‘I was seventeen when that photo was taken. I was a looker and all. Had all the men after me!’

One of the nurses sat down on the bed.

‘Is it true what they said about you?’

The tiny frame shook with a deep husky laugh that turned into a hacking cough.

‘Let’s just say that there’s an element of truth in there, shall we?’

The two nurses exchanged glances.

‘Is it true that Jonathan La Billière started out in blue films?’

Briony sat up in bed and scowled. ‘He’s got a knighthood, you know, but he always had a soft spot for me, did Jonny. I knew many men, my loves, and I learnt one thing. Never open your mouth about anyone or anything, unless you stand to benefit by it. It’s a rule I’ve lived by for nearly ninety years! There’s things that will go to my grave with me, and there’s people who think the sooner I go and take me knowledge with me, the better off everyone will be!’

She laughed again then, pulling herself up in the bed, she lit a cigarette, drawing the smoke down into the depths of her lungs.

‘Well, Miss Briony, you certainly have led a chequered life!’

‘How about a drop of the hard then, girls? There’s a bottle of brandy over there in the dresser. I’ll have a large one please.’

The blonde nurse went to the dresser and poured out the drink. The old woman sighed. This place was costing over a thousand pounds a week, though it was worth every penny. But a thousand pounds was still a lot of money, even for two of them! A thousand pounds to someone from her beginnings was a small fortune, but money was a necessity in life; without it, you were vulnerable. She sipped the fiery liquid and felt it burn the back of her throat.

‘One of the perks of having money - you can happily drink yourself to death and no one gives a damn.’

The nurses smiled.

‘They’re making a film about me, you know? About me and my sisters. My sister Kerry was the singer. She was the youngest. Five of us, there were, but I’m the only one left. Kerry was the gifted one, and like many gifted people she used her talent to destroy herself.’ Her eyes clouded over, as if she could see her sister once more in front of her.

‘But they won’t mention my poor Rosalee, I made sure of that, nor too much about my Eileen. I brought up Eileen’s children, you know. Then there was my Bernadette. The sweetest child God ever put on this earth, unless you upset her that is! I’m the only one left out of the five of us, and I’m well on me way to the century!’