Page 60 of Beguiled
Then, and only then, did the performance begin.
David barely noticed what was happening on stage. He checked his watch practically every five minutes.Half past nine.Only now did it occur to David how very thin their plan was. Thin and ill thought out. Doomed. How would they find Euan in that vast crowd? How would Elizabeth ever get away from Kinnell? The man was still standing behind her—standingwhen there were three chairs he could have taken his pick of. One of his gloved hands rested on her shoulder, a constant reminder; a chain made flesh.
David was aware of Murdo and the captain talking occasionally, sotto voce. From time to time, Murdo murmured something in David’s ear too, and David would give a distracted smile or nod in return. He realised he was entirely failing to act normally but was powerless to do better.
At twenty-five minutes past nine, David glanced at the box opposite and saw Elizabeth rising from her seat. She walked two paces before Kinnell’s hand shot out to grasp her wrist. Turning her head, she whispered something in his ear and made to walk away again, but he kept his grip on her wrist, and a visible tension stiffened the arm that held her in place. For a moment, he held her firm, but although they were alone in the box, they were visible to everyone in the theatre and Kinnell knew it. When she tugged again, he let her go, watching her as she disappeared through the curtains at the back of their box.
David stood then, and Murdo frowned up at him, surprised. He leaned over and said in Murdo’s ear, “I feel a little warm. I’m going to get some air.”
Murdo looked unconvinced, but David forced himself to move away without further explanation, stepping quickly towards the curtains and slipping through the gap in the middle.
Once outside the box, he moved quickly, hurrying down the first two flights of stairs to the common gallery, where he found Elizabeth. She was hovering anxiously. Her worried expression eased a little when she saw him, and she stepped towards him.
“Thank God!” she exclaimed as they came together. “I don’t have long. He may follow me—I made him angry.”
“Come on, then.” David grabbed her hand, and they tripped down the last flight of steps together. They were almost at the bottom when a commanding voice, far above them, called out, “Elizabeth! Where are you?”
Elizabeth froze and looked up at David in fear.
“Ignore him,” David said. “He’s further up, and we’ll be out of here in a moment.”
For a couple of vital seconds, Elizabeth stood, locked in fear, while Kinnell’s boot heels clicked on the wooden steps above them, bringing him closer.
“Come on!” David whispered, tugging her hand. “If you don’t go now, I may never be able to help you again.”
Her expression shifted then from fear to determination, and she nodded. They took the last few stairs quickly and tumbled into the foyer at the bottom, where they found the same doorkeeper as before, pacing the floor in front of the closed door that kept the crowd outside at bay.
“Open the door,” David demanded, striding towards him, Elizabeth’s hand still in his own.
“I can’t do that!” the doorkeeper replied. “Have you seen the crowd out there? We could only let a tenth in and the rest aren’t happy—I’m not opening that door till the play’s finished.”
“Open it now!” David snapped, and he must’ve sounded serious because the little man jumped and began to get his keys out.
“Stop there!”
At the sound of that dictatorial voice, David threw a glance over his shoulder. Kinnell was just coming round the bend of the last flight of stairs. He only had another dozen steps to go and the foyer to cross and he’d be on their heels.
“No, no!” Elizabeth moaned.
The doorkeeper had just inserted the key in the lock. David pushed him aside, took hold of the key and thrust it home, grinding it in the lock. It was stiff, but he wrenched at it until the lock gave, and then he was shoving the door open, pushing Elizabeth out in front of him and slamming it behind them.
The crowd David had been expecting to dive into wasn’t there. The steps that led to the street from the theatre doors were clear, and at the bottom of them stood a line of fine carriages waiting for His Majesty’s emergence from the theatre. The crowd had been pushed well back from the carriages and was being kept in place by a line of the King’s personal guard of troops. Euan had to be in there somewhere—somewhere in that throng.
“Come on,” David said, lunging forward, pulling Elizabeth behind him. But before they’d gone a few steps, the door behind them opened with a crash.
“Elizabeth!”
David met Elizabeth’s terrified gaze. “You have to run,” he told her, pushing her towards the steps. “I’ll hold him back while you find Euan. Go.”
This time she didn’t hesitate, just lifted her skirts and ran down the steps to the street below while David turned to face Kinnell, who was right behind him, his face twisted and red with anger.
“You again!” he yelled in harsh disbelief. “Get out of my way!”
David pitched himself at Kinnell, wrapping his arms around the other man, determined to stop him getting to Elizabeth.
Kinnell’s fist connected with his stomach, and he grunted, air rushing out of him. His feet stumbled, slipping on the stairs, and they fell together, tumbling to the bottom of the steps where the carriages stood.
The fall knocked the wind out of David, but he still hung on to the other man.Run,he thought.Run.