The next day David was not there. Jeanette found me alone in my dressing room at half past two in the afternoon, in full costume and make-up, waiting to start. “David telephoned,” she said. “He’s on his way from London and he wants to talk to us all. Could you be on the set at three o’clock, please?”

“What’s going on?” I asked.

She grimaced. “He’s been to see the money men.”

As instructed, we gathered in the studio half an hour later. David did not sit down in the director’s chair but stood, one hand in his pocket, the other holding a lit cigarette, despite the smoking ban on the set. He looked exhausted and his clothes were crumpled, as if he had not changed them from the day before. The swelling on his temple had partly closed his right eye. “Been a long night,” he said, “but I’ve managed to get them to agree to finance the overrun made necessary by the departure of you-know-who.”

There was a general murmur. “Great news, David!” called Dennis. “When’s the new deadline?”

“End of February.” David drew deeply on his cigarette. “Aidan’s scenes are more or less complete, but we have to film long shots with a stand-in and the back of the stand-in’s head to cut in with shots of people talking to him. And we’ll use bits of film of Aidan’s face, from try-outs and so on. It’ll be tight, but we’ll do it.”

“Who’ve you got to stand in?” asked Robert. “Rudolph Valentino?”

“Gregory Wright-Hanson,” said David.

A groan went round. “That bore!” complained Godfrey.

“He does the job,” said David steadily, “unlike some actors I could mention.” He shot a look at me. “Clara, you’ll like old Gregory.”

“I hope so,” I said doubtfully.

David smiled, but I could tell he was suppressing impatience. “My dear Clara, don’t make yourself anxious. The film will be finished on time, and everything will be all right. Oh, and the money men have at last decided what to call the film. Innocence.”

No one spoke.

“To reflect both the unjust beheading of Charles de Montfort and the naiveté of his lover,” David added. “I think it’s a pretty good title.”

I did too. The thought of seeing the title on the screen, followed by starring Clara Hope and Aidan Tobias, thrilled me more deeply than I could admit.

“Right,” said David, finishing his cigarette and stubbing it out in a coffee cup, since there were no ashtrays. “We start in half an hour. Gregory’s coming tomorrow.”