In the bar she heard her name called, looked around, saw Frances Kitson standing with a rather smooth-looking man who looked like, she decided, a foreign business magnate. Which is exactly what he was, Molly found, when Frances introduced her to Milton Werner.

‘Are you by yourself?’ said Frances curiously.

‘I came to see Anthony.’ And then she added, because she felt slightly guilty, ‘We have some business we have to discuss.’

‘Oh – of course.’ Frances remembered, Molly and Anthony had once had a big passionate affair, everyone knew about it. But it wasn’t still going – surely? Surely not?

She changed the subject. ‘I met Milton while I was making an advert,’ she explained. Milton bowed over Molly’s hand, and Frances made her laugh with stories of the purple-shirted vomiting director.

‘Dear old Fran,’ said Molly laughing still as the first bell rang, seeing how Franny’s laugh made other people around them involuntarily smile, ‘you do sock it to them!’

‘Oh I do,’ said Frances, ‘that’s how I survive.’

Molly noted how Milton looked at Frances. There was something – Molly bit her lip and turned away for a moment – hungry, about the way his eyes took in her plump body as he listened to her. Frances didn’t seem to notice, smiled at Milton with openness and warmth. Molly too smiled at Milton, she was glad Frances had a lover, if lover he was. Molly had also been working in the North when Frances had finally left her dentist husband; never forgot how her friend tried to make a joke of it all as she hid her mouth behind her hand, waiting for new teeth.

‘Emilia’s a good part, isn’t it,’ she said to Frances.

‘When you’re old enough,’ said Frances dryly. ‘It’s the kind of part I played in rep when I was twenty-one when people like you were playing Desdemona!’ and Molly laughed, understanding her: Frances had got the old parts, which didn’t look like good parts when you were young.

‘Isn’t Anthony wonderful,’ said Frances for the third time.

‘He’s extremely wonderful,’ offered Milton in his softly accented English, ‘he is a very fine actor. I understand you ladies trained with him.’

‘We did,’ said Molly.

The second interval bell rang.

‘Were you there also at the reunion of disaster?’ asked Milton.

Molly laughed at his turn of phrase. ‘It wasn’t actually disastrous,’ she said, ‘it was quite enjoyable, meeting everyone.’

‘It was pretty disastrous for Terence Blue!’ said Frances. ‘Oh I do hope he’ll be all right. Did you see Nicky Abbott Molly?’

‘Just so briefly, I heard her voice and I turned round and then she was gone. God, I remember her as the best actress I ever saw, did you notice that Heartbreak was on the television on Saturday night?’

‘I know Heartbreak,’ said Milton Werner unexpectedly. ‘Do you mean – was that wonderful actress she who stabbed?’