Page 83 of A Contracted Spouse for the Prizefighter

She was just attempting to disentangle them from a dozen other items when Clem appeared in the doorway. “Dora?” He frowned. “What are you doing in there?”

She turned. “Clem! Only look what I have found.” She gestured to her discoveries. “The perfect props for my act. The screen just needs a few new screws and this table a fresh lick of paint and we’ll be all set.”

Clem looked the items over without comment. “You’re covered in dust,” he said abruptly, stepping inside the room and holding his hand out to her. “Come here. Sidney can fetch those out for you.”

“Oh, but—”

“Come here, Dora,” he said shortly. “It’s time you were fed.”

Dora gave a start. “What time is it? It is surely not after twelve?”

“It is half past twelve,” Clem corrected her, “and I need to feed you before you start painting and renovating.”

She stepped over a pile of tangled rope and reached out for his hand. “I had not realized; I must have lost track of time.”

He held her steady as she negotiated her path through the numerous boxes of odds and ends. Once out of the muddle, she brandished the bunch of keys. “I need to return these to Jim first.”

“Jim can wait,” he said plucking them out of her hand.

“Well, then, if I might just have a quick word with Sidney …”

“Lunch, Dora,” Clem insisted. “No one is going to rush up here and steal your pieces of junk. They’ve been moldering in here for months. Besides,” he reminded her, “I have the key.”

Theo bit her lip rather than argue that her new treasures were not junk but an essential part of her stagecraft. “Very well,” she said agreeably but gave him a sidelong look as he locked the door behind them. He still seemed rather tense. Had he had a bad morning?

“Hold still,” he said dropping down to swipe at her skirt with the flat of his hand. “Your hem is covered in dust.”

“I’m sorry you had to come looking for me,” she said contritely. “I should have kept a track of time.”

He shook his head. “Don’t apologize,” he said standing up. “I should have checked what you were up to.” She was surprised when he took her hand in his and led her down the corridor.

“Why though? I was perfectly happy left to my own resources.” Clem shook his head again and Theo was just opening her mouth to continue when the magician and his assistant came down the corridor, eyeing them curiously. Clem gave them a brief nod but otherwise ignored them. Theo gave them a smile which was not returned. She sighed. She was not imagining it. The other acts were decidedly cool around her.

Clem took her lunch at a nearby grill room and plied her with roasted meats and ginger beer before they returned for the afternoon and Sidney found her some paint and a brush and promised he would fix the screens for her “wiv ‘is own fair ‘ands.”

Theo had just applied the first coat of white paint to her table when she was interrupted in her task by her old friend Albert the paper boy, who had called by in the hopes he might find her. Sidney led him to the second storeroom where Theo had set up shop.

“Only you ain’t given me any commissions in a couple of weeks, Miss Theo,” Albert reminded her with an injured air.

“That’s true, Albert,” she agreed, urging him to take a seat. “Not there, that seat only has three legs. This one is wholly intact, if a little threadbare.” He plumped himself down. “You see we do not need you to carry our notes to each other, now we are married,” Theo explained apologetically.

“Coo, fancy ‘im marryin’ you,” Albert exclaimed ingeniously.

“Yes, I know,” Theo replied, not taking the slightest offense. “Now tell me all about how your Nan is managing with her leg and what that vexing older brother of yours has been up to.”

Nothing loth and having sold all his newspapers that morning, Albert settled into his seat and was still there three hours later when Clem ventured up to check on her. They were sat on the floor and cheerfully chatting away as Albert demonstrated his superior skill with a boxwood screwdriver.

“Yes, I see,” Theo was murmuring. “I had thought you might try to re-use the pre-existing hole.”

“Too small,” Albert responded cheerfully.

“Yes, but Sidney gave us a variety of screws in different sizes,” Theo pointed out. She was not sure that the screen did not look rather worse for Albert’s attempts at fixing it.

“Making progress?” Clem asked dryly.

“Oh yes!” Theo assured him blithely.

“Have you enough to keep you occupied for another couple of hours or should I ask Albert to accompany you home?” he asked.