“Spencer.”
“Muriel.”
“Looking after our guest?” she asked, the smile at odds with the annoyance in her eyes.
“Doing my best, Muriel.”
“Good. Well. Carry on.”
As soon as the doorway emptied, Spencer and Marshall dissolved into giggles like teenagers until they returned to their passionate embrace. Moments later, Marshall sighed and pulled his head away, staring into Spencer’s eyes.
“Don’t ever ask me to hide you, Spence. You’re the best thing that’s happened to me in years, and I don’t care who knows it.”
“I’m not—I would never—”
“I just hope you realise how much I—”
“Okay, you two. Time out!” called Chase, standing in the doorway, hands on hips, with the woman who had brought Spencer into the building. “Really sorry, Spence, but I need to work my magic on this man before the show begins. My reputation is on the line here.”
Marshall released Spencer but held him at arm’s length.
“It’s going to be a long afternoon, Spence. A lot of stopping and starting, which can get very boring, very quickly. Darcy suggested you go on to hers early, at around five. We should be done here by around six and the show airs at seven-thirty. The Moresbys have asked me to stay back for an informal drink after the show to watch the half-hour screening. Of course, you’re more than welcome to stick around and join me, but Darcy’s invite means I’ve got a legitimate excuse to slip away and join you. And Beverley and Prince will be heading to Darcy’s once they’ve finished.”
“I’m happy either way, Marsh.”
“Then I think you should head to Darcy’s. I’ll text her driver, arrange for him to pick you up. Now before I give Chase my full attention, I’ll get someone to take you to the sound booth.”
* * * *
Marshall had been right. Recording the show turned out to be long and arduous, but far worse for the host and his guests, who had to spend long stretches of silence beneath the hot studio lights. By four-thirty, after the third comfort break, Spencer had almost dropped asleep in the sound booth.
Not that the content had been boring. Marshall had been brilliant, beginning gently with questions around how the Moresbys had met—at the Henley Royal Regatta, a rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England—then talking about their early life together. Screen guests included Muriel’s younger sister,Erica Blackmore, celebrated author and winner of various book awards; ninety-year-old retired General Sir Reginald Cumberland, Lord Moresby’s first commanding officer; as well as several other well-known celebrities. Much to everyone’s surprise, there was even an appearance by a lesser—but still well-known—member of the royal family.
Everyone had rehearsed anecdotes about one or both of the Moresbys, who’d sat enjoying themselves and occasionally chipping in. At first, Spencer had wondered if the whole section would be as tame as the originalThis Is Your Lifeshow—until Marshall started to ask more pointed questions.
“Many in the publishing world regard your magazines as superficial and frivolous, Mrs Moresby. Eleanor Finnigan atNews Speak, for example, once referred toViragoas ‘onanistic tripe’. How do you respond to this kind of criticism from your peers?”
Muriel must have been prepared for this question because she provided a suitably upbeat response, citing some of the celebrated articles her magazines had published over the years and the contemporary inclusion of Killian Pinkerton’s column among her successful additions.
Marshall had also singled out Lord Moresby’s military career in an era when British strength and influence across the world had all but fizzled out.
“Lord Moresby, not many people are aware that you were a senior officer on active duty aboard the HMS Somerset, a British battleship deployed during the Falklands conflict. Tell us about your memories of that time.”
Once again Marshall followed up with some hard-hitting questions about the validity and cost to the nation of the conflict, about the waste of human lives and whether Lord Moresby thought things could have been handled differently by the then incumbent Thatcher government.
“To coin a cliché, Marshall, hindsight is a wonderful thing. Yes, there are things I wish we had taken time to consider more in the moment, such as listening to other nations about extending diplomatic talks before resorting to conflict. I’m sure our present government wishes they had listened more acutely to the advice being doled out to them by South Korean and Italian medical authorities about the seriousness of the current pandemic. And if they had, maybe this country would not be in such a dreadful state right now. But as a nation, we have never been terribly good at listening to other nations, have we?”
Spencer liked Lord Moresby. In conversation he talked openly, candidly and without any apparent hidden agenda. Throughout the interview, the man never became flustered, always pausing to consider the meaning of Marshall’s words and always providing a level-headed response, never evading the question. Spencer wondered how he managed to put up with Muriel, but they appeared tight, very much together and on the same wavelength. His mother had a theory that the best partnerships were often between opposites. The Moresbys certainly bore out that theory.
Before the final break, Marshall brought up the Moresbys’ recent party, a question that clearly took Muriel by surprise.
“We have both been subject to media scrutiny recently, Muriel. In your case, Blake Moresby, your son, held an illicit engagement party on the grounds of your estate. How much were you aware of what he had planned?”
Muriel managed to answer the question well enough, but as soon as the cameras stopped recording for a break, her face transformed with an annoyance Spencer had personally experienced frequently. She demanded that the question not be included in the main feed. Spencer didn’t wait to hear the response, because he took that opportunity to use the restroomand find Marshall. The man himself had been heading Spencer’s way, and they met along the passage behind the set.
“I was coming to find you,” said Marshall, looking dapper and grinning.
“Ditto. And I’m trying to find where they keep the good coffee.”
