Chapter 9 Summary

Rose has booked a room for O'Hara at the Adelphi Hotel, but she knows he will soon want to visit his old haunts. The second day he's in Liverpool, O'Hara rents his old basement room in Percy Street. The room hasn't changed. It is still damp and smells of turpentine. It comforts him. He lies on the bed and mentally sifts through memories from the years past. At the theater, O'Hara meets old acquaintances and makes new ones. He finds Stella especially intriguing, but she doesn't seem to have much time for him. Stella reminds him of someone, and O'Hara can't help feeling that he's met her before, although Freddie points out that it's unlikely.

Rehearsals go on with the usual technical glitches, but O'Hara is a magnificent Captain Hook. Everyone's spirits are lifted by the energy he brings to the play. Opening...