The Little One [Quick Read 2012] by Lynda La Plante Page A

close to Richmond Park in south-west London. Alan showed Barbara to the spare bedroom. It was more like a
box room really, a place for Kevin to store his equipment. Barbara was tearful as she told Alan how grateful she was. He smiled and said that she was welcome to stay until she found a new place to
live.
    Alan was a very good-looking man in his late thirties. He was blond and tanned, and he obviously worked out. He spoke in a deep baritone and did a lot of voice-overs for adverts on TV.
    Once she had packed away her clothes, Barbara joined Alan in the kitchen. She burst into tears all over again as she explained how hurt she’d been by Gareth and then by losing her home.
She didn’t mention being fired. When Alan asked about the ‘Where Are They Now?’ series, Barbara found herself getting a bit carried away. She told him that it was a big commission
for OK magazine, and the more she talked the more she began to believe her own story.
    Alan offered her a cup of tea, then showed her around. He told her to make herself at home and gave her a spare key before leaving the house. He had a voice-over job in the West End now and
would be out for a couple of hours at least.
    Barbara returned to the box room and flopped on the small single bed. It was almost four o’clock and she felt exhausted after everything that had happened today.
    When she woke up some time later, she was briefly confused until she remembered where she was. Then, picking up her laptop, she went downstairs and back to the kitchen. The room was warm and
cosy even though there was no one there. An old dresser stood against one wall and there were red cushions on pine chairs round a scrubbed pine table.
    Barbara made herself another cup of tea and was about to check her emails when she noticed several cards lined up along a shelf. They were mainly invitations to film premieres and private views.
One in particular caught her eye and she took it down to read.
    Darling Alan,
    I’d adore working with you again. If anyone can persuade her, you can. The party is on for next Friday – a big surprise for her birthday. Everyone will be
     there.
    Love and kisses,
    Felicity
    There was a folded sheet of paper tucked inside the card and Barbara couldn’t resist opening it. A small black-and-white photograph fell to the floor. When she picked it up, she saw it
showed a group of people in Victorian costume. She was amazed to recognize Alan in a butler’s uniform. The sheet of paper was headed ‘To all the cast’. It read:
    As you know, we have often discussed bringing the series back. Two weeks ago I had a meeting with a producer who expressed terrific interest. He said they would
     consider it, but only if Margaret Reynolds agreed to be part of the cast. I know we were all saddened when she left, and her departure did, in the end, cause the series to finish. Could we
     persuade her? It would be so wonderful. They won’t consider the show without her, so let’s hope enough time has passed.
    Felicity
    Barbara was a good enough journalist to know there was a story here. Opening her laptop, she went immediately to Google and typed in ‘Margaret Reynolds’. She faintly recalled the
name but had no idea why.
    A second or two later, everything fell into place. Margaret Reynolds had started her career as a stage actress with the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. She had then gone on
to star in Harwood House , a longrunning television series. It had started in the late 1990s and achieved the highest viewing figures of any period drama. Photographs showed a very attractive
dark-eyed woman. There were rave reviews of her playing Lady Helen Montague, the tortured heiress of Harwood House.
    It seemed that the actress had married a leading French film actor called Armande Dupont in a private ceremony. There were many pictures of the beautiful couple. But tragedy struck and he died
in a helicopter crash two years after the wedding. A famous