Page 67 of The Girl with the Irish Secret

‘Violet Fleury?’ she asked.

Vi shot up from her chair. ‘Yes, that’s me. Can I go in?’

The woman nodded. ‘Yes. Hugh will see you now. He’s just been on the phone to LA. Long conversation,’ she added. ‘But he says he wants to talk to you.’ She smiled apologetically. ‘Sorry, I haven’t been here long so I don’t know all of Hugh’s clients yet. My name is Fiona, by the way.’

‘Hi, Fiona,’ Vi said as she walked to the door into the main office. ‘I hope you’ll like your new job.’

‘I will if they fix the heating in this building,’ Fiona replied. ‘But these old Victorian piles are often freezing anyway. I seem to be wearing all the woollies I own today.’

‘I know how you feel,’ Vi said. ‘I should have put on my thermals instead of these leggings.’

‘You’re right. Oh, I wish I could go to LA to work instead of sitting here in dreary London,’ Fiona said with a sigh. ‘The weather has to be better in California.’

‘Yes, it is. But I prefer being over here. I’ve heard LA isn’t what it’s cracked up to be.’ Vi opened the door to the main office. ‘See you later.’

‘Good luck,’ Fiona said before she turned back to her screen.

Vi walked into the large office which was a lot warmer than the reception area. The thick carpet muffled her footsteps and the man at the big mahogany desk was busy looking at his phone and didn’t see her until the door closed behind her. Then he looked up and smiled.

‘Vi. Hello. Come in and sit down. Sorry to have kept you waiting, but I wanted to get all the details before I spoke to you.’

‘What kind of details?’ Vi asked, sinking down into a leather armchair opposite Hugh. He was in his early sixties with balding fair hair and kind eyes behind horn-rimmed glasses. Vi had known him since she had graduated from acting school nearly ten years ago when he had landed her a part in a romantic comedy shot in Scotland. She had stayed with his agency because he always got her parts, even if they were often small. She’d heard a lot of bad stories about agencies dropping their clients, but Hugh was loyal to her. He was her friend.

‘I’ll get to that in a moment.’ Hugh looked at Vi and smiled. ‘I have bad news and good news.’

‘Let me have the bad news first.’

‘Okay.’ Hugh looked serious again. ‘You didn’t get the movie you went for, sorry. But that was a good thing, actually.’

‘Why?’

‘Because I was just on the phone with Liz Wall of Wall & Montgomery Pictures.’

‘WMP?’ Vi asked.

Hugh nodded. ‘That’s the outfit, yes.’

‘What did she say?’ Vi’s heart skipped a beat at the mention of this well-known movie company. ‘What details were you discussing with her?’

‘The setting and the costumes and the budget for a start,’ Hugh said.

‘For what? An audition?’ Vi began to feel excited. Hugh was looking as if he was about to break some amazing news.

‘No audition,’ Hugh started, his eyes sparkling. ‘No need as you’re the best of the bunch they’ve been considering. Violet, I think you have finally gotthatpart. The part that will be your major breakthrough.’

‘What?’ Vi stared at him, her head buzzing with anticipation. Here it was, the moment she had been waiting for all these years. ‘You mean a main part?’ she asked. ‘I’m to play the heroine at last? In what kind of movie?’

‘A biopic,’ he said.

‘Oh.’ Vi sat back. ‘Of whom?’

‘Someone you must know very well,’ Hugh replied. ‘When I heard they were going to make this thing, I just knew you were the only choice. You’re the spitting image of her.’

‘Spitting image of whom?’ Vi asked, confused.

‘Kathleen O’Sullivan. Remember her?’

‘Of course I do,’ Vi replied, feeling excited at the thought. Kathleen O’Sullivan had been a huge star in the 1940s and 50s. With her blazing red hair and green eyes, she had had great success in Hollywood as the epitome of the Irish colleen and played against a number of big male stars such as Clark Gable, Cary Grant and Tyrone Power and many more. She had also been one of the actresses who stood their ground and fought hard to improve pay for women in the business. ‘She is the unofficial patron saint of all actresses. We all admire what she did for us. Amazing woman.’