‘I’m sure I would,’ said Gerry. ‘Was there any one who stands out in particular?’
‘For Ronnie? You’re telling me. Only the hunkiest.’
‘Was this... I mean, was it very public?’
‘Not really. It was all a bit undercover, in more ways than one. I’d say everyone was fairly discreet. I knew, of course, because I was helping to organise the accommodation, too, but I’d hardly say it was public knowledge. I remember things got a bit fraught once when her boyfriend walked in and caught them in flagrante.’
‘Gavin Miller?’
‘One and the same. He was one of the dopers, though I saw him at one of our meetings once. He came to impress Ronnie, I think. He had one of those superior cynical grins on his face the whole time. Stoned, most likely. Anyway, that would have taken the grin off his face. Caught them at it, shagging away, right there on the carpet in one of the residence flats.’
‘Were you there, too?’
‘No, Ronnie told me about later.’
‘What did he do?’
‘Gavin? Do?’
‘Yes.’
‘Like most of the dopers, he didn’t do anything. Probably wrote a poem later about how bad it made him feel. And nor would you have done anything if you’d seen Joe Jarvis back then. Muscles on his arms like twisted steel cables. Pecs you wouldn’t believe. And what I believe they call a six-pack these days. But a gentle enough soul when you got to know him. A keen, hard intelligence, though, but unnurtured back then, or should I say unpolluted by any capitalist education indoctrination system.’
‘Do you still talk like that?’
Dr Parsons laughed. ‘We never did, really. Most of us, anyway. We just put it on for outsiders because they expect it.’
Gerry laughed. ‘Did Gavin Miller have anything to do with the Marxist Society?’
‘Other than attending that one meeting? No.’
‘What about you? With the miners?’
Dr Parsons gave a tight smile. ‘Thank you for thinking of me, my dear, but I’m afraid my persuasion was the same then as it is today.’ She paused, relishing her own words. ‘Their obvious charms were lost on me, but I still know a hunk when I see one.’
‘So let me get this clear,’ Annie cut in. ‘Ronnie Bellamy helped the Marxist Society by arranging accommodation for striking miners, somewhere they could stay and shag their brains out before blockading ports and power stations so the rest of the country could freeze in their homes?’
Dr Parsons tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. ‘Well, I suppose you could put it that way. You can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs, as they say. But you must have been rather young to remember all that, mustn’t you?’
‘I don’t remember it at all. I was brought up in an artists’ colony in St Ives. A commune, if you like. My father’s an artist. We didn’t have electricity, at least not for quite a while, when I was really little. We were all bourgeois individualists with perhaps just a hint of socialism in the mix. At least, they had a kitty for the food and stuff — pay what you can — and we all took the household duties in turn.’
‘Admirable.’
‘Yes. When the lights went out all over the country, we all sat around the campfire singing Bob Dylan songs like we did most evenings. I think “The Times They Are a Changin”?’ was probably the first song I ever heard. Anyway, to get back to the point. Ronnie Bellamy had a stormy affair with Joe Jarvis?’
‘Yes. She did seem rather struck with him, at least for the time they were together.’
‘And after Gavin Miller walked in on them, was that the end for them?’ Annie asked. ‘I mean for Ronnie and Gavin?’
‘Well, I’d think so, wouldn’t you, dearie?’ said Dr Parsons, with arched brows. ‘Though as I recollect it, she’d finished with him some time before that, but he just didn’t want to let go. I can’t say I blame him. The one time Ronnie and I... well, never mind that.’
‘Are we talking about the Joe Jarvis?’
‘We are, indeed. But this was before his meteoric rise to fame.’
‘And fall from grace,’ Annie added. She glanced at Gerry to let her know that all would be revealed later, and Gerry indicated that she was going to pick up the thread of the interview again.
‘You said Gavin Miller just walked away when he found Ronnie with another man. Were there any repercussions?’
‘Do you mean did Ronnie appear with a black eye or something? No. None that I know of. I can’t say I ever heard or saw much of Gavin Miller after that.’
Judy Sallis had already filled in part of that story. Gavin had taken up with Nancy Winterson, and he had no further contact with Ronnie Bellamy, as far as they knew. ‘What about Ronnie and this Joe Jarvis? Did they continue to see one another through this time?’
‘The miners weren’t with us for very long, but I think they did, yes. For a couple of weeks, at least. Ronnie used to go out on the pickets, too, when she was allowed. It wasn’t quite legal. She wasn’t in the union.’
‘And after the strike?’
‘I shouldn’t think so,’ said Dr Parsons. ‘I would guess that Joe Jarvis went back to his pit in Mexborough, and Ronnie moved on to her next conquest. You don’t expect me to remember them all, do you?’
‘No. It’s really only the dynamics of her relationships with Gavin Miller and Joe Jarvis we’re interested in. But it always helps to get as complete a sense of someone’s character as we can.’
‘Well, Ronnie always was a complex lady, that’s for sure. But Gavin Miller was just... I don’t know... a bit aimless. Wishy-washy. I didn’t know him well, of course, but I wasn’t averse to the odd toke myself now and then, and he or his friends usually had some of the best hash on campus. They also had some very lovely girls in their crowd, and they weren’t averse to being a bit experimental when the fumes got to them, so to speak. Oh, don’t look so disapproving, dear,’ said Dr Parsons, as if she could read Gerry’s thoughts on her face. ‘It just lowers the inhibitions, that’s all. It doesn’t cause unconsciousness or make anybody do what they don’t want to do. It’s not like roofies or anything.’
‘I’m glad to hear it,’ said Gerry. ‘Did you stay in touch with Ronnie and Gavin for the rest of your studies?’
‘No. As I said, Gavin sort of disappeared from the scene after his split with Ronnie, and I never got invited to their little soirées any more. As for Ronnie, I’ve never seen her so exhilarated as those weeks during the strike. There were many other battles to fight, too, ideological as well as practical, but the miners got what they wanted and went back to work, and Ronnie seemed to lose heart with the whole movement. She sort of withdrew from the scene before the end of the year. By her second year, which was my final, I hardly saw her at all. She said she was still committed, and she appeared at meetings occasionally, gave the odd speech, but she had a lot of time constraints. And I must confess that I had a lot of neglected work to catch up on, too, if I wanted a good degree, which I did. Even then, I wanted to teach. I thought it would be the best way I could contribute to the revolution. So I scaled down my own practical political activities, too. It’s always a good idea to give way to new blood, anyway, don’t you think?’
Gerry looked at Annie, who made a winding-up motion.
‘Thanks for your time,’ Gerry said, putting away her notebook.
‘I hope I’ve been helpful.’