Fortune's Journey Read Online Free Page B

the speech. It goes:
    â€œAll the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms.”
    Jamie went on. His voice was soaring, powerful in its range of tone and expression. Fortune and the others stared at him in astonishment. He seemed not to notice, caught up as he was in the beauty of Shakespeare’s words. At the same time that Fortune wondered how he knew the speech, she found herself resisting another thought: The boy was good!
    His voice dwindled with sorrow as he reached the mournful concluding words:
    â€œâ€¦second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.”
    â€œBravo!” cried Walter, obviously delighted both at being correct and at Jamie’s masterful rendition of the lines.
    Mr. Patchett looked at Jamie with new respect. “Where did you learn that?”
    â€œMy father taught me. He loved Shakespeare.”
    â€œI’m sure we’re all impressed,” said Aaron, causing a snicker from Edmund.
    Jamie’s jaw tightened, the muscles around his mouth clenching as though he were biting back an angry retort.
    Leave him alone, Aaron! thought Fortune, to her own surprise.
    Jamie looked around the room. “I’m sorry,” he said with great dignity. “I’m intruding.”
    Without another word he walked away from the group and disappeared down the stairway.
    â€œOh, Minerva!” said Mrs. Watson to Aaron. “Now see what you’ve done?”
    â€œMe?” cried Aaron, his voice full of wounded innocence.
    Fortune ignored them. She was trying to tell herself she was relieved that the intruder was gone. Yet she couldn’t stop staring at the doorway.
    The next night Fortune stood behind one of the curtains that Walter and Aaron had draped at the right and left sides of the stage to mask the actors when they were not performing. Mr. Patchett had arranged the action to ensure that she and Mrs. Watson could always exit to the right to make their costume changes, while the men would always exit to the left.
    She glanced over at Mrs. Watson, who was “preparing her face” for her grand entrance. Her red hair tumbled over her shoulders in thick, glossy curls.
    Almost against her will, Fortune felt a wave of affection for this woman who had tried so hard to look out for her over these last months. At least she meant well.
    Turning back to the curtain, she gently pulled back an edge so that she could check the audience. She felt a flash of guilt for this breach of professional ethics, but not enough to stop her from doing it.
    The oil lamps at the front of the stage had been lit. Walter, already in costume, stood at the front, selling tickets. The house was filling nicely; they would probably have close to a hundred people.
    To Fortune’s surprise, she saw little Nancy Conaway sitting toward the back, all scrubbed and polished.
    As she continued to look around, she found herself wondering if Jamie had arrived yet. She told herself the curiosity was only because she felt sorry for him. After she had heard his mother screaming at him this afternoon, Fortune had decided the young man deserved whatever fun he could manage. Especially since part of what Mrs. Halleck had been screaming about had had to do with how she would tan his hide if he even considered going to “that wicked play” this evening.
    Fortune scowled at the memory. Mrs. Halleck’s abusive screeching had been a horrible thing to listen to. And even though it had been so loud that neither she nor anyone else within a hundred yards could help but hear it, she had felt as if she was eavesdropping.
    â€œNervous, dear?” asked Mrs. Watson.
    Fortune dropped the curtain. “Of course not. Why should I be?”
    Mrs. Watson gave her a sly