Robby moved forward on to the battlements , as if he were escaping from his enemies , and came over to where she stood .sx " Guillam , " he said gently , " be a good fellow and make yourself scarce .sx " He glared at her .sx " He's only trying to help .sx " .sx " I don't need his help , thank you .sx " .sx " Perhaps not , but I do .sx I can't be in two places at once .sx " .sx " I will not have my performance judged by young Mr Pentecost .sx " .sx " He's not making any judgements .sx He's prompting .sx " .sx " He goes or I go , Robby .sx That's all there is to it .sx " She knew she was being unreasonable , and she didn't care .sx She realized that she was no more amenable to reason than Lady Macbeth .sx She had become Lady Macbeth , and the problem was no longer how to play her , but how to stop .sx Her anger with Robby was both real and in the role .sx She turned on her heels , made her way back up the battlements , waited for the spotlight to catch up with her , and began again , her voice rising in triumph , a Lady Macbeth that filled the house .sx She swept down the battlements to where Robby was to make his entrance , saw him in the wings , and as if on instinct flung herself towards him .sx Before he could even say , " My dearest love,/ Duncan comes here tonight , " she tumbled off the edge of the battlement and reached out to put her arms around him , catching him by surprise - which might not have mattered , except that the spotlights swept on past them both , plunging them into darkness , so that she missed her footing , fell to her knees , and brought Robby , on the word " " , crashing down to the floor , with a cry of pain , followed by the noise of his helmet rolling across the stage .sx For a moment , she wondered if the disaster of Romeo and Juliet had repeated itself , but Robby rose to his feet a little stiffly , and ran his hand over his extremities .sx " Nothing broken , " he said .sx " That's at least one piece of good luck .sx " .sx " You might help me up !sx " .sx He reached out his hand .sx For a moment she thought he was going to put his arms around her and laugh , as he would have done in the old days , but once she was on her feet , he turned , walked away and retrieved his helmet .sx Then he looked at her coldly from the wings and called out , " Shall we begin again ?sx " .sx It was not until she was back on the battlements , cursing her luck , the lights , him , that it dawned on her Robby must think she was drunk .sx .. She knew whom she had to thank for that !sx .sx Opening nights had long since lost their terror for her , if not for Robby - particularly in a place as unglamorous as wartime Manchester .sx " Is this a dagger which I see before me , .sx The handle toward my hand ?sx " .sx She watched from the wings as Robby stumbled in the darkness after the dagger that hovered in the air before him momentarily , only to shift suddenly towards his face , so that he was blinded .sx She derived a certain gloomy satisfaction from the spectacle of him lurching unsteadily up the steep steps , like a man trying to catch a butterfly in his hands at dusk .sx She had foretold disaster with the lighting and the special effects , and she had been right .sx At any moment she expected to hear that most dreaded of sounds during the performance of a tragedy - a giggle , or a muffled laugh .sx Robby's strength as an actor , the sheer power of his eyes alone , was enough to keep the audience silent , for the moment .sx But from her vantage point , she could see his look of terror as he realized he was climbing the flimsy staircase with its impossibly narrow steps in pitch darkness , staring at the illuminated dagger as it swayed and dipped before him .sx At any moment he might miss his footing and go plunging to the stage in a clatter of armour and chain mail .sx Serve him right !sx she told herself .sx Anybody who could act knew that nothing was more dangerous than a dark stage , unless it was a stray spotlight catching you full in the face and momentarily blinding you .sx Robby had managed to give himself a scene in which both were almost a certainty .sx He , of all people , should have known better .sx She hugged herself for warmth - since California , she suffered from the cold and damp in England all the time - pulling her shawl tighter around her shoulders .sx Robby had reached the top of the stairs now , and was poised precariously on a small platform , designed to represent the landing , as seen from the audience's point of view .sx Here , at last , the wavering dagger flickered towards the flies and vanished , and he was able to draw his real one .sx It was a good speech , not one of the great ones that older theatregoers knew by heart , so that you could sometimes hear them mumbling the lines when you were on stage , but lively enough to give Robby a good chance to win the audience over before the real fireworks of the play began .sx She knew how important it was to do that , and also could tell that he wasn't succeeding .sx Somehow his Macbeth seemed smaller than life .sx She heard a discreet cough beside her , and turned to see Toby Eden , peering over her shoulder .sx " A full house , " he whispered .sx " And every one of them awake !sx " .sx She could smell gin on his breath , though he seemed perfectly sober .sx Of course , you could never tell with Toby - she knew that .sx He had elected to play Banquo with such grave dignity that he gave the impression of being a bishop rather than a battle-hardened soldier , but he was quite capable of changing his mind at the last moment and kicking up his heels .sx " He's very quiet , " she whispered back .sx Toby rolled his eyes .sx " I can hear him perfectly well .sx " .sx " That's not what I meant .sx " .sx " He's holding something back ?sx Yes .sx Good thinking !sx Plenty of big scenes to come for him , what ?sx No point letting it all out in Act One , is there ?sx " .sx " I don't think it's just that .sx .. " .sx " Steady start makes for a strong finish .sx Every jockey knows that , Lish .sx " .sx " There's such a thing as being left behind at the start , Toby .sx " .sx " He may be thinking about you , the dear chap. Ah , the bell !sx Break a leg , darling .sx " .sx She heard the bell , then the end of Robby's speech .sx She moved forward for her cue , letting her shawl fall .sx Above her she heard a dull thud as Robby made his exit through the door to Duncan's bedchamber , closing the door behind him .sx She squared her shoulders , blinked quickly ( for some reason her eyes always opened wider after blinking ) , and walked at the slowest pace she could towards the stage , the footlights glaring up at her .sx She had learned never to make a quick entrance - learned it years ago , at the feet of the Master , Philip Chagrin himself .sx Everything you do on stage , he used to tell her , seems speeded up to the audience , so always slow it down .sx Nothing about acting was natural , after all - the hardest work of all was to make it all look natural .sx She reached her mark , paused a beat for the spotlight which wavered in front of her as unsteadily as it had in rehearsal .sx The audience was silent - though she did not have that 'You-can-hear-a-pin-drop' feeling that would have been there if Robby had pulled out all the stops for the dagger speech .sx .. There was a special quality to the silence of an audience that had just been bowled over , left numb as they had been by Robby's Antony , but it was not here tonight .sx Nevertheless , this was the moment she lived for .sx Nothing thrilled her more than the love of an audience .sx She could feel , rather than hear , the faint rustle of programmes as the audience took a deep breath and craned forward in their seats for a better look at her , movie star , famous beauty , object of curiosity .sx It was like an electric current running through her body , as if the expectation of the audience was charging her with energy .sx She saw the spot come to rest at last in exactly the right place , took a deep breath , and moved out into the sudden , swelling thunder of applause .sx She let it go on , standing there in her own brilliant pool of light , inhaling the familiar smells of dusty velvet seats , damp clothes and perspiration that drifted across the stage along with the warmth from the audience , and waited for the sound to die down , eyes fixed on the far end of the stage , where Robby , hurrying down the ladder from the platform above , would soon make his own entrance .sx It was only with the return of breathless silence that it occurred to her to wonder if what Toby was trying to tell her was that Robby was toning down his performance to make her look better .sx Instinctively she knew she was right , that Robby , worried by Pentecost's report of her drinking , by his fear of another Romeo and Juliet , on home turf this time , had deliberately set out to make her performance look good , not trusting her to do it by herself .sx I'll show him !sx she promised herself , and with a look of rage so intense and genuine that it brought a collective gasp from the startled audience , she swept across the stage , her voice rising in a terrifying shriek as she cried out :sx " That which hath made them drunk hath made me bold ; .sx what hath quenched them hath given me fire .sx .. " .sx so loudly that she could see Robby , eyes wide open , staring at her in horror from the wings , and heard behind her the hoarse , unmistakable , gin-sodden whisper of Toby Eden :sx " Crikey !sx What the hell's got into her ?sx " .sx In his dressing room , Robby fretted .sx " I can't imagine what's got into her .sx " .sx " You should be resting , old boy .sx Act Five's a bugger , " Toby said .sx " I can't rest .sx I don't feel it's going well .sx " .sx " It's going well enough .sx Felicia's splendid !sx " .sx " You don't think she's carrying things a little far , Toby ?sx I mean , Macbeth is not a horror picture .sx .. " .sx " Oh , I don't know , old boy .sx In its own way , that's exactly what it is .sx " .sx " I'm not so sure I didn't like it better when she was 'kittenish' , to tell you the truth , Toby .sx " .sx Robert Vane lay on his sofa , still dressed in his costume , smoking a cigarette and sipping at a cup of tea .sx On the table beside him sat his crown , his sword and his dagger .sx Toby Eden sat sprawled in the armchair beside him holding a drink , his robe fastened loosely over his costume , his face still covered with the white face paint and blood he wore as Banquo's ghost .sx He had the relaxed air of a man whose death and reapparition took place comparatively early in the play , leaving him two acts with nothing to do but drink and smoke his pipe .sx " She's got a very unhealthy gleam in her eye , " he said .sx " Not often Shakespeare gives an actress the chance to be a real villain .sx Lisha takes to it like a duck to water .sx " He puffed on his pipe .sx " Odd , that .sx " .sx " She's playing against me , Toby .sx I blame Philip for that .sx " .sx " Ah .sx " Eden wreathed himself in clouds of smoke .sx " Intersting you should say that .sx I'm not so sure that's what Philip had in mind at all , as a matter of fact , but you can ask him yourself .sx I think he's in the audience .sx " .sx " Philip ?sx Here ?sx " .sx " Fifth row , aisle .sx Bloody great bandage on his head .sx Looks like a wog .sx Couldn't miss him .sx " .sx Vane closed his eyes .sx He hated the knowledge that another actor he respected was out front , particularly Philip Chagrin .sx He wanted to think of the audience as an anonymous mass , not as individuals well known to him .sx Those who came to see him perform made sure not to tell him in advance .sx