Free The Irish Duke by Virginia Henley Page A

her.”
    Louisa’s eyes lit up. “I’ll dance, if Johnny will do a soliloquy from Shakespeare.”
    His brothers hissed good- naturedly. Lord John could quote numerous passages from Shakespeare with great dramatic flourish. “Since you are so enthusiastic, I’ll skip the soliloquy and do Henry V’s rousing address to his troops.”
    “Yay!” Henry shouted, and Cosmo and young Alex banged their knives on the table.
    James Hamilton grinned. “You are obviously a disruptive influence.” And you are loved by the entire family. Someday, if I’m lucky enough, I’ll be part of it.
     
    After dinner, the Russell family and all their guests trooped down to the theater. Louisa consulted with Georgy and asked her to play her Spanish piece. Johnny offered to go onstage first, to give Louisa time to change into her costume.
    The curtains parted to show Johnny standing in the spotlight. A hush fell over the assembly as they anticipated the dramatic speech.
    Lord John Russell threw back his head and his clear voice poured forth as if he were making a speech in the Commons.
    “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more,
Or close the wall up with our English dead!
In peace there’s nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility,
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger:
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favored rage,
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect,
Let pry through the portage of the head
Like the brass cannon, let the brow o’erwhelm it
As fearfully as doth a galled rock
O’erhang and jutty his confounded base,
Swilled with the wild and wasteful ocean.
Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide,
Hold hard the breath and bend up every spirit
To his full height. On, on, you noblest English,
Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof,
Fathers that, like so many Alexanders,
Have in these parts from morn till even fought
And sheathed their swords for lack of argument.
Dishonor not your mothers. Now attest
That those whom you called fathers did beget you.
Be copy now to men of grosser blood,
And teach them how to war. And you, good yeoman,
Whose limbs were made in England, show us here
The mettle of your pasture. Let us swear
That you are worth your breeding, which I doubt not,
For there is none of you so mean and base
That hath not noble luster in your eyes.
I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game’s afoot.
Follow your spirit, and upon this charge
Cry, ‘God for Harry, England, and Saint George!’ ”
    A moment of awed silence was followed by deafening applause and shouts of “God for Harry, England, and Saint George!”
    Johnny took a bow and the curtains closed. He left the stage and seated himself beside Abercorn amid rousing congratulations from the entire assembly.
    Georgy took her place at the harpsichord and waited until the noise died down. She held her fingers above the keys and then brought them down in one loud chord.
    The curtains swung open to reveal Lady Louisa affecting a dramatic pose. Her dark hair was pulled back smoothly, and a large crimson rose was pinned above one ear. She wore a flowing skirt and red silk shawl, and carried a black lace fan that concealed her face below her eyes.
    Everyone drew in a swift breath of appreciation as the staccato music began and she raised her hands above her head, clicking the castanets in perfect rhythm to the pounding notes. Her red skirts billowed out, revealing black silk stockings and stiletto- heeled shoes. She danced a perfect paso doble , stamping her heels in quick tempo as the music pulsed and reverberated around the audience. The haughty, dramatic look on her face befitted a proud Spaniard. Her performance was theatrical, vivid, and striking. At the end, when she twirled her shawl, the illusion of the bull was tangible.
    The applause was deafening as Louisa took her bows and cries of