Interview with an artist

Charles Ellis stood outside the front of the house contemplating the serene view of that place which combined the quiet beauty of the countryside with a certain cosmopolitan taste. The water on the artificial lake in the nearby park were sparkling under the burning summer sun, but apart from the hot evening the man felt that the freshness of that corner so close to the Manhattan hubbub neutralized the effect of the summer sun.

Ellis walked through the garden admiring the roses and the camellias that decorated the place. He reached the white porch and almost had an accident over a four wheel roller skate that some child had negligently forgotten. Ellis laughed at himself perhaps remembering his own childhood mischievousness. He turned around then and finally rang the doorbell of the house.

Little racing steps, laughs and little shouts sounded in response to his ringing. Then, the white door opened and behind it Ellis admired the presence of a divine blond angel with curly hair worn it two pigtails. A face with huge green eyes as dark as emeralds was looking at him smiling with the confidence and happy expression of a very young person.

-"Hello!" said the girl in a little singing voice. "Who are you?"

-"Who am I? I am Charles, but my friends as well as you can call me Chuck," answered the man crouching with his hands on his knees in order to be at the same level as his interrogator.

-"And what do you want?" asked the little girl without loosing her dashing smile

-"I have come to see your dad. Is he at home?" Ellis asked returning a smile at the little girl.

-"Hummmmmm…. Will you give me any sweeties if I tell you?" asked the girl with a cheeky grin on her face

-"Blance!" a feminine voice called from a room next to the hall. At once a woman that looked incredibly like the little girl, betraying their parental links, appeared in Charles's view. "Blance, go to your room, we will talk later," ordered the woman trying hard to sound austere, even though Ellis could tell that deep inside she too was dying from laughter at the girl's wittiness.

The little freckly girl lowered her head and disappeared from the hall as fast as she had appeared.

-"Please excuse the rudeness of my daughter Mr. Ellis," the woman told him smiling, offering her hand in the form of a greeting.

-"There is nothing to excuse Lady Grandchester," the man responded taking his hat off and shaking the lady's hand.

-"Candy, please call me Candy. It is better to leave the formalities aside."

-"In that case you should call me Charles," the man answered with a smile.

-"OK then. I believe it is a fair deal. I suppose you have come for the appointment with my husband. Haven't you Charles?

-"Yes, you are right."

-"In that case follow me, he has been waiting for you," said the young woman and led him through the hall, the first room and to the study.

Ellis followed the woman observing the details of the rooms that were brightened by the sunlight entering though the glass windows and sparkling against the light colored walls and the porcelain vases filled with fresh flowers. More infantile voices were coming from the back garden being carried in the air together with bird trills and the smell of wood and roses.

The woman stopped in front of a dark oak door and knocked lightly. At that point Ellis had a very good opportunity to observe the lady of the house. He had known her for some years, but in reality he had never looked at her so carefully and from so close up. She must be 30 years old and her beauty was reaching its peak, but the fine lines of her face together with the sweet expression of her eyes still gave her a look of adolescence. She had had three children but she still kept herself slim and curvaceous. Ellis though that no doubt this was a tempting combinations, but as he had it as rule never to lust after another man's woman, his manly imagination stopped there.

A deep voice was then heard from the other side of the door and the woman opened the door to let the visitor in.

-"Come in Mr. Ellis," said the man from inside the room. "I have been waiting for you."

-"I am leaving you now gentlemen," said the lady with a slight gesture of her head. "There are three obligations that require my attention in the garden, but I can have some tea sent to you if you would like."

-"That would be very nice. Thank you," Charles responded to the lady's gesture who promptly disappeared behind the door.

-"Have a seat Ellis, I was beginning to think you would not come," said the owner of the house showing his guest to the sofas of the small room inside the study.

-"Please excuse my being late Mr. Grandchester," Charles excused himself as he sat down. "The traffic of Manhattan gets ever more terrible especially in the afternoon. New York is converting into a more difficult place to live each passing day. Your decision of coming to live in New Jersey was a very good one."

-"It was not my sole idea….but I am glad about this decision. It is always better to be in a place far from the hubbub for the upbringing of three children. Moreover, my wife grew up in the countryside and doesn't adapt very well in big cities even though she has had to live in them on more than one occasions."

-"I understand. Still, it must have been difficult for you during the theatre seasons," Ellis commented as the maid was entering with the tea tray.

-"Well, yes, it takes a bit of time to commute but I think it is worth it. Now tell me Ellis, what is this about you leaving the New York Times?" asked the host sitting on a nearby armchair receiving the tea offered by his employee. The sunlight entering hrough the curtains was playing with the iridescent color of the man's eyes and Ellis thought that no doubt it was too difficult for women not to get seduced by that look.

-"What happened was that I received an offer I cannot resist," he answered in a truly cheery tone. "My years in the New York Times have been full of satisfying moments, but deep inside I have always had a dream which now I am being given an opportunity to realize."

-"But will you still be a journalist?" asked the master of the house crossing his legs observing the journalist with interest.

-"Of course. I will just be in a different field. I have always had the desire to work as a political correspondent abroad and at last this possibility has been presented to me.

-"I see... a bit more adventurous that what this poor world of theatre can give you right?" said the man smiling behind his tea cup. Ellis couldn't help thinking that the man he had in front of him was dramatically different to the young guy he had once met in a bar.

-"I have to admit at the beginning working for the arts and shows news was somewhat boring for me," Charles responded finally. “not because I don"t like the subject, but because when I was a student I had a different idea of what my career would be in my head. With time I have come to feel quite pleased to be working for the theatre critics, still I would not want to miss the chance of doing what I have dreamed of so much."

-"I can imagine that Mr. Hirshman has been a very good teacher," added the artist reclining on the back of his armchair.

-"He is an excellent critic, yes, but I have to admit that it hasn't been easy being his assistant."

The host laughed with joy thinking about the old critic whose diva remarks had destroyed more than one artistic career and who no doubt would have given him more than one heart-attack with his views and pretentious work.

-"I can imagine what you are talking about," said the brown haired man in a somewhat sarcastic tone of voice. "Certainly Mr. Hirshman must have a difficult temper. Still, having been myself the subject of his… let"s say… not so favorable professional comments, I shouldn't talk much about the subject."

-"Well, Mr. Grandchester," said Ellis smiling, "Mr. Hirshman has in fact a higher opinion about your work than you may think. Also, since I am not going to work for him any longer little do I care if you tell him this," he commented in a confidential tone and the actor raised an eye brow intrigued by Ellis"s comment.

-"Mr. Hirshman believes that you are an excellent artist that it is not good to always say and write that he really admires your talent, because by doing so you would become vain and self-centered and –according to Mr Hirshman-and forgive me for saying so but these were the words of my boss, you are already arrogant enough to make things worse with more praises. So, with each scathing and unnecessary comment you read about your work, you should only believe half of it," concluded Ellis winking and Grandchester burst out laughing.

-"My God Ellis! Do you know that you are telling me something my wife told me years ago and I never believed her?" said the man when he calmed down from his laughter.

Ellis was surprised as he had never seen Grandchester in such a good mood and so open just before an interview. Then again, he had to admit that it had been a long time since he had had the opportunity to interview with the actor. Ellis had left his reporter position to work as an assistant in the critic section nine years ago.

-"Well, man, enough with the chatting. I understand that you are here for an interview, not to talk about the blessed Mr. Hirshman. You can start whenever you'd like," said the artist finally recovering his seriousness.

-"Thank you Mr. Grandchester. In fact, I wanted to do this interview mainly for sentimental reasons," confessed the journalist also becoming serious. "My first job for the New York Times had been a interview of you when you were still a new actor of a certain fame and I would like to end it with another interview of you now that you are an established actor. Do you remember that interview Sir?"

-"Good Heavens! Could I forget it? Responded the actor. "I am indebted to you since then. Thank you for all your discretion."

-"No way. This was only a formal question," said Ellis with simplicity and the artist liked the reaction of this man. "Well… this brings me to the first question I have prepared for you, if you allow me."

-"Go on."

-"It is said that we can talk about a Terrence Grandchester before the war and another very different one after the war. Personally I believe this is true, but, what is your opinion on the matter?"

Terrence smiled lightly leaving his cup half-emptied on the table and after a few seconds he decided to answer.

-"My opinion is that you are correct. A man is never the same after having experienced the things that I, as well as many others, had to live through in France."

-"Nevertheless, I would say that this experience brought great results in the end," commented Ellis waiting for the reaction of the interviewee.

The young actor got on his feet and walked to the window that overlooked the back garden and stood for a good while in silence looking outside. Then he smiled and turned to the reporter.

-"Come over here Ellis," he gestured with his hand.

The journalist also stood and went to the window. From there, one could see the large back garden surrounded by tall oak trees. Two very healthy boys, the oldest brown haired and the youngest with hair as blond as the girl that had opened the front door, were having fun in a wooden house built on the branches of one of the trees. They looked busy trying to lift some of their toys and a basket full of sweets up to their hiding place between the branches.

-"Your children I suppose," Ellis commented observing the way in which the face of his interviewee lit up.

-"Yes, these two and a little one that has just her fourth birthday," the master of the house responded.

-"I believe I have already met the little miss," the reporter said in a joking tone. "We were about to come to a very favorable deal for her when your wife turned up to redeem me."

-"She must have asked you for sweets I am sure," supposed the young amused father. "I believe that my childhood has happened a long time ago or that I have completely forgotten about it; the amount of sugar the children consume doesn't cease to amaze me and that is on top of my wife's enormous tries to control them."

The little blond girl also came out of the house at that moment and both standing men could see how she was about to join in her brothers games accompanied by their mother. Mrs. Grandchester had changed into a pair of trousers and a cotton shirt and also barefoot like the three children started to play with them as if she was just a friend of theirs of the same age as them.

-"I know well that I have never been a pleasant man," the actor started talking without taking his eyes off the summer scene in front of him. "And that there have been times in which I acted like a very obnoxious person. I also know that many good people that worked with me had to put up with my bad moments and resented my changes when I returned from France. No doubt to see the face of death so up close has surprising effects on people Ellis, but I don't think that it couldn't have had positive results as well because in the middle of that vivid horror I could also find the face of love and of forgiveness anew."

-"You have never wanted to speak of any details of that time to any journalist until now," commented Ellis trying his interviewing skills out, "Why?"

-"What I lived in France is about my personal life and as in certain ways affects other third party people, I have preferred to keep it private. The more information one gives to you people the more of a spectacle he becomes….and I simply didn"t like that idea. The really important thing I was taught from that experience reflects on my work. The rest is private."

-"I understand. Nevertheless, everyone knows that that is where you met your wife. It doesn't take a lot to understand that the start of that relationship was a landmark in your life," suggested the reporter.

-"That is correct. Yes, it is true that from the moment Candy accepted to become my wife my life changed completely, but there are some details that I have no intention of revealing to the public. It is enough for you to know that if there is something good in me, something of a real human value, is because of her and this family that she has given me. What you see here Ellis, is the answer the press is trying to make up under a thousand different imaginary reasons. There is no great mystery. I am a happy man and therefore I act like one. Even gloomy beings like me take on new colors when we are close to the light. That's all."

The man left the window and invited the journalist to join him again in the study.

-"However, it seemed not very fashionable to be happy among your writer colleagues doesn't it?" asked Ellis changing the subject seeing that the actor was reticent in speaking about his personal life.

-"Well you have touched a bit of a sad issue there, professionally speaking," answered the artist. My work has been somewhat successful and I could tell you I am satisfied with what I do, but my colleagues insist in maintaining a most pessimist image of the world in which my work seems anachronistic. Still, I don't blame them, what a man sees depends on what he is like inside and life has been generous with me giving me many good things which I treasure in here" the man concluded point at his heart.

-"Do you feel misunderstood by your writer colleagues?" asked Ellis keeping on the subject he regarded as most interesting.

-"Let's say misinterpreted. Even Ernest, whom I was very good friends with ended up becoming distanced when he saw that I was not changing the way I think. I imagine that it is a characteristic of Ernest to be somewhat inflexible with those that think differently, but I don"t blame him because at a time when I was less fortunate, I was feeling the same way."

-"Are you referring to Ernest Hemingway? Asked Charles intrigued making quick note on his pad. "Some speak of a great argument between the two of you. Is any of it true?"

-"There is no such thing. Only differences in literature issues, that is all. Moreover, it is difficult to keep up a friendship with someone who travels as much as Ernie does."

-"Yet you maintain a distant friendship with Mr. Ardlay and he is also a great traveler," added the journalist throwing in another bait.

-"That is different," the actor rapidly responded. "You know that there are family ties between Albert and me due to his relationship with my wife. We are inevitably joined to each other for life, and on top of that we share many things in the way we think. In one point in life we both decided to take the road our hearts were showing us not caring what our families thought and we are proud of the results we have had."

-"A lot of things are being said about the family of your…should I say father in law?" hesitated the journalist scratching the back of his neck with his pencil. "It is just that it is difficult for me to think of such a young man as the father of your wife."

Terrence burst out laughing again. It wasn't the first time that someone was pointing at that strangle detail.

-"I like to think of Albert as my best friend," he answered simply.

-"Well…..it is said that your friend's family never accepted his marriage to the current Mrs. Ardlay. What is true about that?" asked the man.

-"It is not exactly like that. My wife and her cousin were the first to receive Raisha with open arms in the family. Still it is not a mystery the rest of the relatives disagree with the fact that Albert has married a woman of another race."

-"That aside, I have heard that Mrs. Raisha Ardlay, ex Miss Linton, is an educated woman of an important British family. Well, apart from her father."

-"That's true. Raisha's father was an outstanding geographer. He even received a title of nobility in recognition to his services to the science. He educated his daughter with great care and in liberal spirit. However the Lintons never accepted his marriage to a hindu. Raisha always suffered the discrimination from her grandparents but instead of causing her problems, this situation has made her a strong and independent woman. Attributes which no doubt seduced the heart of my friend…on top of her obvious beauty."

-"I imagine that the Ardlay family is not best pleased with the head of the clan living in India working for the freedom of the country without paying much attention to the business."

-"They can hold nothing against them," the actor defended his friend straight away. "The whole time Albert was in charge of the family businesses, he was a brilliant business man. He didn't irresponsibly abandon his post, but left in his place his cousin Archibald who has managed very well until now, even in the present fluctuations in economy which we will surely keep having in the years to follow. Well, this is what Albert and Archibald are predicting, who have a much better understanding of the knowledge than I."

-"And what about your family? What was your father's opinion on your decision to become an actor?" asked the journalist promptly.

-"Whatever you can imagine," answered Terrence at ease. "It isn't a great secret that my father and I became distanced over time. Luckily we had what could be called a last minute reconciliation….Unfortunately this didn't happen until he was about to die. However I am grateful that life has allowed us to be in peace with one another."

-"I understand…How about your mother? I imagine that she must have pushed you a lot in the way of that decision," Ellis attempted this question knowing he was entering in somewhat dangerous areas in which it was known that the actor never talked about his famous mother's influence on his acting career.

Terrence frowned slightly and Charles thought that he would give him an evasive answer, but to his astonishment the man decided to reply after giving it a little thought.

-"This is the wrong idea everyone has. Once and for all I will answer this question and expect you will write carefully what I am going to say as I am not going to talk any more about this matter. First of all I cannot deny that my interest in the theatre comes from the blood in my veins. My mother and I share many other things apart from our physical resemblance, but as much as it will surprise everyone, I never told her anything regarding my interest in becoming an actor. In fact she was here in New York when I decided to leave England and didn't even remotely think that I was planning this. She thought that I would become the Duke of Grandchester and that I would take over my father businesses and political responsibilities. Then, when I arrived at Broadway looking for an acting job, I didn't even visit my mother to let her know of my decision. I wanted to make it on my own….without using my mother's actress prestige in order to push my career forward. I am very proud about everything I have accomplished in my work because, contrary to what many envious people think, I have succeeded completely on my own."

Terrence's voice had taken a vehement tone. Ellis realized that this subject was no doubt waking passions and certain indignation in the interviewee.

-"Do you mean that at the age of sixteen you decided to leave your paternal home and find your fortune in New York without the support of either of your parents?" asked the man intrigued as he had never imagined that this was the way it had happened.

-"I have to admit that I had to sell a car and a horse my father had given me as presents to be able to afford the ticket to America and to be able to get by for a while until I got myself a job, but what you said is practically true. I sold them in less than twenty four hours, I packed and I got on the first boat sailing from Southampton. I had to get a face passport with a fake older age on it to be able to travel without my father's permission, but this wasn't difficult to do once I got to the port. It was that simple."

-"You must have needed a lot of courage being that young and used to living in the luxury of the British aristocracy," suggested Charles.

Terrence didn't answer straight away. He remained silent for a few moments as if he was thinking to which extend he was disposed to go on with his revelations.

-"I can tell you I had a very strong motive which made me act so impulsively. I don't think it was courage. It was just…." He stopped again studying the reporter's face "Ellis write this in your article: It wasn't courage what made me leave England on that occasion. In those times I had thought it would be better this way for everyone. I will make no further comments…but off the records and since you know part of the story from that night that the alcohol made me act with certain indiscretion, I will tell you what really happened. I assume I have your word of honor that this will not leave this room."

-"You have it with no doubt Mr. Granchester," answered the reporter leaving his notepad on the sofa.

-"Once more, even though my plans were to become an actor as I had always dreamed of, it was neither courage nor irrational rebellion that finally made me make up my mind," the young man started narrating, "but the desire to protect the most important person in my life for whom at that moment I thought my parting would be the best thing."

Ellis remained silent after the actor's answer wondering if this person the artist was talking about was the same as the one he had talked about 13 years ago when they had met in a Harlem bar.

-"Are you referring to that young woman you had talked to me about…on that occasion?"

Terrence smiled and his eyes sparkled again.

He then recalled the year 1915. It was the darkest year of his entire life. Romeo and Juliet was a complete success. He was only 18 years old but his name was well known in the north part of the country. The times of financial tightness seemed to have gone away. Ironically, things could not have been going any worse for him. He felt confused, alone, hugely sad and to make things worse, he had started drinking too much. On one night after the performance he didn't have the strength to go visit his fiancé so instead of heading towards Queens where she lived, he had found his way to a cheep bar far away from the Manhattan glamour.

-"Are you referring to the same young woman?" Ellis asked again pulling Grandchester away from his reminiscing.

-"What do you think Ellis?" asked the actor with an enigmatic smile.

-"Effectively that the young woman you were in love with, was the person you wanted to protect with your leaving…but I still don"t understand how was it that your leaving London could have helped that girl," Ellis enquired pushing to know more details of the story.

-"We were attending the same college. Someone who didn't like us much set a trap for us and as a consequence one of us had to abandon college. I couldn't allow that she would be the one to suffer that punishment, more so as this would get her in serious trouble with her family. I didn't like living under my father's rules and she needed me to make a rapid decision. So the circumstances accelerated the events that would have turned up sooner or later," answered the actor gracefully.

-"I understand. If you hadn't thought that way, would you have stayed in England for longer?"

-"I have asked myself this question many times," answered the man turning his eyes to the walls while speculating on the things that could have happened but never did. "I believe that despite my continually stronger confrontations with my father and my mother's desires to live with her, I would have stayed in London until I finished college. Not so much because I valued education that much, but to prolong living close to the one I was in love with….I imagine I could humiliate myself and continue under his tutelary for a while longer in order to be with her… but things didn't turn out that way."

-"I see," responded the journalist thinking quickly of his next question. "But when you came to New York and started working for the Stratford Theatre Company, did you also start dating Susanna Marlowe?"

-"This is not true," said the artist immediately very decisively. "At that time, the only thing important to me was to memorise as many roles as I possibly could and to rehearse double as much as the rest. I think that rumour came out on a certain occasion where we finished late after a "Macbeth" rehearsal. Susanna's mother was ill those days and couldn't go with her to the rehearsal as she used to. I offered to accompany Susanna to her home because I heard her tell someone that that returning alone to Queens at that time of night scared her."

-"So, basically are you denying any type of relation with her since back then?"

-"That is correct," the man confirmed with a seriousness that made it clear to Ellis that he was speaking the truth.

-"What happened with the other girl?" the journalist asked again.

-"I did not see her nor did I have any news of her until two years after my return to America, but I assure you that during all that time never did I stop thinking of her not even for one moment," said the man and once again his expression was illuminated while he was holding his chin with his left hand.

-"And what happened when you saw her again?"

-"It was a very brief encounter but it was enough to make us understand that what we had was one of those things that can only mature and become stronger with time and distance. She was living in…" the man stopped as if he was thinking of how much further he wanted to take his narration, "in a town far away but we started writing to each other every day."

-"You kept this relation in secret," the reported suggested.

-"Yes… I never believed that my private life had any relevance to anything else. I want people to know and remember me for my work and not for the juicy details of my private life. On stage, I give to the public everything I have inside me to share with everyone. The rest I keep only for the special people in my life. What I do outside the theatre is not the public's concern. At least that is what I think."

-"I believe I understand what you are saying," Ellis asserted respecting the artist's point of view, but a second later he came back with another comment to keep the conversation going. "In that case you must have kept that relation let's say of "correspondence" for a while without anyone else involved knowing about it. Was anyone else aware at all?"

-"Some of her very close friends only."

-"What were your intentions about the young girl?" Charles asked feeling that the story was getting a new turn with every new piece of information.

-"The best of course," responded the actor vehemently. "I was dying to see her again but the distance and our duties didn"t allow us any leeway to meet. I started saving money thinking that I could travel to see her once I had the chance and in that way to make our relationship formal, but that is when the opportunity to audition for the part of Romeo turned up. That is when my plans changed. If I got the part, it would mean my first great professional success and the start of a better life. So I decided to concentrate on getting that part which not only would get me professional satisfaction but would also allow me to be in a good financial situation to be able to propose to the woman I loved."

-"You had thought very seriously for someone of such a young age. I guess you weren't even 20 years old then," said Ellis.

-"I was about to be 18 but already I was independent, I was totally in love and absolutely certain of what I felt. Why wait more?"

-"But according to those sad details you confessed to me when we met, you had to abandon all those plans didn"t you?"

-"Unfortunately yes, and with that the darkest time of my life started," said the man with a heavy sigh.

-"I remember that you disappeared from the public eye for a good while not much longer after that evening I met you. I have to confess that we came to think that no one would ever know anything about you in Broadway after that. Still a few months later you surprised us all by returning at the spotlight. May I ask you what had happened then? Unofficially of course," Ellis clarified without going back to his notepad.

-"At the time I did the most stupid and regretful things of my life," answered the man with a disapproving gesture, "but I don"t want to talk about it. It is enough to say that a miracle saved me from wasting myself and finally I decided to return to New York and get back on my path."

-"However this included formalising your engagement to Miss Marlowe didn"t it?"

-That's right. At that time I mistakenly thought that I owed Susanna and the only way to honourably pay the debt back would be by marrying her. The pain for the loss of the woman I loved had really made me lose the nerve in front of that so-called debt, but after what I experienced I decided to return and confront what I thought was my responsibility. Unfortunately for poor Susanna things didn"t turn out well, her health deteriorated and you know the sad end of that story."

-"However if she hadn't died you would have married her correct?" assumed Charles leading the conversation to another point of interest.

-"Yes and now I know I would have made the biggest mistake of my life. But in order to realise that it was necessary to cross the sea, to volunteer in the army and to meet a man I will be indebted to all my life."

-"Would you like to tell me about this man?" Ellis dared to ask.

-"Of course and please publish this leaving out all the details referring to Susanna. I don't know what would have happened in you had revealed the things I told you that time in the bar. The last thing I wanted was a confirmation that my engagement to Susanna was based on feelings of guilt and gratitude. It wouldn't be gentlemanly and since I have already had the luck that you were discreet that time, I want the memory of my ex-fiancé to remain clean in the face of the public. You understand me don't you?"

-"Of course Mr. Grandchester. Don't worry…but you were about to tell me about that man you met in France."

-"This is someone I respect very much, and someone whom I consider as one of my best friends. His name is Armand Graubner and he is a priest."

Grandchester paused to observe the reaction of his interviewer.

-"Are you telling me you are religious?"

The artist leaned back and laughed out for a good while to the surprise of the journalist.

-"Certainly I am not an atheist if this is what you mean, neither am I too devoted. However my friendship with Father Graubner has nothing to do with my religious convictions. I met him in the Front and we established a friendship at a time that I had stopped believing in people. He took on the job of opening my eyes in front of certain misconceptions I was dragging on as a consequence of the strict upbringing I had had which were very harmful to me. Mostly in relation to the supposed debt I believed I had towards Susanna. We could say that Graubner helped me exorcise the guilt I was carrying since the moment of Susanna's accident, while trying to save my life."

-"Do you still keep in touch with this man…Graubner?" asked an interested Ellis.

-"Of course I do. He now lives in Germany where he has taken on a little parish in the area of Bavaria. We constantly write to each other and when I travel to Europe I always try to visit him."

-"So the fact that you met this man was one of the important things that happened to you in France on top of having met your wife there," Charles answered with a double meaning.

-"Yes but that is something that I don't want to keep for myself only. On the contrary, I am very proud to be considered one of Armand Graubner friends, but what I am about to tell you now, you only keep it for yourself, once more out of respect for Susanna"s memory."

-"Go ahead," said the journalist exited, getting comfortable on the sofa ready to hear what was about to come.

-"Ellis you won my trust by far during these years with your professional work. I will confide this in you: My wife and I didn't meet in France as the people have supposed and we have decided to let them believe."

-"Then?" asked the journalist and his mind started putting the pieces together rapidly.

-"I will say it this way," answered the actor as his face was illuminated by the fading afternoon sunlight. "I met Candy when I was just about to turn fifteen and she fourteen. Despite my youth just one look at her was enough to realise that she would be the love of my life. I got obsessed with her since that first night and no matter how I fought against this feeling and the way it was advancing from a strong attraction to a deep love, I soon had to yield to it and to this day I declare myself to be full of this love."

Ellis's eyes opened wide showing the comprehension that had reached his mind.

-"You married the young girl you talked to me about that night!" he finally said. "Your first theatrical work is an autobiography then even thought you have said many times that it is not."

-"You are once more correct," the actor replied smiling. "In the end destiny decided to be favourable with us and gave us one last chance to repair the errors we committed in sacrificing our love for a misunderstanding, a feeling of debt. This is why I was telling you at the start of this conversation that my experience in France being very cruel rewarded me with the greatest blessings a man can wish for. Perhaps it cost me some bullet wounds and the moral pain of having stained my hands with blood but life has repaid me well.

-"I am happy for you Grandchester. Only a handful of men can say that they have loved only one woman their whole life, whom they have had the chance to have by their side. However, I don't understand this desire of yours and your wife's to occult such a beautiful love story from the public."

-"It's not like this. You have just realised that the story has been written in my first theatre drama. What life has taught us through our experience is here for the people to receive. Nevertheless we have wanted the message to be bright. Our desire is to protect Susanna"s memory as an ultimate gesture of gratitude and respect to the pain she had to live through. Only that".

-"Well, I admire you for that. Don't worry about what you have told me."

-"But now ask me something that you can publish, or I fear that your interview won't fill up even one paragraph," joked the actor and the journalist had a good laugh.

-"I would like to know the reason that you stopped acting so suddenly. Some people think that it is not good for your acting career to only have a short tour per year with only one performance."

-"Yes I have heard those comments," responded the man quietly, "but I don"t worry about them because, even though I have been in the spotlight less than before, the quality of my work is superior. At the same time I have the opportunity of taking care of my writing career."

-"Well, this is very true," commented Charles nodding. "It is also said that what people have lost in having less of Terrence Grandchester as an actor, they have gained in having more of Terrence Grandchester as a drama maker. Also I have to acknowledge that what you have said about the quality of your work is very true. When you get up on that stage you surprise us with higher level of acting in every new play."

-"Thank you Ellis; you will always be one of my favourite fans," replied the actor knowing that the journalist's compliments were sincere.

-"Could someone then say that your literary interests have led you to this decision?" enquired the reporter touching on the subject again.

-"No," replied the man becoming serious. "It is true that I wanted to have more time to write, but I didn"t make this decision because of that. It was due to a motive of a different nature."

-"Can it be known?" Asked Ellis and Grandchester took a moment to think how he would answer this question.

-"My motives were of family nature," he finally said. "The constant tours were distancing me too much from home and this ended up in harming my family. The worst thing was to realise that my sons Dylan and Alben resented my absence to the point that Alben didn"t recognise me any more when I returned home. He was only one year old then. On the other hand Dylan was acting irritated and distant. Luckily I realised this before things got any worse and I corrected it. After I made that decision, God blessed us with the arrival of Blanche. What more could we ask for?"

-"I suppose your wife is very happy with your gesture. Not many men are willing to sacrifice their career in light of a united family," commented Charles.

-"She deserves this and more. I would never forgive myself if I let my career take me away from my wife and my children…During that time I came to know that without them I am not even half the man you see now…"