Beyond Rubies (Daughters of Sin Book 4) Read Online Free PDF

to audition for the role of Juliet, but Mr. Lazarus seemed quite happy to keep them waiting as he strolled about with Kitty at his side, pointing out various locations on stage with instructions on how she’d interpret certain positioning instructions. Kitty felt very important, and knew indeed that she was destined for a long and illustrious career if the singular time and attention her director was devoting to her instruction was any indication.
    “But can you really act when put to the test?” Mr. Lazarus suddenly demanded, hands on hips and putting his forefinger beneath her chin to tilt up her head. He pointed to the lineup of hopefuls.
    “You there, Jennie; recite for me Juliet’s part when she’s speaking to Romeo,” he called, ushering the redhead with the errant garter onto the stage. “You’re an old hand at this. Three seasons, and always the support actress awaiting your moment. Well, perhaps your time has come. Demonstrate for Miss Hazlett the dizzying talent she will have to match if she is to snatch the plum role away from your fair fingers.”
    Jennie smiled prettily for her director and, with a sideways look at Kitty, flounced across stage, throwing her head back and whisking her skirts above her knees as she recited two verses of her own choice with great passion.
    Mr. Lazarus applauded loudly. “Done with great feeling. Ah yes, you know how to please your director, but I must take our fair newcomer upstairs where Mrs. Lazarus can give her opinion. The great but eminently obliging Mr. Lazarus does nothing without the full endorsement of Mrs. L.” He proffered his arm with his trademark flourishing bow, and bore Kitty across the stage in front of the goggle-eyed lineup and was about to exit behind the curtain when a loud voice cried, “Ahoy there, and what tasty morsel have you discovered from the provinces? Word has got out, oh sly one, but I am the first to bear witness.”
    Embarrassed, Kitty turned. The voice was well bred and full of confidence, but the man himself was unlike any she’d ever seen. He must have been about six feet with broad, well-formed shoulders, an athletic physique, and the handsomest face she’d ever seen.
    “Oh, but I like what I see!” he said with even greater interest, advancing a few steps and putting his head on one side to observe Kitty from the ankles upward, while Kitty’s blushes blazed in her cheeks and her heart beat a raging tumult in her chest.
    “You’ll have to be satisfied with seeing her on stage, my Lord, for Miss Hazlett is too busy auditioning and then learning her lines to be cajoled by you into any dubious adventuring.”
    The young man grinned, doffed his hat and bowed. He was now only several feet away, looking up, and self-consciously Kitty tugged at her skirts in case too much ankle might be on view, yet at the same time her skin glowed with happy warmth to be the object of his obvious admiration.
    “Lord Nash at your service, divine goddess,” he said, tossing back a head of inky-black curls as he rose from his bow.
    Breathlessly Kitty nodded, her heart racing as she saw the tiny scar beneath his right eye. “Pleased to meet you, my Lord.” She could barely get the words out before Mr. Lazarus swept her backstage, through the curtains and up a narrow staircase.
    “Are we going to see Mrs. Lazarus now?” she asked, her mind fluttering with images of the wickedly handsome young man she’d just met.
    “Not only that, but you are going to impress the good lady with your abundant talent. We have, I feel almost certain, our next Juliet, however a good director needs to be certain he has made the right choice of leading lady.” At the top of the stairs, he led Kitty into the center of a small, cluttered room with a change curtain draped with various pieces of flamboyant clothing, and a chaise lounge pushed against one wall beside which was positioned a deep green upholstered chair in which sat a large effigy of a grotesquely featured,