Free A Sister's Shame by Carol Rivers Page A

he’d gone Ada sat at the kitchen table and dropped her head in her hands.
    ‘What’s the matter, Mum?’ Marie sat beside her. ‘Are you tired?’
    ‘No more than usual.’ Ada looked up at Marie. ‘Your sister is being unreasonable. She makes me feel as though I’m a terrible mother. She hasn’t spoken to me or
eaten a thing.’
    ‘She’ll eat when she’s hungry.’
    ‘I want the best for you girls,’ insisted Ada. ‘But I’m afraid to let you go out into that world.’
    ‘Why?’
    ‘Sometimes the entertainment business can be dangerous.’
    ‘But we have to learn.’
    Ada looked hard at her. ‘Your father sees only the good in everything.’
    Marie smiled. ‘That’s why we love him. You can’t shield us from life for ever, Mum.’
    ‘You know so little about what life holds in store.’
    ‘Do you want us to stay at Ellisdon’s for ever?’ Marie asked. ‘Even though Vesta is unhappy there?’
    ‘I didn’t know she was. Are you unhappy too?’
    Marie gave a brief shrug. ‘I don’t mind it, but I’d rather be singing and dancing.’
    ‘But that’s just a whim,’ Ada said gently. ‘One day you’ll get married and have a family like all girls do.’
    ‘Vesta and me want more in life.’
    ‘Is that why you’re not seeing Bing very often? I thought he was interested in you.’
    Marie blushed. ‘He’s just a friend.’
    ‘I see,’ sighed Ada, looking dejected.
    ‘Going on the stage is all me and Vesta ever think of.’ Marie knew she had to tell the truth even if it was painful for Ada to accept. ‘Since we were little girls, it’s
been our dream. You know that.’
    ‘But you are still my two little girls,’ Ada said heavily, ‘and not grown-up.’
    Marie gazed into her mother’s sad face. ‘But we are.’
    Ada gave a little sob and wiped a tear from the corner of her eye with her handkerchief. ‘What would happen if you went away? You might forget your dad and me.’
    Marie’s blue eyes filled with tenderness. ‘Mum, we love you and would never do that.’
    Ada sniffed and sighed deeply. ‘I suppose I’ll have to give in or risk losing you anyway. You had better tell Vesta I’ve changed my mind.’ She added sharply, ‘On
the condition your father goes with you.’
    ‘Oh, thanks, Mum.’
    ‘I hope I won’t regret this.’
    ‘You won’t.’ Marie kissed her mother’s cheek. ‘Vesta will be very happy.’
    Ada nodded. ‘She always is when she gets her own way. What songs were you rehearsing?’
    ‘ “Algy” and “When I Take My Morning Promenade”. It was you and Dad who gave us our names and set us off down the path to fame and fortune.’ Marie laughed at
her joke, but Ada only frowned.
    ‘We had no idea you’d be following in those famous footsteps.’
    ‘It’s early days yet,’ Marie pointed out. ‘It could all come to nothing. If the Scoresby brothers don’t like us, then you’ll have nothing to fret
about.’
    Ada gave a sad smile. ‘Who could not like such beautiful girls?’
    They hugged and Marie felt Ada’s small, wiry body tremble against her. She loved her mother very much and only wanted to make her proud, not add to all the worry in her life.
    By the time Saturday came around, Marie was worried she would forget every word and Vesta was a bag of nerves. But from the moment Hector had agreed to go with them to the
audition, Ada had shown interest. She had loosened the buttons on their costumes so the bodices weren’t so tight and lengthened the hems half an inch.
    ‘Wear your ordinary shoes and coats to the audition, girls,’ Ada instructed them on the night they were to leave. ‘And I’ll pack your tap shoes in a bag. You may use a
little lipstick, but no other make-up.’
    ‘It’s too warm for our coats,’ complained Vesta. ‘And anyway, they’re old.’
    ‘You’ve got nothing else,’ replied Ada, bustling around them. ‘Now stop complaining.’
    She kissed them both goodbye, hugging them as though it was the last