Dancing On Air by Nicole Hurley-Moore Read Free Book Online

expectantly for his brother’s answer.
    ‘Well, once we return from Gainswith Park, I shall hunt and pursue her of course. You know, Alistair, I love to be challenged and I never take “no” for an answer.’

CHAPTER TWO
    As the nights passed, Lisette no longer looked for Lord Gainswith at each performance. The night after their meeting, Lisette scanned the crowd looking for his handsome face. Excitement bubbled within her as she imagined another meeting and maybe another rose. But he was not there when the curtain rose, nor by the end of the first act. Finally, by the beginning of the second act, she admitted to herself that he was not coming. She had been so sure that she had seen something different in him, but apparently she had misjudged him. The rose had faded and so should her thoughts of him. But that was the most irritating of all: He slipped into her mind, constantly. No doubt he had forgotten all about her. No doubt, after her refusal, he went in search of more willing prey.
    She tried to forget about him and threw herself into her training. Hour after hour she practiced her steps, her technique, until her back was drenched in sweat and her legs shook. Lisette learnt not only Bessie’s part of the ballet, but Florentia’s as well. Her dedication to dance even granted her a smile from her aunt. But each night, when she lay alone in her bed, Evander would sneak into her mind.
    Marie sat on a high stool near the wings, her black cane keeping beat against the floorboards as Lisette swirled in centre stage.
    ‘Good...good. Now soften your arm... Excellent. And...one, two, three, one, two, three and...stop!’
    Lisette stopped her pirouette. She struck a pose, her feet firmly on the ground and a smile on her lips.
    ‘Good, Lisette. You are almost ready.’
    ‘Thank you, Aunt Marie.’
    ‘I have noticed this past week you have a renewed fire in your belly. Your persistence has paid off. You are every bit as good as your mother,’ Marie said as she carefully stood up. ‘Soon, you shall have your chance and then all of London will fall at your feet.’
    Lisette relaxed her pose. ‘Am I really as accomplished as mother?’
    ‘Yes, you are. Sometimes I catch a glimpse of her in you. Now go, rest before tonight’s performance and don’t forget to eat.’ Marie waved her hand as she left Lisette alone on the stage.
    Lisette took a deep breath and stared out into the depths of the empty theatre. Several of the chorus girls believed that it was haunted and insisted on walking together in small groups or at least pairs. Lisette thought them foolish, for there was nothing in this theatre but silence and dreams that were spun long ago.
    Lisette walked to the edge of the stage, tipped her head back and looked up past the theatre boxes and the chandelier. The ceiling had always been one of Lisette’s favourite things in the theatre. It depicted the night sky and was painted in a deep blue, with a thousand tiny gold stars sprinkled over it. A series of painted Corinthian columns drew the eye down from the starry sky. At the base of each one stood an ancient Greek god or goddess, each looking down into the theatre. Lisette liked Terpsichore the best, the muse of dance and music, sitting at the base of her pillar with a lyre. The whole scene created a trompe l’oeil and it seemed to Lisette that at any given time, the Gods were watching the ballet and the audience. That was how Lisette thought of them, watching over her like guardian angels.
    When she had been a child she would sneak into the theatre during the day and stare up and dream. Or slink up the fly floor and along the narrow catwalks to her secret door. When the theatre was built there had been a skinny walkway that ran around the whole theatre, way up high, just under the gods. It had been for maintenance and the access had been from a little door that was positioned far above the proscenium arch. But it had been damaged and taken down. The walkway was never