Antonette's Story A novel by Bronwen Welsh Copyright 2020

Chapter 15    A working honeymoon and an invitation

I intended to conclude my memoir with our wedding day, but it's been pointed out to me that I should write something to bring our lives up to the present date.

Following our wedding, we spent two wonderful weeks honeymooning in the Lake District. The weather was great, warm and sunny, something I know is not always the case there. We spent the days touring the quaint villages, the historic sites, walking over the hills and travelling on the lakes by boat. As a youngster, I was a keen fan of author Arthur Ransome's 'Swallows and Amazons' series and read every book of their adventures in the Lake District and elsewhere. We visited the Museum of Lakeland Life and Industry in Kendall, which has a room dedicated to Ransome and the children upon whom he based his characters.

In the evenings, we dined in the various hotels and 'B & Bs' in which we stayed, and as for the nights, I leave that up to your imagination. Many times I found myself looking at the wedding ring and engagement ring on my finger and saying to myself 'You're a married woman, a real married woman.' If anyone had told me in my early teens that could happen, I would have thought it was just a wonderful dream.

Like all ballet dancers, we took our leotards and ballet shoes with us wherever we went as daily exercises are a 'must'. The main problem was finding somewhere to practice. In one small town, we found a ballet school advertised in the local paper and contacted them with a view to hiring their studio for an hour or two. When the principal, Miss Simpson, a retired member of the Manchester Ballet, heard that we were members of the IBC and on our honeymoon, she said she was happy to let us practice for no charge. She did mention that her senior class had a lesson on Saturday morning and wondered if we might be willing to come along then in addition to having time to ourselves. We could hardly say 'No', and anyway we were interested to see what sort of standard they were.

I already knew that ballet dancers have a limited professional life, apart from 'character rôles' when you get older. The thought of running a ballet school had occurred to me, so it would be interesting to see one in action.

We turned up on Saturday morning and found that the senior class consisted of about twenty-five girls and three boys, all in their mid-teens. Miss Simpson introduced us and explained that we were 'First Artists' in the corps-de-ballet at IBC and what that meant. I think the boys were particularly pleased to see a male dancer at the class.

We participated in the lesson and were then asked to do a demonstration 'pas-de-deux'. On my phone I had the Swan Lake 'pas-de-deux' which we were able to play through their sound system, so that is what we performed for them. Afterwards we gave a short talk about what we did in the ballet and our hopes for the future. It turned out that the three boys were really interested in trying to get into a professional ballet school. They all mentioned seeing the film 'Billy Elliot' which made them realise that boys could be successful ballet dancers. Half a dozen of the girls felt the same way and the rest did ballet for exercise and socialising. That was understandable. After the class finished, we spent a couple of hours practicing on our own. It was a very enjoyable day and Miss Simpson thanked us profusely when she returned to lock up the premises.

All too soon our honeymoon was over and we returned to London and on to the next ballet production. We were now living in our own flat, small though it was, and saving hard to buy a home of our own. We knew we would have to move further out from the centre of London in order to afford something. Ballet is an occupation you take up because you love it. With very few exceptions, it is not a path to fame and fortune, but nevertheless we wouldn't want to do anything else. We discussed the ballet school we had seen in the Lake District and decided that it would be an idea worth pursuing when we are too old to dance.

We continued to work hard and Jack was the first to achieve 'Soloist' status, which he really deserved because he is a better dancer than me. 'Soloist' is the level in the company above the 'corps' and below 'principal' I continued as a 'First Artist' but often understudied some of the soloists and so was given an occasional chance to perform, usually in a matinée. Our work was hard but we both loved it and wouldn't do anything else. I still had hopes of being appointed a 'soloist'.

A couple of years after our own marriage, we received a very ornate card from Australia which read as follows:

I was quite surprised but very pleased. I knew Kate and Bruce were engaged but didn't know when their wedding would be. As it turned out it was to be held during a break between ballet seasons, so we could go, but.there was another thing to consider. If we attended, I would almost certainly be meeting Gary again. Fortunately, Jack knew all about my first great romance and we had no secrets from each other.

“I don't see a problem with that. It was a long time ago and soon you will both be married to other people, so I'm happy to go if you want to.”

I did want to see Kate get married, so I wrote back accepting the invitation. Kate was thrilled, telling us that we would definitely be the guests who travelled the furthest, and she was so looking forward to seeing us again.

It's a long tiring trip to Australia, about 24 hours in total. We were in the back of the plane, which is fairly cramped, especially for someone as tall as Jack, but we managed to get seats in the front row of Economy, which allowed him more legroom. At least we were both slim so the narrowness of the seats didn't upset us, and even gave a bit more room for the third person sitting beside us, a very nice young Australian girl, returning home after a year in England, who was quite impressed to be sitting next to two professional ballet dancers!

We had booked into a motel in Box Hill, Melbourne, this time, since we were paying for it ourselves. It was a bit of a come-down after staying at the Windsor Hotel on our last visit, which was paid for by the Company. After landing, going through Customs and retrieving our luggage, we went to pick up our hire car and then with map in hand, Jack driving and me as navigator, we set off for our accommodation. The great thing about Melbourne is that many of the main roads are orientated East-West and North-South which makes navigation a lot easier.

We found the main road east to Box Hill, passing through the English-named suburbs of Richmond and Kew. The famous Melbourne trams also travel along this road but we had checked on local motoring rules and knew that if a tram came to a halt at a tram stop, we had to stop too, although we could pass it on the inside while it was moving.. At Box Hill we turned south on Station Street and found our way to the motel. I had phoned Kate to tell her where we were (we resisted having too much 'girl-talk') and when we arrived at the motel, Kate and her mother were waiting for us, which we didn't really expect as it was only two days before the wedding.

Kate told me that she was having a 'hen party' the following afternoon and I was invited if Jack didn't mind. I hesitated for a moment. Another corps member had told me about a hen party she had attended where the girls, some of them married, were chauffered around London pubs in one of those elongated limousines, until, thoroughly drunk, they had arrived at a club where they were 'entertained' by male strippers who left nothing to the imagination and it seemed many of the girls did things which no lady should do in public. I realised that Kate would never get involved in something so gross, so I looked at Jack to see if he was happy with the idea.

Jack said he would be happy to catch up on some much-needed sleep as he hadn't slept too well on the aircraft and encouraged me to go if I wasn't too tired. Knowing Kate as I did, I was confident that it wasn't going to involve a lot of drinking, and in fact, it was held at the flat which Kate and Bruce had rented. (Bruce had already moved most of his clothes and 'stuff' in, but was staying at his parent's place for the last few days before the wedding).

It was a very 'girly' event, strictly no men allowed. About a dozen of Kate's girlfriends including the bridesmaids and friends from school were present. Kate wore a bridal veil and we had some champagne, but not too much, and some lovely finger food and nibbles. Kate showed us her lacy bridal lingerie, all in traditional white, including a suspender belt and white stockings. One of the girls who had had perhaps a little more champagne to drink than she should, called out “Bruce is going to enjoy unwrapping his present.” Kate blushed slightly but made no comment.

Next, she showed us her going away outfit, a very pretty dress since it was now late Spring in Australia and warming up. We were even allowed a sneak peek at her dress, which was a lovely A-line Princess V-neck lace dress with a court train and beading sequins. It looked so beautiful that I could hardly wait to see Kate wearing it.

“Bruce is going to be stunned when he sees you!” I said.

“I hope so,” she replied. “We've spent so much time working on making it the perfect wedding.”

“It will be,” we all assured her.

The party was wound up about six o'clock so that Kate and her bridesmaids could get plenty of rest before the next day. I knew they would be up early to shower and get ready for the arrival of the hairdresser and makeup artist. When I arrived back at the motel, Jack was fast asleep. I decided an early night was not a bad idea, so I undressed, put on my nightie and slipped under the sheets.

Jack stirred and murmured “How was it?”

“Very nice but strictly for the girls,” I replied and kissed him on the cheek before lying back on the pillow. In only a few minutes, I was fast asleep too.

To be concluded.

Next time: Kate's wedding