Rose looked at the Earl to whom she had been speaking, who now looked disappointed.
“Forgive me,” Rose said, feigning an apologetic tone. “But my maid is right. It was wonderful to meet you, my lord.” She gave the Earl another curtsey, breathing an inaudible sigh of relief as she did so.
“Charmed,” the man said. “I do hope that I shall see you again.”
Rose smiled and waved noncommittally as she and Sarah walked away. As soon as they were out of earshot of the arrogant man, Rose looked at Sara.
“Thank you,” she whispered. However, Sarah did not get the chance to respond before another man with a look in his eye similar to the previous Earl approached them.
***
After a few more similar interactions with the eligible wealthy and titled men in attendance that evening, Rose felt as though she might faint. She had never received so many remarks about her beauty, save for from her father, nor had she met so many people in such a short time. The show still had some time before it started, yet the large theater house began to feel as though it were shrinking, and the previously acceptable volume of the voices buzzing seemed to grow louder by the second. Desperate for a reprieve, Rose slipped away from the crowd and darted up a small, hidden staircase that led to a nice veranda on the top floor that was only accessible to people involved with the theater. Not many people ever had cause to use the staircase or to go to the veranda, so she knew that she would be able to escape the suffocating atmosphere and collect her thoughts in peace.
Quietly, she tiptoed up the staircase, not realizing she was holding her breath until she reached the door that led to the veranda. Once it was closed silently behind her, she let out the lung full of air, feeling the relief of the solitude almost instantly. She walked into the dim lighting of the veranda, looking around and soaking up the peaceful ambiance surrounding her. Suddenly, from the corner of her eye, she saw quick movement. She gasped softly and looked to her left, and saw a figure standing in the shadows, just outside the glow of the lighting.
“Hello?” she called. “Who is there?”
For a moment, the figure remained motionless. Rose opened her mouth to call out again, but slowly the figure moved into the light. It was obviously a man, but his face and features remained mostly shrouded.
“Forgive me,” Rose said curtly. “I did not realize anyone was up here.”
“Of course not,” the man said, his bemusement seeming to mask his own nervousness. “How could you have possibly known?”
“What I mean is that no one is allowed up here except for performers and the theater staff,” she said.
The man stepped further from the shadows, and Rose could make out a black mask on his face. She let out a little gasp.
“So, you are the famous Specter,” she said.
The man laughed.
“At your service,” he said with a nod of his head. He took another step forward, and Rose reflexively took one backward.
“Do not be alarmed,” the man said. “I assure you that I will not harm you.”
Rose scoffed, but her racing heartbeat rendered her silent. It was not fear that caused her reaction. It was the effect that his mysteriousness was having on her that had her feeling out of sorts.
“So, which one are you?” the man asked when Rose did not speak.
“What?” Rose asked, cursing herself for speaking so dumbly.
The man laughed.
“I do not recall seeing you at rehearsals or on the stage this evening, and you certainly are not dressed like any hired help.”
Rose blushed, avoiding the question for the moment. How dare someone who was invading her private space interrogate her?
“You are playing Oberon, King of the Fairies, in this production, are you not?”
The man took another slow step toward her. Now that she had recovered from her initial shock, she merely wanted him gone from her little sanctuary. She lifted her chin and gave him a look of authority as she awaited his answer.
“Indeed, I am,” he said.
“What is your name?” she asked, her annoyance giving way to curiosity.
The man smirked.
“I am the Specter, remember?” he asked.
Rose huffed at his pretentious response. Who was he, a mere actor, to presume to be so arrogant to her?
“The show will be starting soon,” she proclaimed. “Should you not be preparing with your fellow thespians?”
The man laughed.
“I am sure that no one is missing my absence just now,” he said simply.
Rose blinked.
“Do you always skulk about in theater houses before you perform?” she asked. “I thought you always came and went completely unseen.”
The man laughed.
“Do you often steal away to secret places in theater houses and interrogate the actors you find who were there before you were?” he asked.
“Excuse me,” she said. “But, as I am sure that you are aware, my father owns this theater. I believe that I have every right to go anywhere I please here, and to not be pestered by an actor while I do so.” She flinched at once, regretting how snooty her words had sounded.
The man smirked again.
“I was here first, remember?” the man reminded her again.
The stranger was right, of course. She felt as though this spot belonged to just her, but it was, in fact, a space for anyone involved with the theater to come and go as they pleased. That fact annoyed her even more, and she put her hands on her hips and huffed again.
“Why must you be in this space?” the man asked, his voice now sounding more curious than mocking. “You seem to feel as it belongs to you, and you alone.”
“Because my mother brought me to this spot when I was a child,” she blurted without thinking. “This was her favorite place to go in the entire theater, before she died.”
The man’s face which, from what Rose could see around his mask was quite handsome, went from teasing to solemn. She tried to get a good look at his eyes, but the shadows cast by his mask made them difficult to see.
“Forgive me,” the man said. Rose could hear the sincerity in his voice.
She smiled.
“How could you possibly have known?” she asked.
The man studied her for a moment as she echoed his first words to her. Then, he laughed gently.
“Well, I shall not intrude on your special spot any longer,” the man said.
“No, it is alright,” Rose said hurriedly. Moments ago, she could not wait to be rid of the man. Now, suddenly, she hoped he would not rush away. “You were, after all, here first.”