Just as the redness of Jon's face had begun to subside, there was a knock at the door of Madeleine's office.
"Not now," Madeleine said, almost as if replying to the knock itself.
"What's wrong?" Jon asked her.
"There is only one person 'ere who knocks like zat," Madeleine said quietly.
"Who?" Karyn asked, lowering her voice to match the French woman's.
"Henri, ze theatre owner. He will want to know why 'e is one dancer down for ze rest of ze night," Madeleine said, looking Karyn directly in the face.
"But I'm not one of the dancers," Karyn replied.
"For some reason, 'e thinks you are," Madeleine said as she reached for a small notepad sitting on the table in front of her.
"Why would he think that?" Jon asked.
"I do not know, but I need to give 'im some reason why you cannot perform for ze rest of tonight," Madeleine said as she finished writing something.
The knock came again, followed by a voice from the other side of the door.
“Madeleine, je sais que vous êtes là.” (Madeleine, I know that you are there.)
"Take zis to Claudette in ze chorus dressing room and do as she says. You know who zat is, do you not?" Madeleine said, handing Karyn the page she had torn from the notepad.
"I think so," Karyn replied.
"You can escort 'er while I deal with Henri," Madeleine said as she went to open the office door.
“Vous en avez mis du temps. (You took your time.) Henri stood in the doorway.
“Je suis désolée. Je devais d'abord m'assurer que tout allait bien.” (I am sorry. I had to make sure everything was all right first.) Madeleine gestured for Henri to enter the small room.
“Je vous l'ai déjà dit : ce n'est pas Henri, c'est Monsieur Beaumont.” (I have told you before: it is not Henri, it is Mr Beaumont.) Henri entered the room and sat in the chair that Jon had only just vacated.
“C'est vrai, vous me l'avez déjà dit.” (So you did, so you did.) Madeleine smiled as she motioned for Jon and Karyn to leave the room.
“Maintenant, voulez-vous me dire ce qui est arrivé à Karyn ?” (Now, would you like to tell me what has happened to Karyn?) Henri made himself comfortable.
Outside in the corridor, Karyn once again noticed the looks she was getting from the men around them.
“Jon, do you have any idea what's going on?" she asked.
"I'm not sure, but somehow you've been mistaken for a dancer in a French burlesque troupe," he replied.
"I'd sort of worked that bit out. I meant, do you know why no one seems to notice that I'm not supposed to be here? They all act as if they know me. It's weird," Karyn told him.
"What do you mean, they know you?" he asked.
"If I was in their position, I would be shouting for les gendarmes now, telling them that there was a stranger in the dressing room, but they don't. They just think I'm meant to be there. It's scary," Karyn replied.
"Don't worry. We'll sort things out before it gets worse," Jon said, trying to reassure her.
"You and Madeleine?" Karyn asked.
"Yeah," Jon answered.
"You have a lot of faith in someone you've just met," Karyn said.
"She's been trying to help while you were busy…" he replied.
"Speaking of which, it's time for me to go back inside the lion's den," Karyn said as they reached the dressing-room door.
"You ready?" he asked.
"I suppose so," she said as she knocked on the door in front of her.
“Une minute.” (One minute.) A voice came from the other side of the door.
“Je pensais qu'elle allait te tuer parce que tu n'étais pas tout à fait dans le rythme ce soir.” (I thought she would have killed you for being a little off tonight.) Lucienne opened the door, still wearing the same stage costume as Karyn.
Karyn stood there, not knowing what to say, and simply held out the note Madeleine had given her a few minutes earlier.
“Elle a vraiment dû te faire peur si tu ne dis plus rien.” (She must have really got to you if you are not saying anything.) Lucienne took the piece of paper from Karyn's hand.
Karyn turned to Jon and, without saying anything, gave him a look that seemed to say, I hope I'm doing the right thing.
“Claudette, Karyn est revenue et elle a un mot de Madeleine pour toi.” (Claudette, Karyn is back, and she has a note from Madeleine for you.) Lucienne called into the dressing room.
“Laisse-moi voir ce mot.” (Let me see this note.) Claudette appeared at the doorway and took the note. As she began to read, she could almost hear Madeleine's voice in the words.
“La jeune femme qui se trouve devant vous souffre plus que je ne le pensais des suites de sa collision avec l'autre jeune femme plus tôt dans la soirée et n'est pas en état de se produire de nouveau ce soir. Je suis en train d'en informer Henri. Pouvez-vous l'aider à se changer et permettre à mon jeune ami de la
raccompagner à mon bureau lorsqu'elle sera prête ?”
(The young lady in front of you is suffering more than I thought from her collision with the other young woman earlier this evening and is not well enough to perform again tonight. I am telling Henri about it now. Can you help her get changed and allow my young friend to escort her back to my office when she is ready?)
Claudette read the note twice before turning to Karyn.
“Eh bien, cela explique pourquoi tu étais si silencieuse tout à l'heure. Viens, je vais t'aider à enlever ce costume.” (Well, that explains why you were so quiet earlier. Come, I will help you get out of that costume.)
She moved to one side to allow Karyn to walk inside. Jon moved to follow her, only to find himself stopped by Claudette.
“Non, monsieur, vous devez rester ici. Je vous la ramènerai lorsqu'elle sera prête.” (No, sir, you must stay here. I will bring her back to you when she is ready.)
Jon had no idea what Claudette was saying to him, but he could tell that, once again that evening, he was not being allowed into the dressing room.
Karyn looked back at him, silently telling him that she would be okay. She had no idea why she felt that way. Maybe it was because of the time she had already spent with these women. If they had wanted to harm her, they would have done so by now.
Jon tried to nod back at Karyn, only to find the dressing-room door closed in his face.
Back in Madeleine's office, Henri looked towards her.
“Comment cette étrangère est-elle arrivée dans les coulisses ?” (How did this foreigner get backstage?)
“Je n'en ai aucune idée.” (I have no idea.)
That was the third time in the last few minutes that he had called Simone a foreigner. Henri might not have made it backstage that often, but he had met Simone on more than one occasion, and he knew that she was from Lyon.
Something strange was going on, but until Madeleine got rid of him, she would not have a chance to try to find out why.
“Êtes-vous certaine que Karyn va bien ?” (Are you sure that Karyn is okay?)
“Je vais m'occuper d'elle moi-même. Elle est dans la loge en ce moment, en train de quitter son costume, et un de mes amis la raccompagnera lorsqu'elle sera habillée.” (I will look after her myself. She is in the dressing room right now, getting changed out of her costume, and a friend of mine will escort her back when she is dressed.)
“Votre ami, le jeune homme qui est parti avec elle lorsque je suis entré, n'est-ce pas ?” (Your friend, the young man who left with her as I came in, yes?)
“C'est lui. Jon. Je suis certaine qu'il prendra bien soin d'elle.” (That is him. Jon. I am sure he will take good care of her.)
Madeleine tried to hide the small smile that appeared on her face at the thought.
“Eh bien, vous semblez avoir la situation en main. Je vais retourner à mon bureau, mais la prochaine fois qu'une chose pareille se produit, je m'attends à l'apprendre de vous et non du régisseur.” (Well, you seem to have things under control here. I will go back to my office, but next time something like this happens, I expect to hear about it from you and not the stage manager.)
Henri turned to leave.
“J'espère qu'il n'y aura pas de prochaine fois.” (I hope there will not be a next time.)
Madeleine watched him go. She still wasn't sure what was happening, and she needed to work it out. She turned back to the journal she had been reading during the Pause, hoping she could find some answers before the others returned.
