners?”
“Yes. But there’s no shortage of down-on-their-luck aristocrats who need to marry into a family like ours with new money in order to keep their huge estates going. Why do you ask?” Although she had a feeling she knew.
“No reason.” Eve looked away. “You know, our new king is a bachelor. Maybe you’ll get to meet him at one of your fancy balls, and he’ll give up his affair with that American woman and fall madly in love with you, just like in a fairy tale.”
“He’s much too old for me,” Audrey said with a smile. But her father was sixteen years older than her mother.
“What do you think it will be like to fall in love?” Eve asked. She wore a dreamy look on her face as she watched the swirling dancers.
“I’m afraid I know nothing about it, really, except what one reads in books.”
“Everyone says that my daddy was so romantic he could charm the birds right out of the sky. He and Mum fell madly in love. That’s how I want it to be for me.”
Tears burned in Audrey’s eyes. She wanted to believe it was from all the cigarette smoke. She leaped up to dance with the next boy who wandered over, desperate to erase the memory of her parents’ story—and the future she likely faced.
Too soon, the lights in the dance hall blinked for closing time. Eve gasped and stared at the clock in horror. “Oh no! I forgot it’s a weeknight. I’ve missed my curfew! My landlady won’t let anyone into the boardinghouse after curfew.”
“What will you do?”
Eve shrugged as if she didn’t care, but Audrey could tell she was worried. “I guess I’ll throw stones at the window and hope one of my roommates wakes up and lets me in. And that our landlady doesn’t catch us.” They fetched their coats from the cloakroom and stepped out into the frigid night.
“Why not take a taxi home to the town house with me?” Audrey asked.
“Well . . . it’s better than risking trouble, I suppose. I’m sure Mum will let me sleep in her room.”
Audrey hailed a cab and ordered the driver to drop them off at the corner instead of in front of the town house. “Do you mind walking a bit?” she asked Eve. “If our butler sees the headlights, he’ll know how late I’m coming home.” They were a few yards from the front door when a shiny silver Bentley purred to a halt out front. A dapper stranger left the car idling and dashed around to the passenger door to help a woman from the car.
Her mother.
The man draped Mother’s arm around his shoulder, supporting her as he led her to the front door. Mother was as limp as an eel. She began singing “God Save the King” in a loud voice. Shame stole Audrey’s breath.
“Shh. You’ll wake the neighbors and cause a scandal,” the man said, laughing. His voice carried clearly in the still night air.
“That’s nothing new. I already have a scandalous reputation, don’t you know?” Mother stopped on the front step, wrapped her arms around the man, and kissed him full on the lips. The kiss was like something from the cinema, lasting for half a minute. Audrey averted her eyes as if her mother stood there naked.
“Shh . . . Quiet down, old girl!”
“It’s fine for you gentlemen to have a good time. No one even blinks at your indiscretions—even if you’re married to some stuffy old wife. But if a woman has a little fling, it’s goodbye future. Goodbye reputation. A proper gentleman wants to marry a good girl.”
“It’s time to go to sleep, Rosy dear.”
“I’m good, aren’t I, darling?”
“You’re very good,” he said with a laugh. “Now toddle off to bed before we wake up the neighbors.” The front door opened and the butler helped Mother inside. The man in the Bentley drove away. Audrey longed to sink into the ground, to crawl into a hole and disappear. She felt Eve nudging her forward.