‘Definitely. Chucked it.’
‘Tell me truthfully, Charlie, you haven’t been nicking shavers?’
‘Oh no, Mum, hardly at all. But even you wouldn’t want us to go on packing for the rest of our lives? It turned out to be rather ghoulish and there’s no future in it whatever. No, we’ve moved on. We’re in the Showbiz now where there are fortunes to be picked up. Actually we are Yanky’s publicity agents. Grandad arranged it for us – he’s a smashing old forebear! It was he who thought of arriving like that with the weirdie in the taxi – oh boy, what a gimmick! Yank’s Continental debew has started with a real explosion, hasn’t it? – there must be thousands of kids round this dump.’
Fabrice came over to us. ‘I say, Mum, the kiddos are yearning for Yank, you know. They may easily turn ghoulish if you keep him shut up in this yard for ever.’
‘Definitely,’ said Charles.
‘But how did they know he was coming?’
‘That’s all done by Sigi, our Paris agent. First-class organization!’
The hobbledehoy was now behaving like a prima donna.
‘Where can I go and be with my fans? What’s happening here? They’ll turn dangerous if they don’t see me soon. I say, you kids, something has gone wrong. Please send me my Paris agent at once.’
‘Here I am.’ Sigi appeared out of the blue.
‘Well done, Sigi,’ said Fabrice, ‘jolly spiffing show.’
‘So far,’ said Yanky, ‘but we must keep up the tempo. Where are the kids now? I want to be with them.’
‘They’ve all gone round to the other side of the house,’ said Sigi. ‘There’s a huge garden and a balcony where you can do your act. I’ve just been rigging up the mike. Come on, no time to waste. Excuse us,’ he said to me, ever polite, kissing my hand, ‘but if they don’t see him soon they will rush the place.’ He ran into the house, followed by the other boys.
I turned to Uncle Matthew, feeling I had not made enough fuss of him in all the commotion. ‘How d’you do, Payne?’
‘Payne’s just had a word with your porter,’ said Uncle Matthew, ‘it seems the street is clear now so I think we’ll be on our way. I never meant to bother you at all – Paris isn’t on our itinerary – we came here to oblige those boys.’
‘Now you are here, do stay. Where are you off to, anyhow?’
‘Ypres,’ said my uncle. ‘Payne and I thought we’d like to see old Wipers again. A fellow in the House told me there’s a sector they’ve preserved exactly as it was. We had the time of our lives in those trenches when we were young, didn’t we, Payne?’
‘To tell the truth, m’lord, I’d just as soon see them in present circumstances.’
‘Nonsense! It will all seem very dull, though better than nothing no doubt.’
‘But there’s no hurry, is there? Don’t go yet. Now you are here, stay for a few days.’
‘Oh my dear child, but where?’
‘Here, with us, of course.’
‘You haven’t got room?’
‘Darling Uncle Matthew – in that enormous house? Jérôme, our chauffeur, will show Payne where to put the cab and fill it up and everything.’
‘Well, that’s very civil of you, Fanny. I do feel rather tired. Will there be a cocktail party?’
‘Yes, indeed, nearly every evening. I know we’ve got some people coming presently.’
Uncle Matthew gave me a superior look, saying, ‘I thought you’d find out about them sooner or later. Well, that’s splendid. If I could see my room I’ll go and sit down for a few minutes, then I’ll be ready for anything.’
‘Take your grandfather up in the lift,’ I said to Northey. ‘I think we’ll give him the Violet Room. Then will you send Jérôme out to look after Payne, please? I must go and see what those boys are up to.’
On the stairs I was overtaken by Philip. ‘That unspeakable Sigi,’ he said.
‘Where’s Alfred?’
‘He’s gone to the Quai to complain – he went out by the Chancery as soon as the street began to clear. Now listen, Fanny –’
‘Yes, but hurry. I must go and stop it all –’
‘This is very important though. Don’t tell Alfred. I don’t believe those journalists in the Faubourg have understood – I hope that at this very moment they are whizzing back stories of a riot about the Minquiers. Alfred has already informed the F.O. If we can keep up the fiction, this so-called riot will have a splendid effect. Both sides will feel they have gone too far and there’ll be a beautiful reconciliation.’
‘That would be perfect but I’m afraid it’s too good to be likely. They are all in the garden still, according to Sigi.’
‘Yes, they are, I’ve just been through to have a look. The boy is crooning and the fans are swooning and so on. But the only people there who look like journalists all belong to jazz papers – they won’t get anything into the general news and they don’t even know that they are in the Embassy garden. Now I’m off to the Crillon to see the press boys there. So sealed lips, eh? – and shoo Yanky off, that’s your job.’
‘Yes, indeed. But Philip – you’ll have to square Mees or good little Amy will know all. She’s taken ’Chang to the nursery I think.’
‘Right, I’ll do that first.’
I ran on up to the yellow drawing-room where I found the boys making a perfect exhibition of themselves. The French windows were wide open; on the little balcony Yank Fonzy was bellowing into a microphone; behind him on the parquet my boys and Sigi were stamping and clapping while the huge crowd of children in the garden had lost all control. The scene was vividly evoked afterwards in Le Discophile and I cannot do better than to quote: ‘L’atmosphère fut indescriptible. Ce jazz-man chanta avec une passion qui n’appartient qu’aux grands prédicateurs.
