Duke pauses. ‘Okay,’ he replies, as she puts the toast on her plate. ‘Well, do you want to join us?’

‘No, thank you,’ Evie tells him. ‘I think I’m just going to take this up to my room. I’ve got a bit of a headache.’

She disappears.

That was weird, thinks Duke. He wonders if it’s something he’s said.

21

Duke

They’re filming what Duke thinks of as an outdoor ‘frolicking’ scene today, over at Naturschutzgebiet Seeholz, an area of natural woodland with winding paths and a small lake that, with a fresh sprinkling of snow, is a grander and more dreamlike set than even the most talented designer could concoct. His costume for George is the warmest thing he’s been put in this whole trip: it’s basically full skiwear. In black padded salopettes, snow boots, thick gloves and a fitted black gilet over a black fleece jumper, he’s snug as a bug in a rug. The sun is bright and the skies blue, his favourite kind of weather. He stands outside of the hair and make-up trailer getting some fresh air, taking it all in … and looking for Evie. He saw her get on the crew bus earlier, so he knows she made it.

‘Duke, hi! How are you doing?’ the director of photography, Katerina, says. ‘Delays aside, the shoot’s all going great, huh?’

He doesn’t know Katerina well, and hasn’t spent much time with her on set aside from at a small drinks gathering when they wrapped at Pinewood on the internal shots, before they flew out to Germany. He tries to rack his brains for some common titbit of information he remembers about their chat, but he comes up blank. Pinewood already feels so long ago, and he was a mess at the time, with news of Daphne’s liaison so fresh. He goes for a different tack instead.

‘Great, yeah,’ says Duke. ‘And look at this! It’s gorgeous, isn’t it?’ He gestures at the expanse of snowy fields and pine trees, a veritable winter wonderland.

She nods enthusiastically in response. ‘Well …’ Katerina says, when it becomes apparent they’ve not really got anything else to say. ‘Break a leg today.’

‘Yeah.’ Duke nods. ‘You too.’

He breathes it all in again, but barely takes five breaths before Willow, from content, interrupts him.

‘Hey Duke,’ she says. ‘I’ve just been on the line with the head of PR at the studio.’

‘My favourite way for a sentence to start,’ Duke quips, rolling his eyes.

‘I know,’ she says. ‘We’re always asking you for something, and I’m afraid today is no different. Just to give you a heads up, we know there are paps here today – I mean, we might have tipped off the paps, truth be told, but I cannot officially confirm nor deny that – and re: you and Evie, and you and Daphne … we just wanted you to know.’