‘Oh look there’s Frances playing a nun,’ and there was Frances, buxom in a nun’s habit, pleading with a monk.

They both laughed. Anthony put his arm across the back of the sofa. When a scene began that he wasn’t in he said, ‘Where’s Viola all of a sudden, all the time?’

‘She doesn’t say. She’s suddenly not here very much. She’ll tell us when she wants to but – she seems to be in love.’

‘In love? What the hell are you talking about?’

‘She’s twenty-four Anthony. She’s not a child.’

‘She’s still a child as far as I’m concerned, especially as I’m still supporting her!’

‘Not for much longer,’ said Pauline soothingly, ‘a few more months.’

‘What do you mean in love?’

‘I don’t know exactly. There’s something on her mind but she hasn’t talked about it.’

‘How can she talk about it if you’re never home?’

‘You are of course.’

‘Don’t be silly Pauly, how can I be home – oh look at me on that horse! I think that was my first riding part, I couldn’t ride very well in those days, d’you know I’ve been filming every bloody day this week except Wednesday when we had a matinée, thank God I missed the War, even filming it is excrutiating. Although I sometimes think a bit of army discipline would make Benedict wake up his ideas a bit, even just wake up full stop would help.’

‘They won’t have conventional armies in the future, computers’ll direct the wars, if Benny’s in any war he’ll be working in a darkened room not doing foot patrol.’

‘They’ll always have conventional soldiers mark my words, I’d just like Benny to march briskly five miles occasionally. Where were you last weekend?’

‘Mmmmm – oh look, I’d forgotten Julie was in this, and Albert, good heavens how long ago it all is. I was at Elvira’s, I thought I said.’

‘You did not say. I mean I only have one day a week off, and that only if I’m lucky, so is it too much to ask my own wife to be here, or at least advise me of her whereabouts? It’s not like you Pauly.’ But his complaints had already become half-hearted: she was here, he was tired. An advertisement for low-calorie dairy spread was on the screen, he went for another whisky, took it back to the sofa, leant back wearily. ‘Aaaaaaaah.’ He stretched out his legs.

‘Looks like Terence is guilty,’ he said after a few moments, ‘from the papers.’

‘Do you think so?’