For a moment it seemed like they might be able to turn things around in the trailer, and then she went postal on him, storming out. The woman is obviously unhinged. Duke had imagined she’d be like the characters in her books, but he’s realised something else now: people who make art are seldom ‘normal’. Evie must just be another one of those people-who-make-things. Actors, writers, artists, designers, musicians … when you try to experience the world and then say something about the world, you have to have a paper-thin skin to let the world affect you, to let it run through you. He’s going to have to file Evie into the ‘genius-but-volatile-and-unpredictable-with-it’ category.

Even though it’s freezing the sun shines intensely, in the way it does in Europe. Duke loves his house in London – a rambling townhouse with real working fireplaces and dark, ssumptuously decorated rooms – but the city itself is hard for him. Obviously being British he wants a UK base, but he isn’t in touch with his old school friends up north and all his industry friends are in LA, where he also keeps a home. He loves the sunshine there, and the way the weather so positively affects everyone’s disposition. The weather in the UK is always somehow damp. In London, he always seems to have cold feet, like the water in the air permeates his bones. Sure, he’s wearing thermal socks on set today, and thermal long johns under his costume, but it’s not cold like it gets at home. It’s crisp and clear, and it makes him feel … well, better about things. His broken heart seems less broken here, the change of scene helping to change the way he’s thinking about what happened back at Pinewood.

They’re set up in the marketplace beside the town hall. It’s a wide, paved square with a terracotta-coloured fountain and ten-foot Christmas tree with white lights and a big gold star. Lights are strung through the trees dotted around, lit, despite it being daytime. The timber buildings are three storeys with wooden frames in red and black set against white walls. Everything goes smoothly, with the weather making everyone chirpy and efficient. They get what they need quickly, and Duke knows he’s done a good job. He has to admit Daphne is still amazing to work opposite – she gives him a lot, and it means he can give a lot back. The chemistry doesn’t have to be manufactured. His tentative okay-ness is sudden, a quick wind change, but since they spoke it’s sunk in for him that he and Daphne might really be better as friends. He can see how that might be true.

She didn’t have to shag the director, though.

If he’s truly honest, his ego might take a bit longer to heal than his heart.