to an end.
The test was electrifying.
There was total silence in the screening room. Not a single person stirred until the overhead lights finally went on, and then a hubbub broke out, and everyone was excitedly talking at once. Francesca, wiping a tear, caught a glimpse of Hillard Steed surreptitiously doing the same, looking sheepish.
Francesca quickly turned to Katharine, her eyes watery, and threw her arms around her, hugging her friend tightly. ‘Oh, Katharine, Katharine, you were absolutely marvellous!’
Katharine blinked several times, feeling curiously numb, and before she could fully take hold of herself they were suddenly crowding around her. Slowly she stood up, still looking slightly startled, smiling with uncertainty, overcome by shyness. They began to congratulate her in the most lavish terms, and the accolades were flying so fast and furious around her she could hardly take them all in. Victor hovered at the edge of the group, beaming, and exuding an air of quiet pleasure and much pride, and a hint of possessiveness besides.
Only Nicholas Latimer remained seated. Being decent and fair, and very much the professional, he was not one to begrudge credit where it was due, especially to a creative artist who excelled at what she did. And he fully intended to offer Katharine congratulations once he had recovered his equanimity.
He was still considerably shaken by her performance. Nick had known, within the first few minutes of the test, that she was pure magic. She would be a star. Not a run-of-the-mill star either, but big, very big. Probably the biggest of them all. She was unadulterated box-office material, for she had the extraordinary ability to project the stuff of romantic dreams, and that was what mass audience motion pictures were all about. Her staggering looks, her sexuality mingled with a touch of innocence, her incredible brilliance as an actress were more than enough to guarantee her the most glittering place in the Hollywood firmament of stars. And she would go to Hollywood. There was no doubt in his mind about her eventual destination.
He replayed the test in his head. She had astounded him with her sense of timing. It was perfect. She had paused dramatically when he had not anticipated it, and increased her speed when he had expected her to adopt a slower pace. But she had been correct. Her instinct is infallible, he said to himself, and that’s something you can’t teach an actor. It was there, or it wasn’t. Besides timing, she had been gripping, exciting, and so convincing, that when she had said, ‘Nelly, I am Heathcliff!’ he had thought instantly: And she is Cathy. She’s not acting this, she’s living it, and with every fibre of her being. It will always be the same with her, whatever role she’s playing. She’s a natural, just as Vic is a natural, and like him she has that same mysterious communication with the camera. To Nick, it was almost as if Katharine had had a love affair with the lens, and it had captured so many things about her he had not realized she possessed: vulnerability, a poignancy that tugged at the heart, a restless tempestuousness, and hidden fire.
He remembered some of the lines he himself had adapted for the actual screenplay, of Heathcliff crying out, in the anguish of his love: ‘My wild sweet Cathy! My wild heart!’ How appropriate those words had become in the space of twenty-five minutes. They not only so aptly described Catherine Earnshaw but Katharine Tempest, who truly was the embodiment of them.
Finally, Nick rose and edged his way into the aisle, and approached Katharine who was surrounded by Jake, Jerry and Hilly, with Francesca and Victor standing on the sidelines. She was laughing gaily, enjoying this moment of triumph, but when she saw him the laughter broke off, and her face turned stony and hostile. The gaze she levelled at him was one of icy blue disdain, and he saw challenge mirrored there as well.
Nick experienced a sharp tightening across his chest and he shivered, feeling suddenly cold and drained. And he did not understand himself at all. He drew to a standstill in front of Katharine, staring down at her; it struck him how small and fragile she appeared, and he wondered why he’d never really noticed this before.
Growing conscious of the prolonged silence, of all eyes on him, he said softly, ‘You are Cathy. I’ll never believe anyone else in the part now. Not after seeing you. To use Vic’s favourite expression, you’re the whole enchilada.’
Stunned by this unfamiliar and unexpected approbation from Nicholas Latimer, Katharine returned his stare, not sure whether or not she had heard him correctly. Immediately she was suspicious and wary, steeled herself for the barbed line, the snide remark that inevitably fell from his mouth. But to her growing astonishment he remained silent, and he was looking at her with such warmth she was unnerved. And very slowly the frostiness in her eyes dissolved.
Katharine smiled back at Nick, and it was the only sincere smile she had given him since their first meeting. Aware that he was impervious to her, she had never bothered to exercise her devastating charm on him in the past, believing it would be a waste of time.
Hesitantly, she said, ‘Do you mean you actually thought I was good?’
‘Not good, Katharine. Brilliant.’
There was another silence, in reality a sudden stillness between them, and then she asked, ‘Are you sure, Nick? Really really sure?’
‘Yes, I am, Katharine,’ he replied in a voice that was low and serious. But as he turned to Francesca, his wicked grin flashed. ‘And you did a pretty damned good job with the scene, kid. I’d better watch myself, or I’m going to be out of a job. Christ, the amateurs are getting to be real professionals around here. And some of them are still in diapers.’
Delighted, Francesca burst out laughing, and she clutched his arm. ‘I was wondering what you’d say, and coming from a writer like you, those are words of praise indeed. Thank you.’ Nick took this opportunity to lead Francesca away from the group, out of the limelight, all the while trying to define the cause of his discomfort, diagnose the reason for the chill in his bones. It had to be the flu.
Katharine’s gaze followed them, and lingered briefly on Nicholas Latimer. If this man who so hated her said she was brilliant, then it must be true. Know thine enemy, she thought, and unexpectedly remembered something her father had said years ago – that it was often wiser to seek the truth from an enemy rather than a friend. Now she could not help thinking of her brother Ryan, picturing his face when he saw her on the screen, when he understood she was a famous star. Or about to be one. She wished her brother had been here today. To witness the beginning of it all. And it was the beginning, just the way she had planned it.
Katharine’s young heart quickened, and that driving ambition, that fierce and relentless determination to succeed were intensified within her as never before, and yet again she silently reiterated her resolution to rescue Ryan and destroy her father’s hold on him. It won’t be long now, she promised herself, not long at all …
‘I’m sure it goes without saying that you’ve got the part,’ Victor exclaimed.
Startled, Katharine looked across at him, her eyes scanning his face. After a moment she said, ‘I hope so. Thank you, Victor.’ She laughed. ‘I’m definitely hired?’
‘You are. I’ve prepared the contract for your agent to look over. He’ll be getting it later today.’
‘Thanks …’ She stopped, frowning, and then pronounced in a careful tone, ‘I’d like to ask you something. Why were you so noncommittal, so vague with me about the test? I don’t unders –’
‘That’s right, you bastard,’ Nick interjected with a broad grin. Adopting an exaggerated English accent, he went on, ‘Awfully bad show, old boy, keeping us in the dark. Not very sporting of you, wot?’
A smile swept across Victor’s face. ‘I had a good reason for playing it cool, and close to the chest. Very simply, I wanted to be absolutely sure I would get honest reactions from everyone. I was worried I might set you up, influence you, if I let my own excitement show, and I almost did several times. That’s why it was easier for me to keep quiet. When I first ran the test I could hardly contain myself. Then I ran it again, and again, looking for flaws, but there weren’t any. Actually, I’ve seen it four times altogether,’ he admitted, ‘and in my opinion it gets