‘Go to Hollywood?’ Colin grasped both her hands in his. ‘Betty, come with me. Let’s do it!’
Arthur Croft was tried and convicted. Daphne Askern stayed on at Heath House, but Maud Lythewell left Whimbrell Heath. Colin Askern, meeting Jack after the trial, was alive with enthusiasm for his new plans. Things, it appeared, were working out wonderfully.
‘This friend of my mother’s, Luigi Mantonelli, really is everything she said. He made some classic Italian films before the war. He’s got some connections in Hollywood. All he needs is money.’
‘Where’s he going to raise the funds?’ asked Jack without much interest. ‘Has he got a backer?’
‘That isn’t a problem. Betty’s found the money. Betty’s been wonderful,’ said Colin fervently. ‘She said we should forget art and work on repairs and restoration. Betty suggested we put the foreman, Jones, in charge, and he’s taken to it like a duck to water. For the first time in five years or so, it looks as if the firm’s going to make a profit. What’s really turned the scale, though, is getting some capital. Betty suggested we sell off the surplus land for building and it’s been snapped up. I tell you, Haldean, things are going from strength to strength. Mantonelli and my mother are in Los Angeles already and he’s promised me that once I’ve learned the ropes, I can do what I really want, and that’s direct as well as act in my own films. Now the trial’s out of the way, Betty and I are sailing for New York. I’ve got the tickets.’
‘So Betty’s going with you?’ asked Jack, his mouth suddenly dry.
‘Oh, yes. We’ll get married once we’re out West. It’s a wonderful chance for both of us. Betty’s really looking forward to Hollywood. We’re leaving on the Olympic next Tuesday.’
Tuesday. The days spread out, each one a grey desert, each night bringing the sailing of the Olympic that much closer, then Tuesday arrived.
Hollywood. The land of dreams. Why shouldn’t Betty go to Hollywood? Askern was going to succeed. He had no doubts about that. Askern would be a star.
He looked at the clock. The Olympic should be clear of Southampton Water by now, feeling the first rush of the ocean current beneath her keel.
Life went on. There were friends, work, places to go, things to see … but the colour was drained out of his world. It was all dreary, dull routine, with one damn thing after another. Nothing was any fun any more.
The phone rang.
‘Jack?’ said Betty. ‘Jack, is that you?’
A wild hope gripped him. ‘Betty! Aren’t you on board the ship?’
‘I couldn’t leave, Jack.’ He could hear the hesitation in her voice. She sounded nervous. ‘There’s a lot to keep me here. Colin doesn’t need me. He’s got his future. You believed me and …’ She hesitated once more and he could hear the smile in her voice. ‘Ages ago you invited me out to lunch. Is the invitation still open?’
Unable to speak, Jack gazed at the telephone, then silently punched the air in delight.
‘Jack? Are you there?’
‘Lunch,’ he said with a broad grin. ‘That sounds fun.’
After the Exhibition: A Jack Haldean 1920s Mystery (A Jack Haldean Mystery) Page 28
