David was exhilarated. He was on his way to Jill.
Cissy had recovered from most of her injuries suffered in the automobile accident, but her face had been badly lacerated. David had sent her to the best plastic surgeon in the world, a doctor in Brazil. She had been gone for six weeks, during which time she had been sending him glowing reports about the doctor.
Twenty-four hours ago, David had received a telephone call from Cissy, saying she was not returning. She had fallen in love.
David could not believe his good fortune.
“That’s—that’s wonderful,” he managed to stammer. “I hope you and the doctor will be happy.”
“Oh, it’s not the doctor,” Cissy replied. “It’s someone who owns a little plantation here. He looks exactly like you, David. The only difference is that he loves me.”
The crackling of the radio interrupted his thoughts. “Lear Three Alpha Papa, this is Los Angeles Approach Control. You’re clear for approach to Runway Twenty-five Left. There will be a United seven-oh-seven behind you. When you land, please taxi to the ramp on your right.”
“Roger.” David began to make his descent, and his heart started to pound. He was on his way to find Jill, to tell her he still loved her, to ask her to marry him.
He was walking through the terminal when he passed the newsstand and saw the headline: “TOBY TEMPLE WEDS ACTRESS.” He read the story twice and then turned and went into the airport bar.
He stayed drunk for three days and then flew back to Texas.
28
It was a storybook honeymoon. Toby and Jill flew in a private jet to Las Hadas, where they were the guests of the Patinos at their fairyland resort carved out of the Mexican jungle and beach. The newlyweds were given a private villa surrounded by cacti, hibiscus and brilliantly colored bougainvillea, where exotic birds serenaded them all night. They spent ten days exploring and yachting and being partied. They ate delicious dinners at the Legazpi prepared by gourmet chefs and swam in the fresh-water pools. Jill shopped at the exquisite boutiques at the Plaza.
From Mexico they flew to Biarritz where they stayed at L’Hotel du Palais, the spectacular palace that Napoleon III built for his Empress Eugenie. The honey-mooners gambled at the casinos and went to the bullfights and fished and made love all night.
From the Côte Basque they drove east to Gstaad, thirty-five hundred feet above sea level in the Bernese Oberland. They took sightseeing flights among the peaks, skimming Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn. They skied the dazzling white slopes and rode dog sleds and attended fondue parties and danced. Toby had never been so happy. He had found the woman to make his life complete. He was no longer lonely.
Toby could have continued the honeymoon forever, but Jill was eager to get home. She was not interested in any of these places, nor in any of these people. She felt like a newly crowned queen who was being kept from her country. Jill Castle was burning to return to Hollywood.
Mrs. Toby Temple had scores to settle.
BOOK THREE
29
There is a smell to failure. It is a stench that clings like a miasma. Just as dogs can detect the odor of fear in a human being, so people can sense when a man is on his way down.
Particularly in Hollywood.
Everyone in the Business knew that Clifton Lawrence was finished, even before he knew it. They could smell it in the air around him.
Clifton had not heard from Toby or Jill in the week since they had returned from their honeymoon. He had sent an expensive gift and had left three telephone messages, which had been ignored. Jill. Somehow she had managed to turn Toby’s mind against him. Clifton knew that he had to effect a truce. He and Toby meant too much to each other to let anyone come between them.
Clifton drove out to the house on a morning when he knew Toby would be at the studio. Jill saw him coming up the driveway and opened the door for him. She looked stunningly beautiful, and he said so. She was friendly. They sat in the garden and had coffee, and she told him about the honeymoon and the places they had been. She said, “I’m sorry Toby hasn’t returned your calls, Cliff. You can’t believe how frantic it’s been around here.” She smiled apologetically, and Clifton knew then that he had been wrong about her. She was not his enemy.