Joe made a snorting noise. “Oh, he prospered from that, Roxanne. The smaller studios like Empire and Paragon, they never owned theaters. That leveled the playing field for them. What I want to know is, will he survive television and the Red Menace?”

My phone rang before I could reply.

“Come up to Mr. Rakoff’s office at ten forty-five,” said Bonnie, Mr. Rakoff’s secretary. “And it’s too hot for coffee. He wants champagne this morning. Three glasses.”

Today was the first time Mr. Rakoff had asked for champagne, and I wondered if there was a special occasion, or just the heat. In the kitchenette I put the bottle in its crystal ice bucket and the flutes on the tray, and started up the stairs. L’Oiseau d’Or taught me how to master the stairs in high heels, though, admittedly, as a student there I did not carry a tray. The other Farmhands actually envy me this part of my job. The guys are almost never face-to-face with Irving Rakoff himself (to say nothing of the firm’s most illustrious clients). But after working here for six months, I know exactly what will happen. While I pour coffee, Mr. Rakoff will say something like, Of course you remember Roxanne Granville . . . And I exchange pleasantries with whoever it is, usually someone I remember a lot younger with less paunch and more hair.

Despite her cheery name, the secretary, Bonnie, looked more like a mother superior. She never wore anything but navy blue or black. “He’s expecting you.”

“Who’s the client?” I asked.

“Richard Neville.”

Richard Neville was an aging actor best known for swashbuckling other men’s wives. “And the third glass?”

“Who knows, maybe for you, Roxanne.” She rose, opened the door to Irv’s office, and closed it behind me.

Irv Rakoff didn’t get to be a legend in this business because of his looks. Middle-aged, with a graying crew cut and pasty skin, he had heavy, dark jowls that spread across the collar of his shirt and drooped over his tie. Coatless in this heat, he sat at his desk. “Good morning, Roxanne. Why don’t you open that now and pour some for yourself?”