Pas de Deux A novel by Bronwen Welsh A Sequel to 'Antonette's Story' Copyright 2021

Chapter 17   Hello Dolly

Time passed by and the years were very happy ones for Jack and me. One year the Ballet travelled to America where we had the great pleasure of performing Swan Lake in the New York State Theater at the Lincoln Center in New York, a magnificent modern complex. The theatre seats over 2500 people and is one of thirty indoor and outdoor performing areas in the Center (I am deliberately using the American spelling). We had a week of performances with almost full houses.

We next moved to the Boston Opera House, a magnificent building seating 2600 people, which originally opened in 1928 as a cinema. It is now home to the Boston Ballet and we were privileged to perform there. Our final week was at the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. The theatre we used seats 2300 people. Ticket sales for all three venues was very good and the tour was acknowledged as a great success.

Another year we visited Australia and New Zealand, and as a bonus for Jack and me, we were able to catch up with the Whites in Melbourne, Kate's grandparents, and also Gary and Wendy who came from Parkes to see us perform in Sydney. They were keen to know news of young Kate, even though we wrote to them regularly and sent them pictures. It was always a delight for us to visit young Kate who was growing up to be a very pretty young girl. She loved her dancing at the ballet school which of course was a great delight to me, although I took care to never mention the possibility of her following in her godparents' footsteps. That was her decision to make and I didn't want to put pressure on one so young.

Kate sometimes asked me about her mother, who had died when she was much too young to remember her, so I would tell her how Kate and I had met when we were teenagers and had been friends from then on, even when she moved to Australia, which I had to explain was a very long way away. I also told her what a lovely person her mother was and how her Daddy was still very sad that she was no longer here on earth to look after Kate, but that her grandparents were lovely people for offering to look after her while her Daddy went to work.

Christmas was approaching, and with it our annual presentation of 'The Nutcracker'. In the first scene which takes place at a Christmas Eve party in the home of Clara's parents – the little girl who receives the Nutcracker doll, there is a party and many other children are present. It is customary to approach the local ballet schools and ask if they have children both boys and girls, in the seven to twelve age group, who would like to take part in this scene.

Because of restrictions on the frequency of times young children can perform on the professional stage, we needed a lot more children than would appear at any one performance. I knew that the White Tutu Ballet School was one of those which usually provided some of the children and it took all my self-control not to ring Miss du Plessis and suggest that Kate might be old enough to participate. I had seen her dancing and knew that she was making good progress, although as a young child she was not yet allowed to dance 'en pointe'. You can imagine my delight when I was informed that Kate was one of the chosen children, and I was able to truthfully say that I had had nothing to do with her being selected.

On the first day of rehearsals, about fifty excited children arrived in their leotards at the ballet school's rehearsal rooms, Kate amongst them. I had already cautioned her that she should not recognise me or Jack in case it made the other children jealous that she was related to two of the stars of the ballet. Children can be cruel, and I was worried that far from being impressed, they might accuse her of getting preferential treatment.

The dances the children were to do consisted of holding hands and dancing in circles, and also then breaking up into pairs to dance as well as dancing with some of the adult guests and all this to the wonderful music of Tchaikovsky. There was quite a lot to learn, which is why only the most talented pupils from the various ballet schools were invited to perform. I took notice of the frown of concentration on Kate's face as she listened to all the instructions of the choreographer and Miss Higgins. She was determined to get it right.

Finally the day of the first dress rehearsal at the theatre arrived. The younger children performed a more limited rôle than the older children, but as Jack and I also appeared in this first scene, as Clara's older sister Louise and her boyfriend, I was able to watch Kate dancing and the look of joy on her face was something to behold. Now they were in costume, the girls wore calf-length muslin dresses with blue sashes, and the boys were in satin knickerbockers and a fancy embroidered jacket. I'm sure they all thought they looked very smart, and indeed they did. While they were too young to dance 'en pointe', all the dancers wore ballet shoes. With their parents' permission, they were allowed to watch the second act from the wings and appear at the curtain call at the end of the perfomance. This meant staying up rather late, which is why we had a rota of performers.

As usual, the season went very well, with full houses. I think some of the audience members attended a performance every year, and I can understand why; it truly is a wonderful ballet to introduce the Christmas season. Naturally all of our families attended to see Kate as well as her godparents perform.

With the arrival of the sixth anniversary of the tragic death of Kate, Ben's wife and my dearest friend, I found myself worrying again about Ben, and wondered if he would ever marry again. I am not saying that he lived the life of a hermit. Ben is almost as handsome as my darling Jack, and a year or two following Kate's death, he moved from his parent's home into a flat of his own, and I'm sure there were plenty of women who were only too happy to share his bed, but none of these relationships ever lasted. I had no doubt in my mind why this was; in each case they had been weighed in the balance against Ben's memories of Kate, and been found wanting. The fact that Ben had a seven-year-old daughter who would make any prospective bride an instant stepmother probably didn't work in his favour either., but that was too bad – they came as a package.

I suppose you could say that it was my good fortune to be a very happily married woman; that made me want to see Ben settle down again into a good relationship. Some people might call me a interfering busybody, but I prefer the former reason. It suddenly struck me one day that Lucie Manet, one of the other principal dancers with the Company, might be perfect for Ben, but there was a problem – they had never met, and in the normal way of things perhaps they never would, unless somehow this could be engineered.

Lucie had recently gone through a rather unfortunate breakup. For some years she had been in a relationship with a man called Brian who was married but had split with his wife. Because he was Roman Catholic he could not get a divorce. As far as Lucie was concerned she felt they had a very good relationship, although the fact that they could never marry was a constant source of irritation to her..

One evening we were performing Cinderella, with me in the title rôle and her as one of the ugly sisters, which I felt was very ironic because she is a very pretty woman , but it is amazing what our makeup artists can do. Partway through the first act, she developed severe stomach cramps and knew that she couldn't go on performing, so she moved over to the wings where the Assistant Stage Manager was standing and urgently told him to get her understudy dressed and made up to replace her.

Understudies don't often put on costumes before a performance since if called upon to perform, they usually have plenty of notice. In this case Erin, the understudy and the dressers and makeup artists performed a small miracle and she was ready in just over five minutes to arrive in the wings to replace Lucie. Once more, Lucie moved to the wings and out of sight and Erin came on stage in her place. She didn't miss a beat and I'm sure that none of the audiences was aware of the change of cast. I knew that something was wrong because when Lucie first went over to the wings it was not part of her performance. I don't know how she hung on as long as she did, but then she is a true professional.

Back in the dressing room, a doctor was called in to treat her. (The old story about a performance being stopped while someone comes on stage and dramatically calls out 'Is there a doctor in the house?' almost never happens.). Anyway, he diagnosed an acute Staph gastroenteritis, gave her an antibiotic injection and suggested plenty of fluids and rest. After a while Lucie felt better and a taxi was organised to take her home, and that's when things got really bad. Later she told me what happened.

“As I closed the front door of the flat I heard a squeak from the bedroom and when I opened the door, Brian was in bed with his best friend's wife. At that point I very nearly did collapse. Men are such liars, but they're not even good at it. He gave me some story about how he didn't know how it had happened, and it had never happened before, and never would again. I didn't believe a word of it of course. I told them they had five minutes to get dressed and out of the flat. Brian I told to come back in the morning for his things and to leave the key because I would be out..To give him his due, that's what he did but not before ringing me to plead for forgiveness, but there are some things you just can't forgive.”

The breakup had happened six months previously, and it occurred to me that perhaps she could be persuaded to meet another man.

“I really don't think I could trust another man,” she said. “I trusted Brian and look what happened?”

“Well this one you could trust, I am sure of that. His name is Ben and he happens to be my brother-in-law.”

“Ben,” she said. “Didn't his wife die in an accident?”

“Yes, it was six years ago. I had better tell you now, that he has a seven year-old daughter who, like his late wife, is called Kate.”

“Well I can assure you that would not put me off him as I have often thought I would love to have a daughter myself, and to acquire one without all the trouble of having to give birth to her and then nurture her would be quite an advantage!”

I must confess I had never thought of it in that way before, but in some ways I supposed she was right, especially for someone who is a ballerina. I remembered Mariette from the Ballet who had prematurely retired after, I presume, accidentally becoming pregnant.

“So tell me, who looks after Kate now? I presume Ben is still working?”

“Yes, he is an accountant. His parents took over raising Kate after her mother died, but Ben is a great father and spends a lot of time with his little girl.”

“The more you tell me, the more interesting he sounds. Tell me, is he as handsome as his brother?”

I laughed. “Nearly,” I replied.

“So how do you propose to engineer this meeting between us?”

“It could happen next Sunday if you like. I'd really like you to teach me to knit. If you came to our flat then we could have lunch too. Ben is quite a good amateur footballer and he's playing in his club's final Sunday afternoon. Jack loves football but he can't play for fear of injury, so Ben will be coming around to pick him up to watch the match, and if you are there, I'll arrange to give you five minutes on your own with him. How does that sound?”

Lucie grinned. “It sounds like you are a real match-maker – do you make a habit of this?” I blushed as she laughed. “I'm getting more and more interested to meet 'Mr Wonderful',” she said.

I had to let Jack in on my plans of course as he had to co-operate. “So you're playing Dolly Levi are you?” he laughed.

“Don't you start!” I pretended to growl.

Sunday morning came and Lucie, who had dressed up a little in a very pretty dress, stockings and heels – not overdone you understand, but just enough to knock the average red-blooded male for six, arrived on time.

“You should have warned me,” I said. “I'm going to look like a dowdy old housewife next to you!”

“You, dowdy?” she laughed. “Never!”

The arrangement was that when Ben knocked on the door, Jack would hide in our bedroom, apparently getting ready. When Ben arrived I showed him into the living room, where Lucie and I had our knitting laid out, since she really was teaching me. Many of the other dancers knit while waiting to go onstage and I wanted something to pass the time as well.

“Ben. This is Lucie, one of the principal dancers at the Ballet. You've probably seen her perform when you've brought Kate to see the ballet? Lucie's teaching me to knit.”

Ben gave a good impression of being stunned at the sight of Lucie. If he'd been a cartoon character, his eyes would have been out of his head on stalks.

“Err, pleased to meet you, Lucie. Yes, I'm sure I've seen you dancing.”

It was patently obvious that he didn't remember her, but he was desperate to say the right thing. For that I might forgive him since we all look different with stage makeup on and wearing our costumes.

“Lucie is dancing the part of Dewdrop in 'The Waltz of the Flowers' in 'The Nutcracker',” I said helpfully.

Ben's face brightened. I think he actually half-remembered her. “Oh yes. You were excellent,” he said. Lucie thanked him, and at this point I made my move.

“I don't know what is keeping Jack,” I said. “If you'll excuse me, I'll go and chase him up.” With that I left the room. When I entered the bedroom, Jack said “How's it going?”

“Very well I think. Now we can only give them five minutes or Ben will smell a rat.” I glanced at my watch.

When the time was up, we walked out of the bedroom and were very pleased to hear animated conversation coming from the lounge room before we entered it. It seemed a shame to break it up.

“Sorry to hold you up,” said Jack to Ben.

“Oh that's alright, we've got plenty of time,” said Ben.

“Would you like a drink before you go?” I asked helpfully.

“Just a small cup of tea please,” said Ben. “What about you Lucie?”

It seemed Lucie wanted tea too, so it was four teas and Jack offered to make them.

“Lucie has just been telling me about the amount of exercising and rehearsals that ballet dancers have to do,” said Ben. “I knew something about it of course, but I had no idea just how much time you spend practicing.”

“Well, if we didn't, the experts in the audience would soon pick us up. It's not so very different from sports like football, I suppose? I know you put in a lot of time training,” said Lucie. “My brother used to play football, but he had to retire after one too many injuries. I'd love to see you play sometime, Ben.”

That sounded very encouraging to me.

After Ben and Jack had finally left for the football, Lucie and I sat down again to our knitting.

“Well? What did you think?” I said.

“He's gorgeous,” said Lucie. “He was trying so hard to make a good impression on me. How come some woman hasn't snapped him up before now?”

“A few have tried, but it will take a very special woman to capture his heart. Do you think you might be that woman?”

“It would be fun finding out,” said Lucie. “Perhaps you should tell me what happened to his wife?”

“It was very sad. Kate was nearing the end of her maternity leave when St Thomas's rang and asked if she could come in to do a shift as they were very short-staffed. Being Kate, she said 'yes' of course. She was driving home when a stolen car with three louts on board ran a red light and crashed into the driver's side of her car. Those cowards ran off without looking to see what had happened, but fortunately there was a car behind Kate's and the driver rang the ambulance and police and did his best to comfort her before help arrived. They took her to St Thomas's and did all they could, but they couldn't save her.”

“And the three louts; did they catch them?”

“Oh yes. I went to the court on the day of their sentencing. There they were in the dock, all dressed up in suits and ties and with neat haircuts, probably for the first time in their lives.. Did the defence team think that would sway the judge? I'm sure she's seen it many times before. Because they refused to own up about who was driving, she gave them five years each.with hard labour, and commented that if she'd known who was driving, she would have given the other two a lesser sentence. We all saw two of them glance at the third one, but by then it was too late. I think it was a light sentence but perhaps it was the most she could give them.”

"Poor Ben,” said Lucie. “I can understand why he's taken so long to get over Kate's loss.”

Well, I'd done my bit in bringing them together, now it was up to the two of them.

When Jack and Ben arrived back late in the afternoon, Ben seemed disappointed to find that Lucie was no longer at the flat.

“What did you think of Lucie?” I asked Ben.

“She's gorgeous,” he said, unknowingly echoing Lucie's description of him. “And so interesting to talk to,” Then he looked at me. “You set this up didn't you?”

I knew I was blushing. “Well, if I hadn't how were you two ever going to meet?”

He smiled. “Fair point, but there's one problem, I don't have her number to contact her.”

“Lucie is an old-fashioned girl in some ways. She's given me permission to give you her number if you should ask for it,” I replied.

“Yes, please,” said Ben.

It seems Ben wasted no time in contacting Lucie. The following Sunday evening, he took her to dinner at the restaurant in one of London' most famous hotels. I learned all about it from Lucie at our coffee break between rehearsal sessions on Monday.

“The food was out of this world,” she said. “There was a trio of musicians and a small dance floor so we danced as well. Ben is surprisingly light on his feet. And we talked, and talked. Of course I haven't lost a partner like he did, but that business with Brian really upset me.

“When Ben dropped me off at my flat and walked me to the door, I know he was expecting a goodnight kiss, but I didn't want to let him go, so I invited him in for coffee. Well, we did finally get around to the coffee ... this morning!”

She laughed at the look on my face. “And I'll tell you another thing – athletes make fantastic lovers, but of course you know that, being married to Jack!”

By now, I know my face was puce and Lucie was laughing her head off. “You really are an old-fashioned girl, Antonette!”.

Dear reader, you are no doubt wondering if this was just a fling or if Lucie and Ben developed a serious relationship, and I'm pleased to say that is what happened. Lucie moved into Ben's flat about two months later, and a couple of months after that she was wearing a gorgeous new diamond engagement ring. Some people would say that was all rather sudden, but in my view, when you know that someone is right for you, then why waste time?

Another good thing was that Lucie and Kate got on very well indeed. Perhaps it helped that Kate was too young to remember her mother. I know that the story of Cinderella has a lot to answer for in giving stepmothers a bad reputation, but when in the fullness of time, Lucie and Ben were married, with Kate as their flower girl, she couldn't have been happier. She even began to call Lucie 'Mummy' after a while, and when, a year or two later, Lucie decided to retire from the ballet, she became a full-time mother to Kate, and this had the added benefit that she was able to tutor Kate, who showed signs of developing enough talent to be a professional ballet dancer, even at that early age

To be concluded.

Next time: The gift.