Daughter of Deceit by Victoria Holt

it.”
    The girl on the bed was listening avidly. I had come to the conclusion that she was not badly hurt.
    When the doctor came he confirmed this.
    “She only has a few bruises,” he told us afterwards. “She’s shocked, of course. She’ll be all right in a day or so.”
    “I propose to keep her here for the night,” said my mother.
    “That’s a good idea. What about her family?”
    “She doesn’t appear to have any.”
    “Well, in that case it would certainly be best for her to stay. I’ll give her a mild sedative, which will ensure a good night’s sleep. Give it to her when she’s ready to settle down for the night. Just let her rest till then.”
    “And now,” said Martha, “we’d better be getting ourselves ready or we’ll be disappointing our audience. They’ve come to see Madame Desiree, not understudy Janet Dare.”
    “Poor Janet,” said my mother. “She’d love a chance to show what she could do.”
    “We all know what she can do and it would not be good enough.”
    After my mother had left for the theatre, I went to our guest and stood by her bed.
    She said: “You have been so good to me.”
    “It was the least we could do. How did it happen?”
    “It was my fault. I was careless. I was so eager. I didn’t realize the carriage was still moving. I admired D6siree so much. I’ve seen Countess Maud three times … up in the gallery, of course. I couldn’t afford anything more. It is so maddening when someone big and broad gets in front of you. She is wonderful.”
    “Lots of people think so.”
    “I know. She is at the top, isn’t she? And you are her daughter. How marvellous for you.”
    “Tell me about yourself. What do you do?”
    “Nothing at the moment.”
    “You want to be an actress?” I suggested.
    “You guessed.”
    “Well, there are so many. You know, lots of people see my mother on the stage and think it is a wonderful life. Actually it is tremendously hard work. It is not easy, you know.”
    “I am aware of that. I’m different from those people. I’ve always wanted to go on the stage.”
    I looked at her sadly.
    “I can act, I can sing, I can dance,” she said earnestly. “I tell you, I can do it.”
    “What have you done in that line?”
    “I have been on a stage. I have sung and danced.”
    “Where?”
    “Amateur dramatics. I was the leading actress in our company.”
    “It isn’t the same,” I said gently. “It doesn’t count all that much with the professionals. How old are you? I’m sorry. I should not have asked. I am acting like an agent.”
    “I want you to be like an agent. I realize you know a good deal about it because of your mother. I’m just seventeen. I felt I couldn’t wait any longer.”
    “How long have you been in London?”
    “Three months.”
    “And what have you been doing?”
    “Trying to find an agent.”
    “And no luck?”
    “They weren’t interested. It was always no experience. They wouldn’t even let me show them what L could do.”
    “Where do you come from?”
    “From a place called Waddington. It’s only a little village. Nobody’s ever heard of it except those who live there. It’s not far from Hereford. I hadn’t a chance there, of course. All I could do was sing in the church choir and at concerts I was the star turn.”
    “I understand.”
    “And when I saw your mother in Countess Maud, I wanted to be just like her. She’s wonderful. You can feel that the audience is with her all the way.”
    “So you left this place near Hereford. What about your family?”
    “I haven’t any family now … nor any home. My father rented a small farm and we lived fairly comfortably until he died. My mother had died when I was five years old, so I don’t remember much of her. I kept house and did a bit on the farm.”
    “I see, and all this time you wanted to be an actress. Did your father know?”
    “Oh yes, but he thought it was just a dream. He was very proud of me when I sang in the concerts. He used to