Free Power of a Woman by Barbara Taylor Bradford

fireplace, standing with his back to the blazing logs. He had no clue what was wrong with Nigel; Gideon deemed him the man with everything, and this was true. He had a beautiful, intelligent wife, two marvelous kids, a successful career with a guaranteed future. And one day he would be the big cheese at Jardine and Company, the Crown Jewellers of London. But seemingly this wasn’t enough. What a fool his brother was.
    Miles sighed, dragged his thoughts away from Nigel, and walked into the bathroom. After washing his hands, he ran a comb through his hair and then peered at himself. He saw a reflection of his parents gazing back at him. He had his mother’s dark, wavy hair, the same finely etched face, but he had inherited his father’s long, straight nose and vivid blue eyes. And, of course, he was a replica of his identical twin.
    Gideon . He had been very much on his mind of late. He couldn’t understand what was ailing him.
    His brother was morose, moody, and depressed.
    Last week, when he was in London, he had attempted to talk to Gideon; but all he had got for his trouble was a flea in his ear. And several warning glances from his brother had finally made him back off completely. But there was something wrong with Gideon. As Derek, who was always quoting Shakespeare, would say: Something is rotten in the state of Denmark .

6
    “T HE ACTOR PLAYING THE HEAVY BECAME SUDDENLY ill, and there we were, in the middle of the picture and in a mess, looking for a replacement, and, of course, everyone was mentally casting,”
    Derek explained to them, his marvelous voice echoing around the great hall.
    “And,” he went on, “I happened to remark to the assistant producer that who we needed was Sydney Greenstreet. I told her that he’d be great as Redner, the villain. And she asked me who his agent was so that she could be in touch and try to hire him at once.”
    Derek began to laugh. It was infectious. The others laughed with him, as always enjoying his anecdotes about the movies he had worked on. “Anyway, she was appallingly dense, the poor girl, and I’m afraid none of us could resist taking the mickey out of her. Most of the time too. Very young, of course.
    Too young for the job, as a mat-
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    ter of fact. Didn’t know that old Sydney had gone to meet his maker long ago. Doubt if she’d ever heard of him. Or seen The Maltese Falcon .”
    “Or Casablanca ,” Chloe volunteered. “I loved him in that.”
    “So did I, darling girl,” Derek agreed, beaming at her.
    Chloe beamed back. “ Casablanca is my all-time-favorite movie. It’s awesome .”
    “My favorite, too,” Miles said, and then, glancing at Derek, he remarked, “I had a similar sort of conversation the other day with one of the young women working in Wardrobe. I said that Deborah Kerr had been the greatest Anna ever, that she’d been brilliant in the part, and the girl just gaped at me, looking totally blank.”
    Derek nodded, moved forward in the chair slightly, sounding serious. “Look here, I’m all for youth and a great booster of this generation, but some of these kids in their late teens and early twenties who are working in the theater and movies today seem awfully uninformed to me. Not a bit knowledgeable about the past, even the recent past.”
    “Only too true,” Miles agreed. “It’s like they’ve landed from another planet.”
    “Deborah was divine in The King and I ,” Blair murmured.
    “And so was Yul Brynner. They don’t make stars like that anymore,” Derek said quietly.
    “Well, I wouldn’t go as far as that!” Blair Power of a Woman / 85
    exclaimed a trifle heatedly. “What about you, my love?”
    Derek merely inclined his head and smiled at his wife.
    Stevie said, “Mother’s right, of course, but I do know what you mean. So many of the great stars I love have retired or died.”
    “Very gloomy thought indeed, my dear,” Derek answered. “And I must admit, I miss quite a number of