And then the confused sound of the audience leaving and Masters again, saying ‘Clear, please. Everybody off and to their dressing-rooms. Please.’ And hurrying figures stumbling past her and asking each other: ‘What accident? What’s happened?’ and Malcolm and the soldiers saying: ‘It’s him. Did you see? Christ Almighty!’

There was a muddle of human beings, Nanny taking her to her dressing-room and she removing her make-up and Nanny getting her into her street clothes.

‘Nanny, what’s happened? Is it Sir Dougal? What accident?’

‘Never you mind, dear. We’ll be told. All in good time.’

‘Go out, Nanny. Ask somebody. Ask Mr Masters. Say I want to know.’

Nanny went out. She ran into somebody, another woman, in the passage and there was a gabble of voices. There was no mistaking the high-pitched, nicely articulated wail.

‘Nina!’ Maggie had called. ‘Come in. Come in, darling.’

Nina was in disarray but had changed and had pulled on a tamo’-shanter of the kind that needs careful adjustment and had not received it. There were traces of mascara under her eyes.

‘Maggie!’ she cried. ‘Oh, Maggie, isn’t it awful?’

‘Isn’t what awful? Here. Sit down and pull yourself together, for pity’s sake, and tell me. Is somebody dead?’

Nina nodded her head a great many times.

‘Who? Is it Dougal? Yes? For heaven’s sake pull yourself together. Has everybody lost their heads?’

Nina produced a shrill cackle of laughter.

‘What is it?’ Maggie demanded.

‘He has,’ shrieked Nina. ‘Dougal has.’

‘Has what?’

‘Lost his head. I’m telling you. Lost his head.’

And while Maggie took in the full enormity of this, Nina broke into an extraordinary diatribe.

‘I told you. I told lots of you. You wouldn’t listen. It’s the Macbeth curse, I said. If you make a nonsense of it, it’ll strike back. If Perry had listened to me, this wouldn’t have happened. You ask Bruce Barrabell, he’ll tell you. He knows. Those tricks with heads. They were warnings. And now – look.’

Maggie went to her little drinks cupboard. She was an abstemious woman and it was stocked for visitors rather than herself, but she felt she now needed something, actually to prevent her fainting. The room was unsteady. She poured out two large brandies and gave one to Nina. Both their hands were shaking horridly.

They drank quickly, shuddered and drank again.

Nanny returned. She took one look at them and said: ‘I see you know.’

‘Sort of,’ said Maggie. ‘Only what’s happened. Not how, or why or anything else.’