Sublime

Lady Merritt blinked in surprise. “I didn’t mean I was going to hand you a sack of cash. I’m a businesswoman, not a fairy godmother.”

And if it was for any sort of a fine handsome woman, but for a little fistful of a woman like Kitty Keary, that’s not four feet high hardly, and not three teeth in her head unless she got new ones!

His smile lingered. “Ah, but that’s the price of it, if you want to hear an Irish brogue. You’ll have to put up with a bit o’ sweetheartin’.” “Sweethearting?” Disconcerted, Garrett resumed walking. “Compliments to your charm and beauty.” “I believe that’s called blarney,” she said crisply, “and I beg you to spare me.”

Luisa and I are leaving for California; the Broccolis have kindly loaned us their house in Beverley Hills, Hollywood, where I have been asked to present the Oscar for ‘Best Actor’. Without wishing to sound too partisan, I hope I hand it to my mate, Michael Caine, who is nominated for his performance in Sleuth.

For a leading lady to bring me a letter from her father-in-law is a new experience. She is married to Michael Attenborough, son of Richard, and when Dickie was in New York recently for the opening of Young Winston I dropped him a note. His reply said it was very sweet of me to offer to look after Jane, adding that he knew I would do this anyway. Th

Luisa complains that we always go out with other people and never just on our own, so we had an evening at the pictures and a cosy dinner for two tonight. We went to see Sean Connery in The Offence and thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s a splendid film with great performances from Sean, Ian Bannen and Trevor Howard. I telephoned Sean afterwards to tell hi

‘Léon liked you too. He said you were gallant. That was the word. He said: “She’s a gallant little devil and it’d be a pity if we had to bring her down.”’

“The first moment I saw you, I knew you were my share of the world. I’ve always loved you. If I could choose my fate, I’d never be parted from you. Acushla . . . pulse of my heart, breath of my soul . . . there’s nothing on this earth more fair and fine than you. Your shadow on the ground is sunlight to me.”