“Clara, dearest, are you free this evening?”

It was a murmur, close to my ear as I stood in the area behind the camera, watching Aidan and Robert do the same scene they had done five times already. But it was a moment of revelation, as if the studio lights had been switched on and shone with sudden, blinding brilliance. I stiffened with anticipation. David was so close to me I could smell the cigarette smoke and perspiration in his shirt. “Yes,” I whispered.

“It seems so long since I’ve managed to get any time with you,” he said, still keeping his voice low. “But you are my best girl, you know. Did you miss me?”

“Very much.”

I did not ask why he had ignored me until now, when the film was almost finished. I did not ask why he had not come out in the evenings with me and the others. I did not ask where he went when each day’s work was done. The moment he spoke, it had ceased to matter. A girl in love is gloriously selfish, thinking only of the strength of her own feelings and anxious for a sign of his. He gave it in the form of a squeeze of my hand and a flash of a smile. “Shall I come to the hotel? You are not going out to dinner, are you?”

“No, I am quite free.”

“Then let us order dinner in a private room so that we can be together with no distractions.” He looked at me with the almost amused look I knew well. “You do not object to spending the evening alone with me?”

My heart swooped. “No, of course not.”

“I assure you, I am a gentleman.”

“I know that, David.”

“Then I will arrange it all. Shall you meet me in the foyer at eight o’clock?”

I nodded and stood there trembling as David turned calmly back to the rehearsal. “All right, everybody, let’s try a take. Maria, where are you? Aidan’s nose is shining like a lighthouse. Bernard, get the board.”

While Maria was powdering his face, I sensed, more than actually saw, Aidan’s eyes slide in my direction. He had probably noticed my whispered conversation with David. Well, I thought carelessly, if he wished to spend his time being jealous, then he was at liberty to do that. The notion made me smile. Having made Simona jealous of me and Aidan jealous of David, why should I not be amused? The entire thing was folly of the first order.