There had been little sleep for either of them. When they’d returned the previous night to the home they shared, Hannah had been too agitated even to think of retiring to bed. It was only when sheer fatigue finally claimed her that Paul was able to carry her upstairs. No sooner had he placed her gently on the bed than she awoke and voiced her anxieties all over again. It was a pattern followed throughout the night. They were now sitting at the breakfast table and taking it in turns to yawn.

Hannah returned to the subject that had been vexing her all night.

‘That’s it,’ she announced. ‘I’ll never play Lady Macbeth again.’

‘But you signed a contract, my love.’

‘It was the biggest mistake of my career.’

‘That’s patent nonsense, Hannah. Your performance has been rightly hailed. London is at your feet. Audiences that applauded Mrs Siddons in the role no longer even remember her. You have made the role your own.’

She tossed her head. ‘I do that with every part I play.’

‘Your performance is absolutely peerless.’

‘Unfortunately, it brought disaster in its wake. It’s my own fault. I didn’t heed the warnings. Everyone knows that the play is cursed. Last night, I found that out to my cost.’

‘Yet the night before, you told me that you were deliriously happy.’

‘I was deceived.’

‘Hannah …’

‘Don’t try to dissuade me, Paul. My mind is made up.’

‘Is it all because of one unfortunate incident?’

‘Is that what you call it?’ she asked with a hollow laugh. ‘The assassination of the Prince Regent merits a far stronger description than that. Suppose that you had been the target? I’d have been left in utter despair. Or suppose that the shot was fired when I emerged through the stage door. I might have been the victim. Have you considered that? Because of this hateful play, I could have been killed.’

‘You attach too much importance to superstition, my love.’

‘Then don’t listen to me. Talk to countless other members of my profession who came to grief while taking part in that ill-fated Scottish play. Ghosts have appeared, injuries have been sustained, scenery has collapsed, sickness has affected the whole cast. And there are dozens of other examples I could give you.’

‘Yet when you were offered the part, you seized it with alacrity.’

‘I’m the first to confess my folly.’

‘Have you so soon forgotten your other success in the play?’ he asked. ‘You not only brought Lady Macbeth to life in Paris, you did so in French. No other English actress could ever do that.’

‘Then they are spared the misery that I had to endure.’

‘You were feted, Hannah. Paris adored you.’