that she had felt when she had first seen Katy sitting there, resplendent in green barathea and fox furs, made her want to turn on her heel and go. But that would have amused Katy hugely, as she well knew. So she offered instead a thin-lipped smile and said, ‘I come here occasionally, when there’s nothing more important to do’, knowing it was a cheap little gibe that would have no effect against Katy’s experience-toughened hide. After her years on the stage and in films, it would take more than Lee’s rather feeble remarks to hurt that lady. And knowing that fact made Lee loathe her even more than she did, if that were possible.
‘Oh, my dear, important!’ Katy said and laughed, a tinkling practised sound that made people near by look round at her with interest. ‘I promised myself years ago that I would pay no attention whatsoever to anything important, in my whole life, but concentrate only on what was delicious and amusing. And the Savoy is in that category. Or used to be.’
She made a little face then. ‘It’s threatening to become as tedious here as everywhere else, mind you. The people one sees in the place these days! Orderly-room sergeants and ATS lance-corporals, I swear, and dressed in the most ghastly clothes. You’d think people would have some decent items left from before the War, wouldn’t you? One doesn’t have to be a
complete
drab, if one tries.’ And she glanced briefly at Johanna’s heavy black dress and coat in a way that made it clear that her opinion of it was very low indeed.
‘I had quite a lot of rather nice things from Schiaparelli, and some lovely Mary Bee clothes, but they were all lost when we were bombed,’ Lee said, and couldn’t resist the note of triumph in her voice. It was the first time that talking about the night her pretty house in St John’s Wood had disappeared, in acrump of high-explosive bombs that had left little more than a rubble-filled crater where London Pride and Rose Bay Willow-herb now grew, had given her any pleasure, and she revelled in it. ‘
So
difficult, getting clothes right, isn’t it? You look delightful as always of course. American, is it? A lovely costume.’
‘Yes, I brought it over from California when I came last year.’ Katy had the grace to look discomfited. ‘Are you lunching? Perhaps we could -’
‘I’m not sure,’ Johanna said firmly. ‘My daughter said she’d try to join us - if she can get away. So we’ll have a drink and wait for her. Don’t let us hold you up, though.
Do
go and have your lunch - I’d hate us to be the cause of your missing whatever they’ve managed to provide today -’ And she smiled in a vague sort of way and nodded at Katy, and taking Lee’s elbow in a tight grip led her away to the other side of the lobby.
Katy watched them go and made no attempt to join them. Miserable bitches! she thought, so sniffy and so boring. No wonder Harry had been so willing to have that fling the year before the War, just before she went to California; and her lips curved as she thought about that. Had Lee ever found out? Was that why she had been so sharp? They’d met once or twice since she’d come over last year to make that film for Letty, at dreary family affairs, but she hadn’t been so edgy then. Perhaps if Harry had been there she would have shown a spark of spite then? But he never had, and now Katy let her eyes glaze as she thought about Harry.
It would serve Madam Lee right if she went to find him again after all this time; they’d been very close, the two of them, after all, and it could be fun. She had thought that perhaps he had been avoiding her, and had been amused by that, but not unduly perturbed. With a film to make and all sorts of new people to meet, she had had no need to rekindle old flames like Harry. But now the shooting was over, and the film out in the cinemas and the fun had stopped. So maybe she would, after all -
The thought of the film galvanized her into movement, and she
‘Oh, my dear, important!’ Katy said and laughed, a tinkling practised sound that made people near by look round at her with interest. ‘I promised myself years ago that I would pay no attention whatsoever to anything important, in my whole life, but concentrate only on what was delicious and amusing. And the Savoy is in that category. Or used to be.’
She made a little face then. ‘It’s threatening to become as tedious here as everywhere else, mind you. The people one sees in the place these days! Orderly-room sergeants and ATS lance-corporals, I swear, and dressed in the most ghastly clothes. You’d think people would have some decent items left from before the War, wouldn’t you? One doesn’t have to be a
complete
drab, if one tries.’ And she glanced briefly at Johanna’s heavy black dress and coat in a way that made it clear that her opinion of it was very low indeed.
‘I had quite a lot of rather nice things from Schiaparelli, and some lovely Mary Bee clothes, but they were all lost when we were bombed,’ Lee said, and couldn’t resist the note of triumph in her voice. It was the first time that talking about the night her pretty house in St John’s Wood had disappeared, in acrump of high-explosive bombs that had left little more than a rubble-filled crater where London Pride and Rose Bay Willow-herb now grew, had given her any pleasure, and she revelled in it. ‘
So
difficult, getting clothes right, isn’t it? You look delightful as always of course. American, is it? A lovely costume.’
‘Yes, I brought it over from California when I came last year.’ Katy had the grace to look discomfited. ‘Are you lunching? Perhaps we could -’
‘I’m not sure,’ Johanna said firmly. ‘My daughter said she’d try to join us - if she can get away. So we’ll have a drink and wait for her. Don’t let us hold you up, though.
Do
go and have your lunch - I’d hate us to be the cause of your missing whatever they’ve managed to provide today -’ And she smiled in a vague sort of way and nodded at Katy, and taking Lee’s elbow in a tight grip led her away to the other side of the lobby.
Katy watched them go and made no attempt to join them. Miserable bitches! she thought, so sniffy and so boring. No wonder Harry had been so willing to have that fling the year before the War, just before she went to California; and her lips curved as she thought about that. Had Lee ever found out? Was that why she had been so sharp? They’d met once or twice since she’d come over last year to make that film for Letty, at dreary family affairs, but she hadn’t been so edgy then. Perhaps if Harry had been there she would have shown a spark of spite then? But he never had, and now Katy let her eyes glaze as she thought about Harry.
It would serve Madam Lee right if she went to find him again after all this time; they’d been very close, the two of them, after all, and it could be fun. She had thought that perhaps he had been avoiding her, and had been amused by that, but not unduly perturbed. With a film to make and all sorts of new people to meet, she had had no need to rekindle old flames like Harry. But now the shooting was over, and the film out in the cinemas and the fun had stopped. So maybe she would, after all -
The thought of the film galvanized her into movement, and she
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