“We will find the theater,” Malcolm said, “but we will nae put ourselves into position where he might see us.”
“Do you mean we will have to sit in the very back row?”
“We won’t sit in any row,” Malcolm said.
“What do you mean? How are we going to see the play if we don’t sit in any row?”
“We are not going to see the play,” Malcolm said. “We will wait outside until the play is over and the audience has left. It will be dark in the auditorium then, so we will be able to sneak in without being seen.”
Chapter Eight
Rosanna (as LADY MARGARET):
Lord, were that I a man, that with claymore
and dirk I could have joined you in your
noble fight. You won, noble knight, you won,
for all those of the evil clan of Hutchins are
now dead. Ahh, but the sad thing is that,
even in your final victory, you gave your life.
but Pyrrhic victory, I vow by all that is holy to
keep the name Lord Dumbarton forever in
my heart.
The theater erupted with applause and cheers. Duff stood in the wings where he could see both the actors on the stage, and the audience, all of whom were now on their feet. It had been Duff, in his capacity as stage manager, who signaled the curtains closed, and now he brought his hand down again.
“Curtains open,” he hissed loudly enough for the stagehands to hear him, but not so loudly as to be heard by those in the audience.
The curtains opened again and all the secondary players rushed out to take their curtain call, their appearance onstage in inverse order of the significance of their roles. Finally, the last curtain call had been taken, the curtains closed, and the troupe gathered backstage.
“Wonderful performances from all of you,” Andrew said, congratulating all the actors and actresses. “We will meet here tomorrow at six, one hour before curtain rise. Don’t be late.”
The actors, still up from their performance, laughed and exchanged comments on the play as they headed for the dressing rooms to get out of costume and makeup.
“Oh, Julie, you were just wonderful,” one of the “nobles” said to the beautiful young woman who played the daughter of the Laird Carrick. “I have been in the theater for five years now, and have never seen an actress who, in her very first role onstage, performed it with such mastery.”
Duff chuckled to himself as he overheard the conversation. The young lady was certainly adequate to the role, but he knew Phillip Cain to be a notorious “ladies’ man,” and he knew that he was using flattery to attain his goal.
“Duff, will you be taking dinner tonight with Rosanna, me, and some of the others?” Andrew asked.
“I would like to, Andrew, but I think I will stay and work on the forest flats. I noticed during the play that they were not holding their position as well as they should.”
“Very well,” Andrew said. “But if you finish earlier than you suspect, please join us at Delmonico’s.”
“I shall,” Duff replied.
Duff waited until all the actors and stagehands were gone. Then he made certain that all the house lights were turned off and the backstage lights were on. He looked up at the flys to examine the flats that were used for the forest scene and saw at once where the problem lay. Lowering one of the flats, he took it to a work area offstage and placed it across two sawhorses. All he would have to do is adjust the frame to take out the warp.
Across the street from the theater, Malcolm, Roderick, and Alexander watched as the patrons left the theater. The theatergoers were talking about the play they had just seen.
“When are we going in?” Alexander said.
“When we are sure that everyone has left,” Malcolm said.
“They’re all gone now. You can tell that.”
“Don’t get so anxious. We need a plan,” Malcolm said.
“We have a plan. He killed our brother, and we are going to kill him. That is our plan,” Alexander said.
The lights outside the theater went off.
“Now,” Alexander said, starting across the street. “Let’s go.”
“Wait, it won’t take a minute to come up with a plan as to how we are going to do this,” Malcolm said.
“I don’t want to wait another minute. I want to kill him now,” Alexander said.
