Part 3 (2/2)

'You surely don't mean he's got a record?' Lettice sounded horrified, while Ronnie slapped the table triumphantly.

Josephine laughed. 'No, of course not. It was about some filming on the Thames. He had to get permission.' She repeated what Archie had told her, embellis.h.i.+ng the story to get maximum effect from its punchline.

'He must have been devastated after going to all that trouble,' Lettice said seriously. 'But the film's still marvellous. That bit where the lodger's being chased by the crowds is so exciting.' Josephine agreed. It was several years ago now, but she remembered how the film's recreation of the Jack the Ripper case in a more contemporary London had shocked her when she first saw it, not because it dealt with a series of brutal killings but because it showed how infectious violence could be. Hitchc.o.c.k's depiction of a frenzied mob, driven by fear, revenge and hysteria to take justice into its own hands, was frighteningly credible. It reminded her of the crowds that had gathered in the streets during the early days of the war: there was nothing more terrifying than a pack united by a common hatred, believing itself to be unquestionably in the right and using its fear to justify every innate prejudice. 'I did feel a bit cheated when it finished, though,' Lettice admitted. 'He's guilty in the book and it's a much better ending.'

'That's what you get for casting Ivor Novello,' Josephine said. 'Rule number one of popular entertainment: a matinee idol can never be a killer a that really would incite the crowds.' She thought for a moment, and addeda 'Anyway, I think it was better that way. There's something very powerful about an innocent man being destroyed by people who think they've got right on their side.'

'It wouldn't surprise me if Hitchc.o.c.k had been in trouble with the police, you know,' Ronnie said, returning to give her dead horse one last flog. 'There are far too many handcuffs involved in those films for my liking.' She lit a cigarette and leant back thoughtfully in her deckchair. 'It can't be a very normal sort of marriage, can it?'

'Is there such a thing?'

Ronnie gave her a wry smile. 'What a shame that age has made you so cynical already.'

Josephine reached for the cigarette case and took one out for herself and Lettice. 'How many so-called normal marriages can you name?' she asked. 'Normal is one of the casualties of our generation, and I knew that when I was twenty-one, so please put my cynicism down to something more creditable than age.'

'Johnny did tell us that Hitchc.o.c.k has a vulgar sense of humour,' Lettice conceded. 'He said he wasn't at all sympathetic to his actors on the set and he felt very taken for granted.'

'But don't you think that's Johnny trying to excuse the fact that he simply wasn't very good in the film?' Josephine asked. 'What was it one critic said? ”Bloodless, stilted and inept”?'

'I have to say, sticking Johnny opposite Madeleine Carroll and expecting sparks to fly is commendably optimistic,' Ronnie said. 'I'll give Hitchc.o.c.k that, at least.'

'Exactly, so I don't think we can take Johnny's testimony as gospel.'

'It's not just Johnny who's been on the receiving end of it, though, is it? He sent Julian four hundred smoked herrings for his birthday and filled Freddie's flat with coal while he was away on honeymoon. What sort of man does that?' Ronnie sounded genuinely bewildered. 'Perhaps it's something lacking in me, but I just don't find all that schoolboy stuff very funny.'

Josephine a who had heard only professional gossip about the Hitchc.o.c.ks from Marta a was growing increasingly uneasy. 'Can we change the subject?' she asked. 'If I'm going to end up working with the man, I'd rather not know all this.'

'I wouldn't take it too seriously.' Archie put the tray of drinks down on the table. 'That sort of stuff went on all the time after the war whenever any group of men got together. I doubt that film studios were any different to army barracks or a police incident room.'

'But this is eighteen years after the war,' Josephine pointed out. 'We are going to have to stop using that as some sort of all-purpose excuse eventually.'

'Ah, but there's another excuse on the horizon,' Archie said. 'So I think it'll tide us over.' He handed the gla.s.ses round and raised his own. 'Cheers. Did anybody know that Bella Hutton was going to be here?'

'Bella Hutton?'

Lettice looked as doubtful as her sister. 'Are you sure, Archie?'

'Positive. I nearly stood on her dog.' He glanced at Josephine. 'And Lydia and Marta have arrived a they're just checking in, but there seems to be some sort of confusion over their rooms. They'll be out in a minute.'

It was a well-intentioned warning, but Josephine wished he hadn't said anything. As it was, her behaviour on first seeing Marta was likely to be strained enough; now, robbed of the element of surprise, she could already feel her stomach tightening and the sincerity draining from her face. Resisting the temptation to glance over at the hotel, she tried to concentrate on what Ronnie was saying.

'No one ever really got to the bottom of why Bella Hutton came back from Hollywood so suddenly, did they?'

'Is this one of your famous conspiracy theories? I thought her marriage failed.'

'Yes it did, but that doesn't mean she had to throw her whole career away.'

'Perhaps being married to America didn't suit her any more than being married to an American,' Josephine suggested. 'I can't imagine Hollywood's a very pleasant place to be, and she must have made enough money from her films and the divorce not to have to work unless she wants to.'

'And she comes from somewhere round here, anyway,' Lettice added. 'So it's not surprising she should visit.'

'What?' Ronnie stared at her in amazement. 'You mean Bella Hutton's Welsh?'

'Bella Hutton, my dear, is international.'

She seemed about to offer further insights into the movie star's life, but Ronnie interrupted her. 'I never thought this would last, you know,' she said, stubbing her cigarette out and peering at the hotel. Marta and Lydia were on the upper terrace, looking round for them. 'Why ”rooms”, I wonder?'

Josephine reached for her sungla.s.ses, although the fierceness of the day had begun to die down. From their safety, she watched as the couple walked across the lawn. Marta wore a halter-neck top and linen trousers, closely fitted to her hips. Her skin, pale from a London summer, was burnt a little at the shoulders; her face was impossible to read. In the past, Josephine had searched for words that would adequately describe that face, but it moved so swiftly between strength and insecurity, laughter and an intense seriousness, that its essence always eluded her. Now, she took heart from the fact that Marta, too, seemed to need a mask. Even so, when she stood to greet them, it was Lydia she turned to first, Lydia whom she hugged with a genuine warmth. She had rehea.r.s.ed this moment for weeks, but, when Marta was beside her, all she could manage was a perfunctory kiss and a subdued h.e.l.lo.

Archie looked round for two more empty deckchairs, but Lettice stopped him. 'Have ours,' she said. 'We've got to go and unpack.'

'Just a minute,' Ronnie said. 'I want to find out where Marta stands on the Hitchc.o.c.k issue.'

Marta sat down opposite Josephine. 'What issue's that?'

'Is he a genius or just a strange little man?'

'Does it have to be one or the other?' She shook her hair out and retied it while Ronnie considered what was obviously a new idea to her. 'Sorry a I've only met him briefly, so I can't really help, but his wife is very sane and very clever, and I doubt she'd settle for less in a husband.'

'Mm,' Ronnie muttered, unconvinced. 'His family owns MacFisheries, though. That can't be right.'

Archie exchanged a weary look with Lydia. 'Can I get you both a drink?' he asked.

'I'm dying for a gin and tonic, but don't bother fetching it, Archie. Someone will come over.'

'It'll be quicker if I go to the bar. They're very busy out here. Marta?'

'Tea would be lovely.'

'I'll give you a hand,' Josephine offered. 'I could do with the exercise, and you've been back and forth so often they'll think you're trying for a job.'

'No, you stay here a I can manage. It'll give me a chance to see who else has turned up. Do you know Daniel Lascelles, Lydia?' he asked casually.

'Danny? Yes, he was with me in Close Quarters. He's a sweetheart. Why? Is he here?'

'Yes, I met him at the bar earlier. He'll be pleased to see you a it looked like he could do with a friendly face and a bit of encouragement.'

'Oh, I'll come and say h.e.l.lo now. I haven't spoken to him since he lost his father.' Archie walked with her to the hotel, leaving Marta and Josephine alone. It had been subtly done, and Josephine hoped she was the only one who had noticed.

They looked at each other for a long time without speaking. Eventually, Marta leant forward and removed Josephine's gla.s.ses. 'h.e.l.lo again,' she said quietly. 'How are you?'

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