‘I’m so sorry, Faye, I’m sure it must have been awful. Although, to be totally honest, hearing you talking about boyfriends reminds me of my younger days.’ Faye looked up and saw a misty expression in the old lady’s eyes. ‘I do envy you the ups and downs of forming relationships, falling in and out of love. Yes, the break-ups hurt, but when you’re young and bright and beautiful, you know there’s always another man waiting just round the corner. Yes, I envy you that. So, what was his name, this one who broke your heart?’
‘Didier.’ Faye took a mouthful of tea and swallowed hard after saying his name.
‘That name doesn’t sound very English.’
‘No, he’s French, but he works in London.’ Faye did her best to keep her voice level. ‘We were together for almost five years and I thought everything was just fine, but it all went pear-shaped a few months ago.’
‘Another girl?’
Faye nodded. ‘Girls, plural, I’m afraid. It’s all been emerging over the past couple of months since I walked out on him.’ She paused for a moment. ‘Looking back on it, I feel such a fool. Everybody seemed to know what he was like except me.’
Miss Beech reached out and caught hold of Faye’s arm. ‘Love really is blind, you know, Faye. Take it from me.’
‘Personal experience?’
‘Bitter personal experience. I’ll tell you all about it one of these days.’ In spite of her tone, Faye spotted a sparkle in Miss Beech’s eyes and she felt sure that this biography was likely to be fascinating and maybe cathartic for both of them.
Miss Beech patted her arm before releasing it. When she spoke, her tone was much more positive. ‘Anyway, better to find out now than later on. That was the trouble in my day, you know, particularly for people like me in the public eye. Unless you were very, very circumspect, it was either a quick peck on the cheek at a cocktail party or it was marriage, with little in between. Being able to test drive a relationship for a few months or years like you can nowadays would have saved me a lot of heartache and a lot of time.’ She gave Faye a wink. ‘And a whole heap of money. So, do you miss him?’
Faye shook her head decisively and answered straightaway. ‘Absolutely not in the slightest.’ Conscious that that had come out a bit too forcefully, she did her best to moderate her tone a bit, but didn’t really succeed. ‘I certainly don’t miss being with him, now that I know what a two-timing rat he really was. In fact, if I saw him again now, I’d either hit him with that chair over there or run a mile. I suppose I do miss speaking French with him, but, to be honest, the only thing I really miss is that when we were living together we could afford our own little flat. Now that it’s just me, I’m back to sharing a house with other people.’ She glanced round Miss Beech’s bedroom and she couldn’t help comparing it to her current accommodation. The two were poles apart.
Miss Beech smiled at her. ‘Well, you’ll be able to speak all the French you like if you come here to help me, and I’d love it if you would. So, please, if you’re quite sure this is what you want, shall we shake on it?’ Miss Beech extended her elegant hand once more and this time Faye noticed the impeccably manicured and painted nails.
Faye nodded enthusiastically. The more she thought about it, the more she felt convinced that a few months over here were just what she needed. For the first time for ages, she felt a warm glow of happiness suffuse her body and a cheerful smile on her face. She caught Miss Beech’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. ‘If you’re certain, then I’m honoured to accept. Mr Danvers told me he thought the contract would be roughly a six-month affair.’ That was about all the solicitor, Silas Danvers, had been able to tell her about the project when she had met him the previous week. ‘If that’s the case, we’d better get started as soon as possible.’
‘Absolutely, no time to waste. At the age of eighty-two, who knows what’s round the corner? Don’t get me wrong, Faye: I have no intention of dropping dead any time soon, but I think it’s fair to say that time is of the essence.’ Miss Beech was still an excellent actress. The smile never left her face as she speculated upon her looming demise. ‘Now, about accommodation. I was talking to Eddie about the possibility of your coming to stay and he suggested the old stable block. There’s a rather nice guest apartment above the stables and, in the hope that you’d say yes, I’m having it redecorated. It’ll be all ready by the time you come back and we’ll see that it’s all set up for you. Get Claudette or Eddie to show you round before you leave today. I think you’ll like it.’
Faye gave her a big smile. ‘That’s fantastic.’ She hesitated for a moment. ‘Will they be able to tell me about rent and other charges?’
Miss Beech shook her head and smiled back. ‘Don’t worry about that, Faye. I’m glad to see the place being used. It’s been empty for a couple of years now. Besides, I’ve got more than enough to see me out, and when the time comes, where I’m going – wherever that turns out to be – money’s one thing I’m not going to need. You just try your hardest to make this book as good as you possibly can. You never know, it might even get published one day.’
***
Miss Beech came down to the dining room and joined Faye for lunch. Over the meal they chatted and Faye did her best to ask Miss Beech about her early life. Although more than happy to talk about her experiences in Hollywood, she appeared a bit reluctant to speak about her family and her early years, and Faye didn’t push her at this stage. Hopefully, as the old lady took her into her confidence a bit more, she would open up. As it was, Miss Beech appeared very interested in Faye’s life and asked her all sorts of questions. Some were easier to answer than others.
‘So, did you always want to be a teacher?’
Faye had been asked this many times before. ‘Not necessarily teaching, but I always knew I wanted to do something involving language.’
‘And you teach English and French?’
Faye nodded.
‘And do you enjoy teaching?’
Faye answered as honestly as she could. ‘I love teaching. The problem I’ve had of late hasn’t been with the kids, it’s been with the administration. It’s been getting tougher and tougher over the past couple of years. I don’t mean lesson preparation, which is normal, or marking homework, but the endless bureaucracy. I seem to have no time to myself at all. Do you know, I haven’t read a book just for fun for months, years maybe. That’s one of the reasons I’ve been looking round for something different for a while now. And as for finding the time to go to the cinema …’
‘Well, you can remedy both of those while you’re here. Bring all the books you want. There’s not a whole lot to do around here and you’ll have bags of free time, and if you like films, there’s a cinema in the basement, and I’ve got hundreds and hundreds of films.’ She smiled. ‘Including all of mine, of course.’
‘All the films you’ve ever been in?’ Faye saw Miss Beech nod. ‘Then I’ll start with yours before I move on to any others. I need to be familiar with all your work.’
‘Most of them are available via the computer thing that’s down there; though the very early, lesser-known ones are on reels. But if you ask Eddie, he’ll run them for you.’
‘About Eddie … Mr Marshal, has he been with you long?’
‘Eddie? He’s been with me for well over fifty years.’
‘Wow, as long as that?’
‘Yes. He started as my pool boy, skimming the leaves and cutting the grass, but he soon became my personal assistant. He knows more about me that anybody alive.’
Faye made a mental note to add Eddie Marshal to her list of source material. ‘How come he speaks such good French? He’s American, right?’ A little voice in her head was wondering whether there had been more to their relationship than that. Fifty years