Page 60 of A Waltz on the Wild Side (The Wild Wynchesters #6)
The next Saturday, it was Jacob’s turn to sit in the front row. This evening was the stage debut of Vivian’s first publicly performed play: Suffrage & Suffering .
She’d worried no one would come to the show, but the Olympic Theatre was packed to the rafters. The Duke of Faircliffe had spent the past week telling every aristocrat who would listen that everyone who was anyone dared not fail to be seen here on opening night.
Those who had experienced the wild spectacle at Marjorie and Adrian’s art school celebration also wouldn’t miss an opportunity to see a play written by Mrs. “Sir-Gareth-Jallow” Wynchester.
All those witnesses had told everyone else they knew, which resulted in the theater manager needing to sell thousands more tickets than the theater could hold. Instead of a single-night debut, Vivian’s drama about suffrage would own the stage for at least a fortnight.
Tonight, the current crowd displayed mixed reactions to the play’s central theme. Women and commoners cheered and booed at all the right places, whilst the lords scowled down from their luxury boxes at the unflattering portraits painted of themselves onstage.
They might criticize the content in private tomorrow, but the play had already achieved its goal of giving context and voice for those who could not speak for themselves with votes, as well as for their allies in Parliament who could agitate for change.
When the actors and actresses took the stage for their final bow, Jacob was the first on his feet to applaud them—by only a second. Half of the house stood up with him in an enthusiastic ovation.
The actors and actresses parted down the middle of the stage, to reveal none other than their playwright, Vivian, who looked dazed and overwhelmed at the sight of so many paying theater-goers on their feet applauding her work.
With shock, Vivian’s wide brown eyes met Jacob’s.
Rather than throw roses at her feet, he tossed fistfuls of basil leaves.
She burst out laughing and held out her hands to him. “Get up here, Sir Nepotism. Tonight is your achievement, too.”
Jacob not only joined her onstage, but also waltzed her in a circle. Then he delivered a scandalous kiss, much to the delight of the audience.
“Champagne when we get home?” he murmured.
“How about the reading room?” she countered with a wicked sparkle in her eye. “I’m sure there’s a good book or two whose pages you could distract me from.”
He swung her into his arms. “Mmm, I’ll give you something to write about.”
She wrapped her arms about his neck and kissed him. “You already have, my love.”