The genuine pleasure that Jack exhibited at being there would have eased the tension somewhat, had it not been for Harry's seeming indifference. Jack greeted them all warmly, kissing his sister and her friend on the cheeks and shaking Charles's hand vigorously. Harry stood in the corner and nodded his greetings to them, without a smile. Everyone was delighted by him. He made no reference to having met Maxine or Charles at the auditions and, as general conversation began, he let Jack do all the talking, preferring instead to study the various ornaments in the room. Sara grew more and more irritated with her brother. Why wouldn't he shut up, so that Harry could talk? After twenty tense minutes, the hired butler came in and announced that dinner was served.

The dining room was vast and decked out in rich red and gold with sumptuous velvet curtains swept up at the sides of the sash windows. A suit of armour occupied the corner of the room, somewhat unnerving those with sensitive dispositions. Sara had arranged the place cards so that she was sitting opposite Harry. Maxine and Charles were facing each other and Jack was at the head.

As they ate the gazpacho soup, Sara could wait no longer.

“The last time we were all in the same room, Mr. Noble, we were all desperate for your approval,” she said, with pretence at a coy smile. She had insisted on calling Harry Mr. Noble ever since he'd won the Oscar. He had never expressed displeasure at it, so she had kept it up whenever she was trying to be more intimate with him.

“Oh yes,” said Maxine, affecting surprise at the subject. “Can you put us out of our misery and tell us if any of us made the grade?”

She and Sara laughed in amazement at the idea and Jack joined in willingly. Charles was now preoccupied with his soup. The food had taken away what nerves he had felt at the thought of meeting Harry Noble. Harry Noble was just a man but soup was soup. Even if it was cold.

“Oh, you can assure yourselves I approved heartily of you all,” said Harry, and continued to eat.

Sara tried again.

“Did any of us spring to mind when you cast the part of... say ... Elizabeth Bennet?”

Harry kept on drinking his soup.

“Perhaps that girl - now what was her name?” Sara laughed gently, “You called her the Ugly Sis—”

Harry interrupted. “Jasmin Field.”

“Yes, that's right — I think she's Georgia Field's sister,” said Maxine.

Jack looked up.

“Oh yes,” pretended Sara. “She was petrified, poor thing, I felt mortified for her. Mind you, she made a sterling effort, I thought, didn't you?”

Harry put his spoon down and wiped his mouth with his well-pressed serviette.

“Yes, sterling,” he said, placing his serviette on the table. “So sterling that she is our Elizabeth Bennet.”

There was a stunned silence.

“Marvellous!” said Jack genuinely.

“Elizabeth Bennet?” gasped Sara. “Lizzy?” she tried, hoping that she might have misheard.

“Yes,” said Harry simply. “Delicious soup, by the way.”

Sara struggled to keep her voice composed. “I must say I am most surprised,” she managed. “After all, when you first saw her you called her an Ugly Sister. Aren't you at all concerned that that's what the audience will think too?”

“No.”

“Surely you can't have a short, busty, ugly Lizzy Bennet? It will spoil everything.”

“When I first saw her,” corrected Harry, “she was standing in the shadow. I couldn't see her face properly from there. Especially her eyes.”

“Her eyes? What have they got to do with anything?” demanded Sara, her own eyes shrinking in anger.

“You didn't notice them?” asked Harry.

“No, I did not,” shot back Sara. “But I did see that she is far less attractive than her sister, Georgia.”

“Mmm, I agree,” conceded Harry. “Convincing the audience that she is a real beauty will definitely be the biggest challenge I've ever had. But I've given the part of Jane Bennet to her real sister, Georgia Field, which should add authenticity.”

“Excellent!” said Jack, even more genuinely.

“What?” cried Sara.

“Well, as you just said,” explained Harry calmly, “Georgia Field is more instantly attractive than her sister and as you recall, Jane Bennet was the reputed beauty of the family.”

“They were all reputed beauties.”

“Well I can assure you that all of Jane's sisters are very pretty girls, and when we tog them up in their dresses, they'll all look just the job.”

Sara controlled her anger but she seethed into her soup.

Harry didn't feel it necessary to add that Jasmin Field's acting had a raw vitality and depth that he couldn't wait to work on.

Sara stood up, took his plate before the waitress had time to do so, and walked out of the room.

Maxine wondered if it would be tactless to ask if she'd got a part. Charles belched loudly. Jack looked round the room and beamed happily at them all.

Meanwhile in the kitchen, Sara stood leaning on the marble-topped counter. She ignored the cook when asked whether she wanted the crepe suzettes cooked on the mobile stove in the dining room or the kitchen. She was too busy hatching a plot.

Chapter 5

Jazz hopped off the bus in East Finchley and walked briskly along the road towards her parents' house. As she drew near, she could see Josie, her younger sister, and her brother-in-law, Michael, getting out of their car. Ben, their twenty-two-month-old, was holdingjosie's hand. He'd only been walking for a few months and it still gave Jazz a jolt of excitement to see him upright on his two fat legs. He was wearing a nappy the size of a small suitcase. Josie had known Michael since her college days and Jazz had long since got over the shock of her baby sister becoming an old married woman three years before.

Jazz ran up to greet them.

Josie hugged Jazz absent-mindedly while locking the car door and checking she hadn't left any vital toys in the car. She looked very tired. Michael was carrying all Ben's paraphernalia. He had temporarily placed the multicoloured furry teddy bear on his head, while steadying his grip on various other bits and pieces, and Jazz managed not to laugh as he greeted her with his usual intense expression. Jazz picked Ben up and he just about stayed still long enough for her to give him a very loud kiss. He giggled and said her name, filling her with pride.

As she put him down, she spotted Simon's shiny red MX5 parked in her parents' drive. So George still hadn't done the dirty deed, even after a whole evening of helpful hints, courtesy of herself. And that would mean that the entire family tea would take place under his cold eye. Damn.

The door opened wide. “Darlings! Come in, come in!” Martha, their mother greeted them. She hugged them all fiercely, her bosom making contact first. “Everything's ready, you must be famished.” Martha always assumed that none of her ckildren ate in between their visits to her.

In the lounge sat George and Simon with the nominal head of the family, Jeffrey. Jeffrey was delighted to see his other daughters. He'd been stuck talking to Simon about rugby, a sport he detested, while George had stared vacantly into the middle distance. Everyone shot up, grateful for the intrusion and there were noisy greetings all round.

Tea was an informal, loud affair. Jazz waited for a lull to tell the family about the impression she'd made on the famous Harry Noble. She had to wait a while.

“He called you what?” asked Jeffrey, outraged.

“The Ugly Sister,” grinned Jazz, enjoying the reaction it received. She wished now that it had been a stronger insult to have got her more of a dramatic response. She also wished Simon wasn't there, because she knew he would assume that secretly she had been greatly offended by the slight. Which she found greatly offensive.

“Has he seen Josie?” asked Martha.

“Oh, cheers, Mum,” said Josie.

“I can't believe that,” said George, shaking her head. “Are you sure you heard right, Jazz?”

“Yes, George. Just because he's won an Oscar doesn't mean he has to be a nice person,” said Jazz gently.

“I should think it probably means quite the opposite,” added Jeffrey.

There was a pause in the conversation when Josie spoke.

“We've got an announcement to make,” she smiled weakly.

Everyone gasped. She didn't need to say much more.

“I'm pregnant,” she said.

Martha and George screamed, Jeffrey hugged Michael and Jazz felt a curious mixture of envy, joy and sympathy.

Josie was only one month gone, so they were all sworn to secrecy.

“So I don't want to read about it in any magazine,” smiled Josie, wagging her finger at Jazz.

“Hey no worries, we work four months ahead,” grinned Jazz.

“I mean it, Jazz. Tempting fate and all that. I've been much more sick with this one. And we all know how bad I was with Benjy. It wasn't planned, you see.”

“Of course. You can trust me.”Jazz remembered how Josie had had to stay off work and in bed for six weeks before Ben had been born, due to complications. And how Martha had exhausted herself visiting her daughter in hospital and cooking hot evening meals for Michael every day.

Harry Noble's comment was forgotten and the conversation shifted wholeheartedly into baby mode. Then they caught up on the gossip about the rest of the family, they argued over whose turn it was to phone Great-Aunt Sylvie and they admonished Martha for making enough food for a football team. Until she started getting upset and then they all tucked into second helpings. And all the while, Jazz was aware of Simon sitting there with a very slight, fixed smile on his handsome face, not understanding any of the conversation and not caring enough to pretend that he did.