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“Worse I just had another encounter with your little protégée”
“Madeline?” Julia frowned in concern “What happened?”
Grimly he told her about the scene in the carpentry shop Instead of reacting with the concern and dismay he expected, Julia see
“Poor Logan,” she said, laughing “No wonder you're in an ill temper Well, you can't blame Maddy”
“Can't I?” he asked sourly
“It's only her first day It will take so around here”
“Her first day,” Logan said, “and her last I want her gone, Julia I mean it”
“I simply don't understand why you find Madeline Ridley so objectionable” Julia settled back in her chair with a speculative expression that infuriated Logan
“She's a green girl who knows nothing about the theater”
“We were all green at one tientlefroe—”
“She doesn't belong here,” Logan interrupted “Even you can't argue that point”
“Perhaps not,” she conceded “But Madeline is a sweet, intelligent young woman who has obviously landed in some sort of trouble I want to help her”
“The only way to help her is to send her back where she came from”
“What if she's run away froerous situation? Aren't you the least bit concerned? Even curious?”
“No”
Julia sighed in exasperation “If Madeline doesn't work here, who knohat circumstances she'll find herself in? I'll pay her salary out of my own pocket, if you prefer”
“We're not running a charity, damn you!”
“I need an assistant,” Julia said “I have needed one for quite some time Madeline is exactly what I require Why does that pose such a problem for you?”
“Because she…” Logan closed his irl bothered him for reasons he didn't understand Perhaps it was because she was so ridiculously open and unguarded…the antithesis of his own nature Shehe didn't want to be, of all the things he had struggled to change in himself However, he wasn't about to provide such information for Julia's entertained his life and his emotions with apparent ease
“Logan,” Julia said ihts in the silence, “you must be able to offer some explanation”
“The fact that she's a cluh”
Julia's mouth fell open “Everyone has an occasional accident It's not like you to be so petty!”
“I say she goes, and I'll hear no more about it”
“Then you be the one to dismiss her I'm sure I would choke on the words”
“I'll have no such problean informed her “Where is she?”
“I sent her to help Mrs Lyttleton with the costuh a pile of papers on her desk
Logan left Julia's office, deterirl i set a small distance from the others, as it constituted more of a fire hazard than any other part of the theater There was a better chance of containing a fire there and preventing the rest of the Capital fro
Mrs Lyttleton was a cheerful mountain of a woman topped with a pile of brown curls Her massive hands moved with dexterity as she created the e She e and arments that filled rack after rack The look of a production at the Capital Theatre was uniquely lavish, and the actors and audience alike were aware that no expense had been spared to create the effect
“Mr Scott,” the seamstress said jovially, “what ht still too short in the sleeves? I'll let theain if necessary”
Logan didn't want to bother with sirl—Miss Ridley I want to see her”
“Ah, she's a pretty slip of a thing, isn't she? I sent her out to the back with some baskets of costuowns is too delicate to hang in the city air with all its soot, so the baskets will be taken to the country, and the washing and drying done there—”
“Thank you,” Logan interrupted, having little interest in the intricacies of laundry “Good day, Mrs Lyttleton—”
“After she takes the baskets to the laundry cart,” the seao to your office with the costume sketches for Othello”
“Thank you,” Logan said through his teeth, experiencing a stab of annoyance—or perhaps alar his office With the disasters that seemed to occur whenever she was in the vicinity, he would be fortunate if his office hadn't been reduced to a pile of rubble by the time she left
However, when he reached the small room he considered his sacred territory, he found it empty—and considerably cleaner than it had been in years Books and stacks of paper had been consolidated into neat piles, shelves and furniture had been dusted, and his chaotically cluttered desk had been straightened and wiped clean Logan entered the office and looked around be now?” he ht by a spot of color in the roolass of water on his desk
Taken aback, Logan touched the velvety hothouse blossom
“It's a peace offering,” came Madeline's voice fro around the door fra with my promise not to cause you any further injuries”
Perplexed and silent, Logan stared at her The curt disive her faded on his lips He had thought hiirl's sweet, hopeful face made him distinctly uncomfortable Moreover, there was no way he could fire her without appearing to be an ogre in front of the entire company He wondered if she were really as innocent as she appeared, or if she were a clever ave no clue
For the first tian realized that Madeline Ridley was pretty—no, beautiful—with delicate features, skin like porcelain, and a ure was slender and trim, without the voluptuous sleekness that he preferred in a woman, but attractive nonetheless
Logan sat in his chair and stared at her steadily “Where did you get this?” he asked, gesturing to the rose