A beat later, Lord Beverly said, “Landry. You’ll go on in the role of Arlecchino.”
Thomas looked as though the man had struck him. “Me, my lord? I’ve never acted a day in my life.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Lord Beverly said, gesturing for Thomas and Violetta to move with him toward the backstage tent. “I need this performance to go on, and Violetta needs an Arlecchino.”
“I don’t know any of the lines,” Thomas protested.
“Commedia dell’arte is mostly improvisation,” Violetta assured him.
He glanced to her, a hint of desperation in his expression. That quickly faded to determination. Whether that was because he saw the gravity of the situation reflected in her expression or because he was inspired by some sort of inner motivation, Violetta couldn’t tell. All that mattered was his answer of, “All right. I’ll do it.”
Everything moved as though they were in a whirlwind from there. Violetta swept Thomas backstage, briefly told the rest of the troupe that he would be filling in for Antonio, then dragged him to the far corner of the tent and helped him change into the traditional, multicolored costume and mask of Arlecchino.
“You actually look quite fetching dressed like that,” she said, standing back to admire her handiwork in helping Thomas get ready once he was dressed.
“I’ll say he’s fetching,” Maria agreed, stars in her eyes as she studied Thomas.
“As long as you can carry off the part,” the man playing The Doctor said in a grumble, clearly unconvinced.
“It’s easy.” Violetta took Thomas’s arm, leading him out of the tent and to the side of the stage, the rest of the cast following. “All you need to know is that Arlecchino is a wily servant who plays tricks on his master. He and Columbina are attempting to get The Lovers—that’s Maria and Lucas there—together, but they have a love story of their own to play out.”
“All I have to do is pretend that I’m in love with you?” Thomas’s expression brightened. “That shouldn’t be difficult.” He winked.
In spite of the chaos and jeopardy of the situation, Violetta’s heart fluttered in her chest at that wink. She would have given anything for the chance to play opposite Thomas in a situation that wasn’t so fraught.
The play began. Fortunately for her and for Thomas, the other characters took to the stage first, setting up the plot and bantering for a bit. Violetta stood close to Thomas, whispering advice and pointing out what the other actors were doing so that he could emulate it. Thomas nodded as though he grasped what was being asked of him, but that didn’t stop her nerves from fraying as she finally took to the stage herself for a scene with Maria.
“Columbina, you must help me,” Maria beckoned to Violetta in character. “My father is conspiring to keep me and my darling, true love apart. You must take this message to my love and tell him I will meet him in the village square tonight.”
“Yes, my lady.” Violetta played her part, reaching for the oversized letter Maria wielded.
“But what if we are discovered?” Maria pulled the letter out of Violetta’s reach at the last moment.
“How could you be, my lady?” Violetta attempted to reach for it again.
“True.” Maria extended the letter once more, then drew it away before Violetta could take it. “But the consequences of us being discovered are too great.”
The audience burst into laughter as Violetta attempted to take the letter again. The bit continued as Violetta made increasingly comedic attempts to get her mistress to be quiet and hand over the letter. Maria’s speeches grew more flowery, and the audience laughed harder.
By the time Violetta finally snatched the letter, earning applause from the audience, Violetta was almost convinced that it was just another performance. All that changed when Thomas mounted the stage with an over-exaggerated swagger, like a knight returning from a crusade. It wasn’t at all the way the part was meant to be played, but she rather liked it.
“I have something for your master, Arlecchino,” Violetta said, crossing the stage to him.
“My master isn’t Arlecchino, I am,” Thomas said, smiling broadly under his mask.
The audience laughed.
“Is that Thomas?” Lady Evangeline called out in a merry voice.
“It is,” one of the male McGoverns said, laughing.
“Do you have something for me?” Thomas went on with the scene, striding to meet Violetta in the center of the stage. “Because I certainly have something for you.” He finished his line with a thrust of his pelvis.
The audience roared with laughter. Violetta didn’t know whether she wanted to hide her face in her hands in embarrassment or to laugh along with the rest of the audience. “Yes, you always have a little something for me,” she answered him. If that was where they were going to go with the scene, that was where they were going to go.
Thomas seemed thrown for a moment. Even with his mask, Violetta could see he was on the verge of cracking into laughter. “That’s not what she said the other night,” he told the audience.
“You didn’t give me enough time to say anything.” Violetta grinned, fanning herself with the letter as the audience laughed.
“I didn’t think you could handle it for longer than that,” Thomas came back, appealing to the audience, who ate the banter up.
“That’s because you’re so good at handling it yourself.”
The audience laughed uproariously at Violetta’s jab.
Thomas laughed as well, shaking his head. He took a step toward her and raised his arm to point a finger at her.
Before he could get a single word out of his mouth, there was a thundering explosion at the other side of the plaza. Screams rang out from the audience as great, billowing clouds of smoke erupted from a second-floor window in the building directly across from the stage. Violetta stumbled back, crouching as though the gunfire from the garden yesterday would start up again at any moment. Thomas leapt across the stage, throwing his arms around her and sheltering her from any harm.
Within seconds, the smoke cleared, and Akila appeared on the second-floor balcony. She was dressed all in black, her face covered with a black mask, and she held her arms wide, as though she had the power to conjure down lightning from the sky to smite them all.
“The Jackal grows impatient,” she declared in a voice that rang throughout the plaza. “If you want to see Lord Addlebury alive again, you will bring the coin and the codex to the Temple of Saturn at sunset tomorrow.”
Violetta clutched Thomas’s arm, standing straighter. “The Forum will be swarming with people at sunset tomorrow,” she called across to Akila. “How do we know you aren’t leading us into a trap?”
“I have told you what you must do,” Akila boomed, raising her arms higher. “Time is running out. You have until sunset tomorrow.”
“This is madness,” Thomas began.
He was cut off by another teeth-rattling explosion and a second burst of smoke and sparks from the balcony. As if by magic, Akila was gone when the smoke cleared. Several men who had been loitering around the edges of the plaza rushed toward the building. They were, no doubt, more agents working for Lord Beverly.
As quickly as the interruption had started, it was over. And the audience burst into applause.