“Should we be up here?” he asked, pulling on her hand to stop her midway. He feigned reluctance to follow, but the grin on his lips gave him away.
“Shh… I won’t tell if you won’t,” she said, putting her finger on his lips with her free hand.
The touch of his lips felt good, sending a quiver through her body, and she pulled her hand away almost immediately. He grabbed for the hand that had touched his lips and held it for a moment, as they both stared into one another's eyes.
“Keep going, we’re more likely to get caught if we hang around on this stairway,” she answered. Nelly felt a little thrill at his touch, and she continued to pull at his arm as they climbed the rest of the steps together.
Her heartbeat resounded in her ears at the very notion of her daring behaviour. Sneaking around alone with a man who she had never met before was not something she did every day, but it was proving to be thrilling. Especially being here with him…he made her feel confident. At the same time, he caused her stomach to flutter, and her mind to reel in with a pleasant confusion.
“See, no one is here,” she pointed out with a wave of her arms that encompassed the empty rooftop.
“Hmm, but should you be alone with a man you do not know?” Oliver asked the obvious question. “In my defence, I assure you that I am a gentleman and would never dishonour a delicate beauty such as yourself.”
Nelly smiled at his words and read the truth in his eye. As they climbed the stairs, she did keep wondering if she should be doing this, but she genuinely felt safe being alone with this man. She was struck by how he framed his words, almost as if they were playing a scene in a play. “Are you an actor, sir?”
“No,” was all he answered.
“Is this quiet enough for you to speak with me alone?” she asked, watching his silhouette move around in the semi-darkness.
He walked over to the edge of the roof, where there stood a waist-high wall. It had been built to protect those who came up here for refuge or solace. And it was the ideal place to gaze at the stars from such an advantageous point. She watched her new friend lean down and sit on the floor. He leaned his back against the wall and reached his arm up, inviting her to sit by his side.
For the next few moments, they both looked up into the deep, black void above their heads. The endless blackness was broken by thousands of tiny pinpoints from the starlight.
“This is nice,” he said, though he made no attempt to get closer to her, and she was happy with the small gap between them. In the back of her mind, she knew that what she did was wrong, yet it felt right.
“So, if you are not an actor, do you often watch plays?” she questioned him further, longing to find out more about this stranger who had made her feel so good.
“I do,” he replied in short as if he was teasing her by not talking much. Before she had the chance to ask yet another question, he spoke up, “I love the theatre and all that it encompasses. If I know there is a traveling theatre in town, I try not to miss any of their shows.”
“Then, you will have seen in the past, my mother playing the part that I played this very night?”
“Indeed, I have. I am familiar with your mother’s traveling troupe. Though I admit I do not recall seeing you on the stage before, which surprises me as I would not have missed your beauty,” he said, turning his head her way, even though it was difficult to see much in the darkness.
The moonlight shone on his face, as a cloud moved out of its way, and she could make out his handsome features. His thick brows sat over dark eyes and his cheekbones were prominent and strong.
“We have not been in this area for some time. When last we came here, I played the part of a horse,” she told him, chuckling under her hand at the memory. “The back end,” she added as she finally burst into a peal of loud laughter.
“I am sure it would have been a fine horse,” he chortled along with her. “But we all must start somewhere.”
“I have always been on the stage in some form or other. But tonight, you witnessed my true calling,” she told him because sharing her secrets with him felt good.
“Were you nervous?”
“Very. But my mother tells me that all actors should feel that way before a performance,” she shared. “It is what drives our performance. If one does not feel the fear of performing, then one will not do it well, and it is my dream to be the best.”
“I assure you that you did more than well,” he smiled, bowing his head as he leaned closer towards her. “You were born to be on a stage. After watching your performance tonight, I am sure of it.”
“You flatter me, sir,” she said shyly as she looked down at the floor between them.
“Tell me, Nelly, have you ever thought about performing in a real theatre house? Not that your traveling troupe is not real theatre. But I mean a theatre building, a place where you are sponsored by the nobility.”
Nelly hesitated before replying to his question because she felt he would not like her answer. “My parents have always taught me that street theatre is where the true art is at. They shun actors who perform in theatre houses, believing them too manifold to carry the true spirit of art in their veins.”
“I can tell you, as an avid theatre lover, that is not the case, though there is an element of truth in your words,” Oliver told her, nodding his head in agreement. “Is that what you believe in your heart?”
“I keep my thoughts hidden. In truth, it is another part of my dream,” she admitted with a look of surprise showing in her eyes, that she was telling Oliver her aspirations. “As a child, I snuck into theatre houses with my cousins, and even at such a young age I was in awe of the stunning glamor inside.”
“Do you think that one day you might consider acting in one?” Oliver asked, and she closed her eyes, half regretting admitting to such a dream.