When they first met, Phoo had been a major force in the business. Then Sally’s star rose. Sally had given it all up to be a wife and mother and totally disappeared off the scene. Now, in Phoo’s mind, to have Sally lording it over her and playing opposite her husband must have come as a horrible shock.

But Sally also understood that the fires of Phoo’s anger had been seriously stoked up by having too much to drink during the lunch break.

‘Really, Eggy, it’s not important,’ Sally said, trying to appease him as well as change the subject. ‘We just need to concentrate on today. We have some hard stuff to do.’ She was seriously worried about her lines and wanted to use this time to get as much learned as she could, as last night she had barely had a moment to glance at the script.

Make-up finished, Eggy sheepishly shuffled off to his tiny hutch of a dressing room in a three-way trailer, to put his costume on.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Judy bent low and whispered in Sally’s ear.

‘She wanted your part, you know, that wife of his. She’s been nagging the casting director for days. But she was given strict words from above that it was to be you, you and no one else but you.’

This came as a shock to Sally. But of course if Phoo had wanted and begged for her part, well . . . That confirmed so many more suspicions.

‘Not only that, Sally, but I gather from the Second Assistant that Edgar Markham himself spoke against having his wife in the part.’

‘He what?’ Sally turned round in the chair so that she could see Judy’s actual face, not just her reflection. Was this some deal that Eggy had made with the casting director?

‘He didn’t want her in the film. He phoned Daniel. Made it a hundred per cent clear.’ Judy gave a knowing nod, twisted Sally round to face the mirror again and went back to soft-brushing blusher on her cheeks. ‘The Second Assistant said that the wife has been phoning both himself and Daniel, non-stop. She obviously got hold of Eggy’s call sheet and made full use of all the contact numbers and went on nagging. She was even calling him while you were standing there on the set!’

Sally was dumbfounded. When Judy leaned over to choose an eyeliner, she spun the make-up chair to scrutinise Judy’s face, which told everything. The whole episode was clearly the hot gossip of the set.

‘I think Edgar Markham wanted a little peace and quiet,’ said Judy. ‘That Phoebe is quite a handful. I’ve heard it from other girls in London.’

‘But I thought everyone loved her.’