Posy stood, smile plastered in place on her bright red lips, her hands on her hips, like the picture of Dahlia on the cover of the first edition of Never Underestimate A Lady she’d picked up in Lettice’s study, tea dress bedamned.

And the crowd bought it. They cheered, maybe not quite as loud as they had for Kit, but not far off. She’d still have to work to win them over, but they were giving her the benefit of the doubt, for now.

And that was all she needed.

Marcus chaired the panel. He threw a number of soft questions at them, most of which Anton grabbed and ran with. His answers didn’t always have a great deal to do with what Marcus had asked, but he got across his favourite buzz words, so he seemed happy enough.

Then Marcus threw the floor open for questions. Anton fielded a lot of them again, and since few came to Posy directly, she was able to smile and nod and add the odd comment without embarrassing herself.

Answering a question from an aspiring screenwriter, Libby spoke softly but confidently about how she approached the challenge of transforming a book into a film script, focusing on her efforts to stay true to the original story and feel while still making it fresh and new, and not mentioning how she’d had to tear up the previous script and start again from scratch when she’d been brought on board.

‘And is it true that you worked on the script for The Two Doves?’ the girl in the audience asked, before the mic could be taken away for the next question. ‘And Gates of Hell?’ She’d named two of the most talked-about movies of the last couple of years, and that set a buzz going amongst the crowd.

‘I did, yes,’ Libby replied.

Anton grabbed the mic. ‘You might not know this, and you might not always see her name in the credits, but basically every script you’ve loved over the last ten years, Libby has probably been involved with.’

The questioning moved on, but Posy didn’t miss the surprised look Libby gave Anton after his praise.

Answering a question on how Anton’s vision for the film was bringing Dahlia into the twenty-first century, Kit talked about how Anton’s non-traditional casting had opened up opportunities for him and other actors of colour.

‘I know that, for a lot of fans, Detective Inspector Johnnie will always be Frank Kaye, or Carl Richards,’ he said, naming the actors who had played the role opposite Rosalind and Caro. ‘And that maybe for some, he will always be white. And, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m not.’ There was a slightly awkward chuckle from the audience. ‘I am British, though, not that it should matter. My dad’s family come from Scotland originally, and my mum’s grandparents moved here from Uganda.