‘How much?’ Too late Laura realised this must have made her sound awfully mercenary. She hadn’t really asked because she cared that much, although she did need money. She just wanted to give herself a bit of time to think.

‘We’ll work out a fee, but probably about ten pounds a script. I’d need you to pick, say, thirty, and we’ll decide on the best ten together, over the phone probably, or by email.’

‘All right then,’ she said meekly. Then a thought struck her. ‘There’s just one thing. I only live in a small flat, just a bedsit with a bathroom, really. I’m not sure I’ve got the space to do all this.’

‘I’m sure it’ll be fine. Don’t you worry about it.’

Laura could tell he was now bored with the subject of the course, and his ‘Don’t you worry about it’ really meant ‘I’m not going to worry about it’. Well, he didn’t need to, now he’d got her to agree to help him.

‘So, how have you been?’ he said now. ‘Have you recovered from your trip to the Emerald Isle?’

The laugh in his voice was not helping her current heart condition. ‘Of course. What was there to recover from?’

‘Drinking whiskey by the tumbler full for a start,’ he said. ‘Not to mention the men you had to beat off with a stick.’ She could just imagine him, lying back in his chair, possibly doodling, enjoying his gentle teasing.

‘I didn’t need a stick.’ She was smiling too and she wasn’t sure if he would be able to hear this in her voice or not.

‘Sure now, I was meek as a lamb when it came to it.’ He paused. ‘So, I’ll tell Eleanora to get whoever’s in charge of this course to send the scripts to you. We’ll keep in touch about it.’

‘Thank you. I think.’

He laughed. ‘Sure you’ll thank me. You may discover the next Dermot Flynn and then the world will be at your feet.’

‘I think one Dermot Flynn is quite enough for the world, thank you,’ she said.

He laughed again. ‘You’re a lovely girl, Laura Horsley, and I have my eye on you.’ Then he disconnected.

Laura examined the handset and then switched it off. She got up and walked slowly to where Fenella had answered the phone and found the rest. She was horribly aware of Rupert and Fenella studying her, desperate to find out what was going on.

‘He wants me to read the scripts for his course and help him select the final ten. Apparently Eleanora recommended me.’

‘Huh!’ said Rupert. ‘Far more likely that Eleanora got him to agree to do the course by saying, “I’ve got a lovely girl who’ll do all the hard work for you.”’