Authors: Rosalind Laker
It was generally known that Queen Victoria had no liking for the Royal Pavilion and, although its furniture and other items had long since been crated up and sent into storage at Buckingham Palace, a few oriental pieces did remain in situ. When the dust covers were removed and shutters taken down from the tall windows a surprising amount of light flooded into the exotically beautiful rooms, highlighting the Chinese decor, which was exactly what was required for the Mandarin’s palace. With the glow of every oil lamp from the studio combining with the exceptional brightness of the day, Daniel was able to film amid the richness and splendour that the passing of time had not decayed.
By the time
Passion Flower
was being shown all over the country with acclaim from audiences everywhere, Daniel had produced two more fifty-minute motion pictures. As Maisie’s preparations for Christmas filled the air with the appetizing aroma of newly baked fruit cake and mince pies, Lisette was astonished that another year should have gone by so swiftly.
The arrival of the New Year heralding the twentieth century was celebrated with parties everywhere. As 1900 was toasted in champagne, Lisette hoped fervently that this new century would be peaceful and prosperous. Privately she added the wish to become pregnant for Daniel’s sake. For herself it was enough that she cherished the memory of the baby that had been taken from her, but she knew that he wanted children and it was more for his sake than her own that she had not taken any preventative measures since their marriage. She felt it was a cruel irony that conception should have taken place instantly in her first coming together with Daniel, but now that she had prepared herself for motherhood it was being denied her.
The jubilation over the arrival of the twentieth century was dashed away the following year when the beloved Queen died and the whole country went into mourning, even schoolchildren wearing black sashes to mark their respect. Daniel’s cameramen filmed the London funeral that gathered all the crowned heads of Europe, and this was duly shown all over the country.
As the months and years went by Daniel’s motion pictures continued to be successful. Now that Lisette was taking the leading role in all his most important works her face as well as her name was becoming known to audiences. She was surprised and pleased when she began receiving mail that praised her acting. Now and again one would come from the United States where some of Daniel’s productions had been shown. Yet these were always a poignant reminder of her child growing up so far away, making her wonder yet again whereabouts in that vast land she might be.
Always in May on her daughter’s birthday she tried to imagine how the day would be celebrated. During the early years there would have been other toddlers to share a birthday cake and later when Marie-Louise was a little older there would be games at the parties with her playmates. But what would there be on Marie-Louise’s forthcoming seventh birthday in this year of 1902. Perhaps a Punch and Judy show – or didn’t they have those in America? Maybe a visit to the circus? Perhaps even a magic lantern show specially for children?
She never shared these thoughts with Daniel, even though he would have been sympathetic and consoling, for she did not want him to concern himself about her when he was often harassed by delays and other complications at work. His interest in the United States was in what his American counterparts were producing. This interest had been sparked off when he had seen an American movie combining glamour and comedy when a row of pretty girls entered a rocket, which had promptly landed in the eye of the moon, which had a human face. At first most filming had been done in New York, but now the motion picture companies were all moving to California where they were building studios in what had been a large country estate known as Hollywood. He thought them fortunate to have both the right weather at all times and the space to further their productions.
He was away on one of his business trips when Lisette found herself feeling tired and even exhausted after a day’s filming. It still took a little while for her to realize that at last she was pregnant. Daniel had planned that his next film should be the story of Robin Hood, but now he would have to find someone else to take her role of Maid Marion.
She had decided to wait and tell him her news when he returned, although they did have a telephone installed in the cottage now and she could have told him on one of his calls. She knew he would be overjoyed, but she felt only trepidation herself, for whenever he had spoken of his hopes for a family she had never disclosed her most secret fear. It was that she would find that she could never love another child as she had loved her daughter, for she was desperately afraid she would resent the usurper taking Marie-Louise’s place.
Yet as the spasms of morning sickness began to ebb all her doubts and anxieties seemed to go with them. She became quite tranquil in her mind, even beginning to hope with a quietly joyous anticipation that it was a brother for Marie-Louise that had taken life within her.
It was the night before Daniel’s return when a thunderous knocking on the front door awakened her. Throwing on a robe, she came to the head of the stairs in time to see Maisie, similarly clad, opening the door to Tom.
‘There’s a fire!’ he shouted. ‘At the studios! I saw it from home and my dad has sent for the fire brigade! Tell Mr Shaw to come at once!’
‘He’s not here,’ Maisie gasped, but he did not hear her, already off at a run back to the scene of the fire. She looked up over her shoulder and caught a glimpse of Lisette as she ran back into the bedroom. ‘Don’t you go, madam! Let me see what is happening!’
Lisette was already throwing on her clothes. She was downstairs and out of the house before Maisie or her daughter knew it. The glow lighting up the sky told her at once that a fierce fire had taken hold.
She ran to the motorcar, but the winding handle defeated her, failing to give life to the engine. Leaving it, she began to run. By now Maisie and Daisy, fully clothed, had come out of the house and set off in her wake. The fire engine, its bell clanging, overtook them as well as others that had emerged from houses and cottages to flock towards the fire, many only in dressing gowns and slippers.
By the time Lisette arrived on the scene the hoses were already playing on the flames of the barn-studio, but it was not only there that the fire was raging. She clapped a hand over her mouth in dismay. Every building on the site was burning. Through the smoke she saw Jim and another man rolling away canisters in which reels of finished films were stored and she hoped they had managed to save others. Everywhere else people were forming bucket chains. She rushed to join one of them where people were trying to douse the flames of Daniel’s office.
She lost count of time. It was like being caught up in a nightmare of noise and heat and smoke. All she knew was that after a while it felt as if her arms would fall out of their sockets as bucket after bucket was sloshed from hand to hand. Once Maisie tried in vain to drag her out of the chain, shouting that she must think of her baby, but when Lisette paid her no attention, seeming not to hear her, she joined the line herself, Daisy at her side.
All around there was the sound of collapsing timbers and the shouts of those trying to master the flames. A fire brigade from Chichester joined the local one, but their hoses failed to save the ancient barn, warning shouts scattering people in all directions as it finally caved in with a vast firework display of golden sparks
Gradually all in the chains began to drop their buckets, able to see there was nothing more they could do, for every building, large or small, had become a furnace or a blackened, smoking shell. Lisette stood staring in dismay until Maisie came to put an arm around her and lead her away. It was dawn. A man with a lorry gave them a ride home.
Later that day Lisette miscarried. When Daniel returned that evening, Maisie having managed to leave a telephone message about the fire at his hotel, he went first to the site of his burned-out studio, not knowing that other distressing news awaited his return home.
D
aniel did everything in his power to comfort Lisette over her miscarriage, but she became hollow-eyed in her grief until she realized how much he needed her support in the great financial loss that he had suffered. Then she put her own deep sadness aside to concentrate on helping him. The insurance would cover a great deal of what Daniel had lost, but he could not rebuild on the same site, for the farmer, who had always been difficult, had curtailed their agreement over the renting of the land, which meant a court case and all the expense that would be involved if Daniel should contest the matter.
It had been established that arson had caused the fire, each building having been doused with an inflammable liquid, but no obvious culprit could be traced. Lisette suspected the farmer himself or perhaps one of his farmhands doing his bidding, but it was impossible to prove anything.
Without Daniel’s knowledge Lisette wrote to her Paris lawyers and instructed them to sell all she owned, including the Bellecour house and the land that her grandmother had bequeathed her. It was a heart-tearing wrench to let the house go, but Daniel needed immediate financial help and at least she could do that for him.
The lawyers replied that they were carrying out her instructions over the sale of the land, which had soared in value over the past two years, but instead of selling the house, which was a valuable property, they advised renting it to reliable tenants and that would provide her with a sizeable regular income. In view of the high price that the land was expected to fetch she accepted their advice over the house, thankful in her heart not to be parting with it, and gave them permission to arrange the tenancy.
When notification of the completed sale of the land reached her she could scarcely believe the amount raised. Immediately she went to Daniel, the letter in her hand, and found him seated at his desk.
‘Look!’ she exclaimed joyously, thrusting the letter in front of him. ‘Our financial troubles are over! You can have the studios that you want wherever you wish to build them!’
He took the letter and read it through before looking up at her, frowning incredulously. ‘You’ve let tenants into the Bellecour house!’ he exclaimed on a note that showed he was far from pleased. ‘Were you out of your mind? That meant everything to you! And that land? Why didn’t you discuss it with me first?’
She saw that he was not going to react with total pleasure as she had expected. Quite the reverse. There was only one way to save the situation and in any case it was time that she told him what had been in her mind for so long.
‘It’s been my hope that one day I could become your partner in business as well as in marriage,’ she said quickly. ‘You can’t deny that I have learned all the ins and outs of the animated picture industry, from judging scripts to acting, and I’ve even operated a camera on several occasions.’
‘Yes. I know. But—’
She interrupted him. ‘Hear me out before you say any more!’ she implored. ‘This is just the time, now that you will be starting up all over again, for a legal agreement to be drawn up for a partnership between us. I want to buy into Shaw Studios! Don’t say you won’t accept me!’
He turned in his chair and put his arms about her hips to draw her close, burying his face against her for a few moments before raising his head to meet her eyes again. ‘If a partnership means that much to you, then of course I accept you, but one day you must have your old home back for you alone.’
She took his face between her hands and kissed him. ‘One day,’ she repeated.
On his travels Daniel had seen three or four sites suitable for studios and he and Lisette went to view each one together. One was already sold with house building in progress, but they both reached the same conclusion about a favourable site on the outskirts of London. There would be easy communication and enough land for later expansion. He would continue filming outside in good daylight, but as soon as he could get electricity installed the vagaries of the weather would no longer be such a problem. Meanwhile, the additional erection of a large glass studio would allow work to progress most of the time by keeping out wind and weather.
Lisette had the task of finding the right house for their new home and settled on a pleasant, newly built residence with a large garden not far from the studios. It was well-proportioned with spacious, elegant rooms on three floors, a large kitchen area and a wine cellar in the basement. There was also a housekeeper’s suite that met with Maisie Jones’s approval. This time there was an attic room that made comfortable accommodation for Daisy and would give her privacy away from her mother. Yet it was Daisy who was the least happy over the move. She had left behind her first real beau, a farmer’s son, and she doubted that he would keep his promise to write to her. Yet a few letters did come, although inevitably they finally trickled away. By that time the son of a local butcher was taking her out and Maisie encouraged it. The joints and steaks that were delivered were the best to be had anywhere.
By now Daniel’s studios were busy all the time and apart from using some of Lisette’s exceptionally good scripts he was buying work from other quality writers, which increased the variety of his productions. Ever since the Lumières had created the demand for animated pictures there had been film agents springing up everywhere, competing with one another to secure contracts for as many motion picture releases as they could grab, but from the start Daniel had kept a firm hand on his business interests and was able to dictate his terms.
He was among the first to insert captions into his films to aid a complicated plot and had a number of favoured actors, both male and female, that he liked to include in his cast. He continued to produce comedies, but for longer productions he concentrated on historical themes, which had become increasingly popular with audiences, and mostly Lisette took the lead. In three years she played Joan of Arc, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Nell Gwyn and Queen Elizabeth, among other important roles. Always she threw herself into her work, her acting gaining a new sensitivity that had originated from the emotional crisis of her miscarriage. In close-ups her face, unmarred now by the heavier make-up of the past, conveyed the finest changes of expression and, if tears were necessary, her violet eyes could brim at will. She sometimes felt that she had had a deep well of tears within her ever since Marie-Louise was taken from her.