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sweepings, cigarette ends, kitchen refuse. The bottom felt unwholesomely soggy on his hands. Charles Paris, haulage contractors. Amplifiers, refuse—distance no object. He negotiated the load through the kitchen door and made his way to the dustbins.
    There was a little room at the top of one of them. He balanced the box on the edge and tried to let the contents slip gently in.
    They all came with a rush, covering his hands with tea leaves and a yellow slime that had been food. Little scraps of paper scattered all around the bin.
    He pushed down the smelly pile and bent to pick up some of the litter. A lot of the paper appeared to have been torn from a big poster photograph. He picked up a piece which had printing on it.
    WI
    PU
    He scrabbled among the other bits until he found the adjacent one which spelled out the title.
    WILLY MARIELLO
    PUCE
    It was ax publicity poster of Willy that someone had shredded into a thousand pieces.

CHAPTER FIVE
    How bless’d the heart that has a friend
    A sympathising ear to lend
    To troubles too great to smother!
    For as ale and porter, when flat, are restored
    Till a sparkling bubbling head they afford,
    So sorrow is cheer’d by being poured
    From one vessel to another.
    MISS KILMANSEGG AND HER PRECIOUS LEG
    FROM BIBLICAL TIMES the restorative properties of a young woman’s body have been acknowledged, and Charles felt better after another night with Anna. He was amazed how much she affected him. She was beautiful, and she was knowledgeable in bed, but it was not just that. There was something about the honesty of her responses. No extravagant protestations of love, no questions about the future, just an acceptance that what was happening was good. Most people reveal their weaknesses in a close relationship and endear themselves by failure. But the nearer Charles got to Anna the more complete and integrated she seemed. And she made him feel complete too. Not two lost souls leaning against each other for support, but two independent people who complemented each other.
    The alarm woke them at nine. Charles reached his hand round to the small of her back and kissed the elastic skin of her breasts. Anna smiled. ‘Got to get up.’
    â€˜Saturday.’
    â€˜No weekend for us. The revue opens on Monday. We’ve got a tech. run at ten.’
    â€˜Yes, the show must go on.’ She got up. Charles squatted ruefully on the bed with his elbows on his knees. Anna paused in the bathroom doorway and grinned. ‘You look like a dog that’s had its bone taken away.’
    â€˜Yes, I fancied a nice bit of marrow-bone jelly. Isn’t that what Prolongs Active Life?’
    â€˜You needn’t worry.’ She closed the bathroom door. Charles smiled, gratified. He spoke up over the sound of running water. ‘Hey, look, I’ve got a lot of rehearsal to do, too. Can I use the flat? It’s so difficult to find anywhere quiet at Coates Gardens.’
    A gurgle from the bathroom gave him permission. ‘What are the technical lot like, Anna? All the sound and lighting people?’ Another gurgle said they were fine, there was a good course in the Department of Drama. ‘I hope so. I’m only getting a few hours’ rehearsal in the hall—Sunday and Monday morning is all I’m allowed.’
    The bathroom door slid open and Anna appeared, naked, her hair spiked with damp. ‘Not fair, is it, you poor old thing?’ she said as she crossed to her clothes on the chair.
    He grabbed at her ankle as she passed and she flopped on to the bed. ‘Got to go and rehearse, Charles.’
    â€˜Rehearse and become a big star.’
    â€˜Yes.’
    â€˜Even stars have five minutes.’
    The rehearsal went well too. Given somewhere to work on his own, Charles concentrated and put more subtlety into his readings. He was very organised. Once straight through, then a laborious line-by-line analysis of what had gone wrong. Another