title: Life on the Victorian Stage: Theatrical Gossip
author: Nell Darby
description: Essential reading for historians and students of theatre history, of course, but written in such an engaging style it will appeal to just about anyone. (<i>Books Monthly</i>)
zlib_text: 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Prologue
  
  Subscription Ticket
  
  for the MASQUERADE BALL at the
  
  Pantheon Theatre, Monday, March 9th, 1809
  
  Heart pounding, Livvy stared down at the elegantly engraved ticket in
  
  her hand. Dare she indulge this whim?
  
  Ladies of Quality did not attend public masquerades. Except, perhaps,
  
  for a lark, or to meet a lover. She was not seeking a lover, but a lark ...
  
  a lark was just what she deserved. She'd already spent a glorious
  
  week reveling in London's theatre, the opera, shopping, and even
  
  picking up the broken threads of friendships begun over ten years ago.
  
  Some of those morning calls she'd paid had even resulted in invita-
  
  tions.
  
  The thought made her pause.
  
  Though she had no ambition for anything but the most minor role in
  
  society, and certainly no desire to remarry, she had no wish to cause a
  
  scandal either.
  
  The sound of the orchestra playing a quadrille seduced her ears, set
  
  her feet to tapping. It fed the reckless mood that had stolen over her
  
  since s