Soon after returning to Paris in September 1944 Martha Gellhorn received a very friendly phone call from her estranged husband inviting her out to dinner with a few friends. Martha, who, strange as it may seem, still had a very soft spot for Ernest – and perhaps expected him to become again the man she first met back in 1936 – accepted his invitation, probably because she was feeling lonely and afraid.

The evening started off well enough, with Ernest describing his adventures with Lanham, and his first steps back onto German territory since the 1920s. But half way through the evening he became extremely antagonistic toward Martha, sniping continuously at her as a person, as a wife, and as a writer, and declaring there was no such thing as a good woman writer. It eventually became so bad, and embarrassing, that Hemingway’s other guests made their excuses and left the restaurant, which Hemingway also blamed on Martha. When they were on their own Martha, her soft spot gone for good, and her fear turned to a dreadful anger, again asked for a divorce. Hemingway refused. Martha then did what she did back in Cuba – she poured the remains of her drink over Hemingway’s head and left.

Martha returned to her hotel in a frustration of tears, and an infuriating inability to understand why Ernest behaved toward her the way he did. Had he invited her out to simply ridicule her? She feared he was probably going insane.

In the bar of her hotel Martha found Bob Capa celebrating a huge win at poker. After Martha had slowly, tearfully, recounted the evening to Bob (who was on the floor of the bar counting and re-counting his winnings) he suggested she telephone Mary Welsh’s room at the Ritz straight away.

” And when Hemingway answers I’ll tell you what to do.”

They both went to Martha’s room (Capa’s pockets stuffed with dollars, francs, pounds, and useless Nazi reichmarks) where Martha followed Capa’s instructions. When Hemingway answered, Martha said.

” Hello, Ernest.”

She then put the receiver down as Capa instructed her to do.

” It’ll be okay now, Martha, you’ll see.”

And it was. Hemingway agreed to a divorce a couple of days later, and within a few weeks the legal proceedings began back in the States.

Capa’s own friendship with Hemingway (it had come under a severe strain after that motorcycle incident back in July 1944) was also nearing its end, with Capa telling Hemingway he couldn’t understand why he wanted to marry Mary when Martha was the best woman any man could marry and stay married to. The six foot plus Hemingway told the diminutive Capa to get lost, and then threw a full bottle of champagne at the photographer. Hemingway missed his target of course, but no one knows if Capa caught the bottle and toasted Hemingway later. He probably did, and if he didn’t he should have done because Hemingway would soon need all the help he could get.