Ballet Shoes Part 16

The worst of it was that the nicer, and more understanding, Mr Simpson was, the worse it seemed that after June he would be living somewhere else.

'I don't see how I'll bear it after you've gone,' she told him.

'Cheer up,' he said. We'll still be able to have our Sundays. Besides, time's getting on; in three and a half years you can learn to be a chauffeur.'

It had been hoped that both pantomimes would run over February, but the death of King George the Fifth in January cut the audiences down to about a quarter for the week following his death, and they never really pulled up again. n.o.body felt in the mood for pantomimes. Pauline's did run to the end of February, but Petrova's came off at the end of January; she tried to feel sorry because of the money, but she was earning very little, and simply could not help being glad really.

In the middle of March Posy came home from the Academy with her face swollen from crying. Madame had been taken suddenly ill; she had to go to Switzerland for a cure and it might be months before she was back.

'Oh, poor Madame!' said Sylvia.

Posy turned on her.

'Madame! I'm not thinking of her; it's my training, it ought not to be broken off now.'

CHAPTER XVIII.

Posy POSY was in disgrace. Sylvia and Nana were horrified to find her, as they considered, selfish and hard-hearted. It was all very well to be ambitious, but ambition should not kill the nice qualities in you. was in disgrace. Sylvia and Nana were horrified to find her, as they considered, selfish and hard-hearted. It was all very well to be ambitious, but ambition should not kill the nice qualities in you.

Pauline and Petrova discussed Posy together. It was a Sunday, and they were walking to church.

'You know,' Pauline said, 'everybody at home and at the Academy is shocked at Posy; but I think I know why she's being awful about Madame.'

Petrova looked surprised.

'But of course it's because of her being twelve in September. Madame has left the dancing school in charge of Theo. Theo's nice, but she's not a dancer in the way Posy thinks of dancing.'

'Do you suppose' - Pauline lowered her voice, for Sylvia and Posy were catching up with them - 'that Madame hasn't said what's to happen when Posy's twelve? She wouldn't want her to go into a dancing troupe or anything like that.'

Petrova looked round to see that Posy was out of whisper-shot.

'Madame was very ill when she went - much iller than people know, Theo told me - but you mustn't tell anybody else. She's going to get quite all right, but it will take months. They didn't want to fuss Posy saying how bad she was, and so they made her sound only a little ill; that's why Posy's so cross - she can't understand Madame, after all she has said, going off without a word, leaving no directions for what's to happen to her.'

'It is awful for her,' Pauline said sympathetically.

The Academy lost patience with Posy. It was bad enough to have Madame away ill, without her making things worse by being difficult. Sylvia and Nana had decided that it would be good for her to go to the ordinary dancing cla.s.ses with the rest of the school, that a child of her age was not to be allowed to dictate what she would, or would not, do.

'It's no good sending me to the Academy half the day,' Posy explained. 'There's nothing for me to do except have a French lesson, and practise, and I can do both those at home.'

But at home special lessons were being given to Pauline, as she was sitting for her school certificate that summer, and whoever was not attending to her taught Petrova; it was not a good moment to change the plans and put Posy's full education back on the doctors. Sylvia taught her for a bit in the afternoon to make up for the hours in which she had learnt Spanish and Russian with Madame - not that she had ever seemed to learn either language, but she had studied them.

Sylvia had a talk with Theo about her; it was planned that she should do four and a half hours' lessons at home, and her half-hour of French with Madame Moulin at the Academy; but that after that she was to join the senior ballet cla.s.s for an hour whether she liked it or not, and then she should practise on her own in Madame's room until Pauline and Petrova were ready to go home. Posy was furious, protesting that an hour's ballet cla.s.s with the seniors was the most ridiculous waste of time, as she had been doing more advanced work than they did for over a year. But Sylvia was firm.

'I expect there's a lot you can learn; you've too good an opinion of yourself.'

Madame Moulin, at her French lesson, heard her grumbles about waste of time, and told her the story of the old French actress that she had told Pauline. Posy was not impressed as Pauline had been.

'It's all very well,' she said, 'for an actress to n'oubliez jamais that she can continue a apprendre jusqu'a son dernier jour. But it's silly for a dancer. She'd much better n'oubliez jamais that you can't be a first-cla.s.s dancer for very many years, and that all her apprendre-ing would have to be done while she was still young.'

Madame Moulin laughed and patted her cheek, and said she was an enfant terrible. 'Mais tu me fais rire.'

For two or three days Posy attended her dancing cla.s.s and did what she was told; but with so little energy that none of the exercises were any good to her. Then one day she bounded into the cla.s.s looking radiant. She took her place at the bar. Theo came to the middle of the room.

'Place your left hands on the bar,' she directed. 'Battement serr, fifty times; then right hands on the bar, fifty more on the other foot.'

She gave a nod at the pianist, and the cla.s.s rose on their left points and began work.

Theo walked to the far end of the room, and closely studied each girl. Then she was distracted by giggles, and went to see what was wrong. As soon as she arrived the girls tried to straighten their faces, but they were not all able to. Theo looked round for the cause of the joke, but she could see nothing; all those who were laughing were on the bar immediately behind Posy, but she had not a glimmer of a smile on her face, and was working beautifully. Theo turned away, and as she did so, the first fifty Battements finished, and all the cla.s.s reversed, and held the bar with their right hands, and stood on their right points. Once more there came smothered laughter, but this time it was from a different lot of girls. Theo made no comment; but she knew that the culprit must be Posy, from the fact that each time the laughter came from the girls immediately behind her, whether she faced left or right. Theo could see nothing wrong; n.o.body in the cla.s.s was working harder than Posy, and the expression on her face was positively angelic.

From that moment the senior cla.s.s went to pieces; they were always laughing and watching Posy. After a day or two Theo realized why. Posy, though she did what she was told, never did the exercises as herself, but in imitation of some well-known figure in the Academy. It was incredible how, with nothing in the way of properties, she managed to give such realistic impersonations. One day she was Madame Moulin, with all her French mannerisms incorporated into the exercises, and another time she was Smithy, the cook-housekeeper in charge of the refectory. Smithy had great trouble with corns, and a habit of smoothing her ap.r.o.n over her hips. Posy doing Fouett6 as though she had corns would have made anyone laugh. In the end there was n.o.body in the Academy who had peculiarities, whom Posy did not imitate.

Theo bore with her for a bit; she did not want to worry Sylvia, who she knew was up to her eyes with work to do with selling the house. In the end she went to Pauline, and told her how naughty Posy was being, and how it was impossible to teach a cla.s.s with her in it, and asked her if she would try having a talk with her.

Pauline knew it was no good having a talk with Posy, who had always said the senior ballet cla.s.s was a waste of time for her, and who would consider, if she was made to attend it in spite of what she said, that she had a right to do what she liked during it. Pauline also knew what fun it must be for Posy to pa.s.s the time doing imitations; she always loved doing them, and the sort of audience she would get at the senior ballet cla.s.s would be just the sort she would adore.

Posy was having her bath as Pauline came in.

'The Marmaro Ballet is coming over in May, did you know?'

Posy's face lit up.

'Of course I did. Manoff is coming here for the first time since he danced here in the Diaghileff ballets before that war in 1914.'

'Is he good?'

'Good!' Posy looked scornful, 'He's much more than good. Ever since nineteen-twenty, when he founded his school in Czechoslovakia, he has worked and worked. People go in hundreds to see him over there, but this is the first year he has thought his ballet fit to show the world. Imagine it! Some of his students who are now dancing for him came to him as little as we were when we went to the Academy.'

'Would you like to see him dance?'

'Would I?' Posy soaped her neck gloomily. 'I'd rather see him dance than anything else in the world. He is only dancing "Petroushka". They say his "Petroushka" is the finest there has ever been. But I can't go without any money.'

Pauline sat on the edge of the bath.

'I've got two pounds. I put what was over of my savings back in the post office after our camp, but Garnie made me take two pounds out of my film money. If you will work properly at your ballet cla.s.s with Theo, I'll buy seats, one for you, and one for someone to take you, to see "Petroushka".'

Posy jumped out of the bath and threw her very soapy arms round Pauline.

'Pauline, you wouldn't. I'll work and work and work, however silly they all are. Could it be the circle, so that I can see the feet?'

'It could.' Pauline pushed Posy back into the bath. 'You're making me wet. I won't get the seats yet though, and only if Theo says you've been so good you couldn't be gooder.'

Posy carefully washed her left ear.

'You can buy them at once quite safely, I'm certain to be an angel with a bribe like that. Oh, Pauline...' she got out of the bath - 'this is Theo doing "Pas de chat" with her back to the cla.s.s and trying not to pretend that she's wanting to look round to see if anyone's laughing at me.'

Pauline tried to frown, but she could not. Posy, even with nothing on, and dripping with water, was quite amazingly like Theo. She leant against the door and laughed.

The accounts of Posy's behaviour were so good that the moment the dates of the Marmaro Ballet were published she bought two seats in the middle of the front row of the dress circle. They were for Wednesday, May the twentieth. Posy was told she could invite any grown-up she liked for the other seat, and she at once chose Sylvia.

Two days after Pauline had bought the ballet seats, she got a large envelope at breakfast. In it were seats for the premiere of 'Charles the Exile', one for herself, and two for friends. The date was Wednesday, May the twentieth. She was very worried what to do, but Sylvia settled the point.

'I'll take Posy to her ballet as arranged,' she said. 'You take Petrova and Nana to your premiere. I can go and see the film later on, when we're settled in a flat. It's sure to be shown everywhere presently.'

Although they were leaving the house on the twenty-fourth of the next month, Sylvia had not found a flat. It was difficult to find one big enough for five people that was not too expensive. All the cheaper ones were so far away from the Academy that if she took one it would cost such a lot to get them all to and fro each day. Theo was provided for, because she was taking over Madame's flat near the Academy; she was only going to use a bedroom, but she would see that the rest of it was kept in order. Mr and Mrs Simpson had booked a furnished flat for a month near Selfridge's, and said they should find a permanent home in the autumn. Cook and Clara planned to take a good holiday before going to new situations. The doctors had found a very charming flat in Bloomsbury; it was not far from the Academy, which they said would make it very convenient for the girls' lessons.

It was rather a miserable Spring. They all hated the feeling of their home being broken up. None of the boarders wanted to move, and though Sylvia was thankful for the money, she found the trials of flat-hunting most depressing. They were glad when it came to the twentieth, and, as Nana said, 'An outing would do them all good.'

By dint of buying some extra organdie and letting out, and adding some frills, Nana had succeeded in making the frocks Pauline and Petrova had bought for 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' audition do for Petrova and Posy. Pauline had a new frock. She was fifteen and a half, and though very small for her age, too old for frills and sashes. Had the matter of what she should wear been left to Nana to decide, she would have probably managed to have let out Pauline's organdie sufficiently for her to wear it, and sent Posy to the ballet in the black chiffon velvet which had now pa.s.sed down to her, but Pauline had a film agent.

Mr Ben Reubens had been to see the trade show of 'Charles the Exile', and had at once got in touch with the Academy, and through them with Sylvia. He had been to see Sylvia, and had taken Pauline on his list. His list of film stars for whom he did business, he told Sylvia, was the greatest in the world. He asked if Pauline was going to the premiere, and on hearing that she was, he had held up a finger warningly.

'Young, but not too young. Let her look her age.'

Because of Mr Reubens' words - and he seemed a man who knew what he was talking about - Sylvia bought a 'Vogue', and after consultation with Nana and Pauline, several yards of blue taffeta and blue organdie. The frock that Nana made was a triumph. It was much longer than anything Pauline had worn before, and made her look quite sixteen, she thought, though, as a matter of fact, she still appeared younger thah she was. But she looked perfectly lovely in it, and Nana was bursting with pride.

Mr Simpson drove them to the Cinema. The picture was not shown till nine, and Sylvia and Posy had gone on the underground to the ballet an hour before. There was the most enormous crowd outside the Cinema House, all waiting to see the film stars go in and to get their autographs. Mr Simpson had to put them down quite a long way from the Cinema. Nana put Pauline and Petrova behind her, and pushed her way to the entrance saying 'If you please', and 'Excuse me'. In the foyer were lots more people, all in evening dress, and cameras taking their photographs. Of course n.o.body was interested in Pauline or Petrova, so they were able to look about, and there was plenty to see. All round the walls Were men dressed as people were dressed in the reign of Charles the Second, and there were 'stills' from the film in large frames.

Their seats were in the circle - very nice ones - and they were pleased to find that the programmes were free. They were very grand programmes - large, with bows on them, and a photograph of Charles the Second on the front. Inside was a synopsis of the story, which they read - even Pauline. There were photographs of the leading actors, and a list, in very large print, of all the people who had made the picture. On the next page, in the same sized letters, were the stars of the cast and, in smaller letters, the rest of the actors. Pauline had not a photograph in the programme, and her name was in small letters. Petrova said she thought it was mean: that as Charles the Second's sister she ought to have her name printed large; but Pauline pointed out that even in the size she was printed, her name was bigger than the author's, and in sympathizing with the smallness of his print, they forgot to think any more about her.

The film was a great success. Pauline looked lovely, and came across very well on the screen. They were delighted with the evening, because as well as the big film there was a news reel, and a very good Mickey Mouse, which, as Nana said, was giving a lot for nothing.

They hung back after the show to get away from the worst of the crowd, and even then, when they came down the stairs and into the street, there were ma.s.ses of people standing about. Pauline looked round for a gap for them to get through, and it was then it happened. A voice said: 'There she is. That's Pauline Fossil.' In one second the crowd seem to fall on her, people waved books and bits of paper at her, and shoved pencils into her hand. She gave Nana a scared look, but Nana was equal to the occasion.

'Lot of silly women, dear,' she whispered. 'If they're foolish enough to want your autograph, you give it them.'

Pauline signed and signed until her hand ached, and then, just as she thought she could not bear it any more, Nana did a most unexpected thing. She caught a policeman by the arm.

'Constable,' she said, 'it's time we were home, would you get us into a taxi?'

He was a splendid policeman. In one moment he seemed to find a taxi, push Nana and Petrova into it, and lift Pauline over the heads of the crowd and put her in after them. Then he saluted and slammed the door.

They all sat silent for quite a long time, they were so surprised, and both the girls rather scared by what had happened. Then Petrova thought of the policeman.

'What a lovely man that was,' she said.

'Nana' - Pauline leant against her - 'why was it? They didn't when we went in.'

'The film, dear,' Nana explained. 'You must have made a hit.'

Pauline looked puzzled.

'But why? I wasn't very good. Not nearly as good as I was as "Edward", and there wasn't all that fuss then.'

Nana patted her hand.

'Don't you think any more about it. Lot of hysterical idiots, that's what they were. They don't know good from bad.'

Posy came back from the ballet very silent, and went to bed almost without a word. Pauline woke with a jump soon after she had gone to sleep, and saw her standing by the window.

'Posy!' she whispered. 'What is it?'

'Manoff.' Posy's voice was queer and high-pitched. 'I've got to learn from him, Pauline - I must.'

Pauline yawned.

'But he teaches in Czechoslovakia.'

Posy, however, was beyond reason; she was almost in tears.

'I must learn from him.'

Pauline got out of bed, took her by the arm, put her into her bed, and tucked her in.

'Don't let's argue about it,' she said comfortingly. 'You won't make it easier to learn from him by getting up in the middle of the night. I should get to sleep.'

She got back into her own bed, and managed to stay awake until she heard, by Posy's breathing, she had done what she suggested. Then she turned over, and settled down herself. Her last thought was of sheets of paper and pencils.

'Silly idiots!' she murmured.

CHAPTER XIX.

Gum Comes Back IT was at lessons the next morning that they discovered Posy was missing; she had been at breakfast, but no one had seen her since. Doctor Jakes and Doctor Smith went outside, and discussed what was best to be done, and when they came back they told Pauline and Petrova not to say anything to Nana or Sylvia yet, that even if they rang up the police nothing would be done for an hour or two, and by that time Posy might be back. She was almost twelve, and unlikely to get run over. was at lessons the next morning that they discovered Posy was missing; she had been at breakfast, but no one had seen her since. Doctor Jakes and Doctor Smith went outside, and discussed what was best to be done, and when they came back they told Pauline and Petrova not to say anything to Nana or Sylvia yet, that even if they rang up the police nothing would be done for an hour or two, and by that time Posy might be back. She was almost twelve, and unlikely to get run over.

They began lessons, but they were very unusual ones. Every time there was a noise on the stairs, both doors shot open, and Doctor Jake's and Pauline's head came out of one, and Doctor Smith's and Petrova's out of the other. 'Is that you, Posy?' they all said. It never was. They were glad when it came to beaver time; but although there was a plate of strawberry ice each, none of them had the heart to eat it, and they looked unhappily at the bit left in the box, which was Posy's share.

In the middle of the morning Clara came up, and told Pauline she was wanted in the drawing-room.

'Why?'Pauline asked.

Clara looked mysterious.

'That Mr Reubens is here with Miss Brown, and from what I heard it might be good news.'

Pauline's going made the doctors decide not to struggle with any more lessons; it was a farce, anyway, for they were none of them thinking of work, but only of Posy.

Petrova sat on the bottom step of the stairs, where she could watch the front door. She could hear voices in the drawing-room: Mr Reubens' deep one, and Sylvia's high one, and quite a lot of Pauline's. She could not hear what they were saying, but just voices. Presently the drawing-room door opened and Pauline came out. She looked rather odd. She came to the stairs and shared Petrova's step.