Prince’s Theatre

Prince’s Theatre is the setting for Sunday Small’s first visit to the theatre, an outing that gives her a glimpse of life beyond the workhouse and becomes the occasion for a change in her relationship with Jacob. The visit is remembered not only for the performance but also for the conversation on the journey home.

Setting and Visit

During a stay in London, Jacob obtains tickets for a performance of The School for Scandal starring Lillie Langtry. He tells Sunday that the theatre is near Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square, while Chinatown is nearby but not part of their plans. Biddy Spooner encourages the young pair to go out, and, although she recognizes that she should have chaperoned Sunday, she trusts Jacob to behave properly.

The outing is prepared as a special occasion. Biddy arranges for a maid to put Sunday’s hair up and tells her to wear her best gown. Sunday chooses a new lilac dress, an afternoon gown standing in for evening wear, and sees an elegant young woman in the mirror where she is accustomed to seeing a workhouse girl. She wishes that Daisy and Tommy could see her transformed appearance.

The Performance

Sunday has never attended a theatre before. Walking in on Jacob’s arm, she attracts admiring glances, but once the performance begins she keeps her attention on the stage. She enjoys the evening intensely and later remembers it as an experience whose colours remain undimmed. Her enthusiasm is focused particularly on Langtry, whom she praises for both her performance and beauty on the cab ride home.

The Conversation Afterward

The evening at Prince’s Theatre leads directly into a personal revelation. On the journey home, Jacob takes Sunday’s hand and tells her that he has grown fond of her. He traces this feeling to Christmas, when Rebecca treated Sunday rudely: until then, he says, he had thought of her as little more than a child, but that occasion made him recognize that she was growing up. He also says he is willing to wait until she is ready to return his feelings.

Sunday is surprised. She tells Jacob that she likes him very much, while recalling that an earlier crush on him had passed and that much had happened since. The theatre visit therefore marks neither an established romance nor an immediate decision, but a new possibility: Jacob makes his feelings explicit, and Sunday acknowledges affection without promising more.