Dreaming of Mr. Darcy (12 page)

After what seemed like an age to the cast, crew, and onlookers, the filming of the famous scene began. A huge blue mat had been set up under the Cobb, and it was onto it that Beth Jenkins had to leap in her portrayal of Louisa Musgrove. Teresa had ruled out the Cobb's most famous steps, known as the Granny's Teeth, for being far too dangerous, even though Beth protested that she could jump from them. The modern ones were far easier to negotiate in Regency costume and were sheltered too.

Gemma, who was on the Lower Cobb, was watching Beth and counting her blessings that she didn't have to perform the stunt.

‘Do you think she'll really do it?' Sophie whispered to her.

‘I don't know,' Gemma said. ‘She looks nervous to me.'

Everything else had been filmed; it was just the leap that they had to cover, and all eyes were turned to Beth, who was standing on the top step with Captain Wentworth, Anne, and Henrietta watching her from below.

‘Blimey! It's a lot higher up than I imagined,' Beth said with a little smile as she gazed down at the mattress that was set up to catch her.

‘Oh, come on, Beth!' Sophie said. ‘You said it was a piece of cake.'

‘I didn't say I couldn't do it,' Beth said, hands on her hips.

‘We have Kerry on standby, Beth,' Teresa said, nodding to the stuntwoman hovering in the background.

‘I said I'm doing my own stunts,' Beth said, and everyone waited until she gave the nod before flinging herself from the Cobb with the words, ‘I am determined I will.'

For a few seconds, time seemed suspended, and Beth seemed to be flying through the air for an age before landing in an ungainly heap on the blue mattress below. There was a huge round of applause from the rest of the cast and the crew. The onlookers, too, clapped like crazy, and a few wolf whistles drowned out Beth's initial cries.

‘She's injured!' somebody shouted.

‘Beth?' Gemma ran towards her. ‘You okay?'

‘My ankle!' she screamed. ‘My ankle!'

‘What's wrong? What's the matter?' Teresa asked, rushing forward.

‘She twisted her ankle landing,' Les Miserable said.

‘It
hurts
!' Beth cried, doing her best to stand.

‘Get her back to the B and B, and we'll get a doctor.' Teresa looked around for help. ‘Adam?'

Adam ran to the mattress. ‘Put your arms around my neck,' he said. ‘Can you stand?'

‘I don't know.' Beth winced when she moved to walk.

‘Which ankle is it?'

‘My right one.'

Adam helped her off the mattress and onto firm ground again.

‘
Ouch!
' Beth cried.

‘Okay,' Adam said. ‘This isn't going to work.'

‘Hold on there, guys,' a voice said, and everyone turned as Oli stepped forward. ‘There's only one way to get Louisa back to the B and B.' He swooped Beth up into his arms. There was a collective gasp from the crowd of onlookers, and Beth caught her breath too.

Gemma sighed and watched as he moved with ease through the crowds hollering for his autograph, even though it was obvious that he didn't have a free hand. Photos were taken as the tall, uniformed hero strode by, and squeals of excitement filled the air like manic seagulls.

Gemma looked back at Teresa, who was pacing up and down. ‘Did we get the shot?'

There was a nod from the camera operator.

‘Thank goodness for that,' Teresa said. ‘Right, Gemma—we'll need you for the Captain Benwick scene.'

***

Kay ran along the side of the harbour to get ahead of Oli's arrival with Beth at the bed and breakfast. Her heart hammered. She didn't wish Beth ill, but this was the most exciting thing to have happened. Oli looked like the perfect hero with Beth in his arms, and she seemed to have cheered up the minute he swooped her up. There was a definite rosy tint in her cheeks, and she somehow managed to position herself in such a way that her bosom was right under Oli's nose.

Why
couldn't I have twisted my ankle?
Kay thought, quite sure that she wasn't the only female in Lyme Regis that morning to have wished herself harm in order to be in Beth's position right now.

Kay hurried towards the front door, jamming the key in the lock and opening it just as Oli and Beth arrived.

‘Through here,' Kay said, leading the way. ‘We'll make a bed up for you in the living room. We don't want you attempting those stairs.'

‘But I want Oli to take me to my bedroom,' Beth said.

‘Kay's right,' Oli said. ‘You're better off down here,' he said, depositing her on the sofa.

‘Careful!' Beth said. ‘I'm not a sack of spuds.' Her face crumpled up in resentment. ‘Take off my shoes, Oli, baby,' she said.

Kay rolled her eyes. Beth was making the very most of her predicament—as any woman would.

Dreading what would happen next, Kay left the scene in the living room and rooted around in the freezer for the ice cube tray, tipping the cubes out into a thick plastic bag and bashing them with a rolling pin.

‘I must not think of Beth as I do this,' Kay said to herself. ‘She's my patient, and I must be compassionate.'

Ice suitably crushed, Kay fastened the bag and found a clean tea towel to wrap it in.

‘Here we are,' she said a moment later, placing the ice pack against Beth's ankle.

‘Ouch!' she screamed. ‘That's cold.'

‘Of course it's cold—it's ice!' Oli laughed as he stood back to enjoy the proceedings.

‘Ice will bring the swelling down,' Kay said.

‘Can't I have a hot water bottle instead? Or some vodka?'

‘I think ice is probably better for you,' Kay said.

Beth clutched the ice pack and flung her head back against the cushions in dramatic resignation. ‘What I suffer for my art!' she groaned.

‘It was one hell of a performance, though,' Oli said. ‘It'll go down in movie history.'

‘I'd better win a bloody BAFTA; that's all I'm saying,' Beth said, and Oli and Kay grinned at each other.

There was a knock at the door and a voice in the hallway.

‘Hello? Everyone okay?' It was Adam.

‘We're in the living room,' Kay called back.

Adam came through. ‘Anything I can do to help?'

‘I think it's all been taken care of,' Oli said, and Beth smiled up at him from her position on the sofa.

‘Oli has been an absolute darling,' Beth said. ‘You will stay with me, won't you?'

‘I think I'm probably wanted back on the set,' he said.

‘Oh!'

‘But I'll be back later. I've promised to sit for Kay.'

‘What do you mean,
sit
?'

‘She's going to paint my portrait,' Oli said, flashing a smile at Kay.

‘Really?' Beth said, her voice sounding dark and threatening. ‘Why?'

‘Because our Kay is an artist,' Oli said.

Kay loved the way he said ‘our Kay.' It was as if she were part of the acting family, although she would have preferred ‘my Kay.'

‘Perhaps you'd prefer to paint my portrait,' Beth said. ‘I've been told I have very good cheekbones, and it looks like I'll be sitting around here doing nothing.'

Kay bit her lip. ‘That's very kind of you. Perhaps I could. After I've drawn Oli.'

Beth looked put out, punching her fist into one of the cushions and then yelling at the ice pack again.

‘Poor darling,' Oli said, walking towards the sofa and bending down to kiss her on the forehead.

‘Don't go, Oli!'

‘Gotta go, babes.'

Oli left the room, and Kay followed him down the hallway.

‘You were wonderful,' she said, her voice sounding horribly breathy, even to her own ears. ‘The way you carried her all that way.'

Oli shrugged and smiled that boyish smile of his. ‘You do what you have to do,' he said. ‘Maybe it's these clothes I'm wearing. Perhaps the spirit of Captain Wentworth entered me, and I couldn't help but be a hero.'

Kay beamed a smile at him. It was the most magnificent of thoughts.

‘I'll see you tonight,' he said, winking at her before leaving the bed and breakfast.

For a few moments, Kay stood in the hallway completely dumbstruck. He'd winked at her again. That had to mean something, didn't it? Once might be just a tick, but more than once had to mean that she was somebody special, and that night couldn't come fast enough.

Turning around, she almost crashed into Adam. ‘I've just put the kettle on for Beth. She keeps on about a vodka, but I thought a cup of tea might be better.'

‘Oh, that's kind of you, Adam.'

‘Perhaps I could stay for one too?' he said, eyebrows raising.

‘If you like,' Kay said, dreamily walking towards the kitchen. ‘Shouldn't you be doing something on the set?'

‘No, I've sorted things out there for the moment,' he said. ‘In fact, I was wondering—if you're not too busy—'

‘I'm afraid I'm terribly busy,' Kay said, grabbing her hair and tying it up with a pink ponytail ring. ‘I've got so much to do before Oli comes back, I can't think.'

‘Oh,' Adam said.

‘Why?'

Adam shook his head. ‘It's nothing. Don't worry.'

Kay took a couple of mugs out of the cupboard and then remembered that Beth didn't like mugs. She liked only cups in saucers.

‘And now I'm Beth-sitting too,' she said. ‘Who would have thought that I'd have Beth Jenkins on my sofa?'

‘I don't think many people would envy you that,' Adam said.

‘Oh, she's not so bad,' Kay said. ‘As long as you give her lots of attention. How do you take your tea?'

‘Milk, no sugar, please.'

‘Sweet enough?'

Adam grinned. ‘You've noticed?'

‘I have, and I think Gemma has too,' Kay said with a naughty smile. She couldn't resist pushing things. ‘Have you seen her today?'

‘No,' Adam said. ‘I mean not to talk to. I'd just arrived on the set when Beth fell.'

‘Of course,' Kay said. ‘Then you must go and talk to her.'

‘Why?' Adam asked.

Kay looked up from pouring the milk into his mug. His was a strange response, she thought. Surely he couldn't wait to see Gemma after their wonderful dinner.

‘She said she couldn't wait to see you again,' Kay said.

‘Did she?' Adam said.

Kay swallowed. Actually, Gemma had said no such thing, but a little fabrication here and there didn't harm, did it? It would probably help things along nicely.

‘She did,' Kay said. ‘She told me what a perfect gentleman you were and that she was hoping to spend more time with you. Isn't that nice?'

Adam's eyebrows rose, and there was a funny look in his eyes that seemed to suggest that he didn't believe her. Kay decided to ignore it.

‘You know what your problem is, Adam?' she continued.

‘No,' he said, ‘but I have a feeling you're going to tell me.'

‘You don't realise how sweet you are,' Kay said. ‘And genuinely sweet men are in short supply.'

‘Right.'

‘Yes.' Kay thought about the men in her past and how every single one of them had ended up letting her down. Things always started well, and Kay—being a romantic—always believed that she'd found ‘the one,' only to be nursing a broken heart a few weeks later. ‘There are plenty of charming men out there. I've been charmed by most of them, but that doesn't last. Charm is temporary. It's like a fancy suit you put on to wow your date with, but it soon gets taken off, and then you're left with—'

‘What?' Adam said, a little smile beginning at the corner of his mouth.

Kay cast her eyes to the ceiling. ‘You're left with a hollow egg.'

Adam's eyes narrowed. ‘A hollow egg?'

Kay nodded. ‘Like an Easter egg. It's a wonderfully sweet concoction, but it's perfectly hollow inside.'

‘With a suit on?'

Kay looked flustered for a moment. ‘Oh, you know what I mean. Anyway, you're not a fancy suit—or a hollow egg.'

‘I'm glad to hear it.'

‘You're very sweet, and you deserve to be happy,' Kay said, pausing whilst she stirred the tea, wondering if she dared to say more, but she handed him his mug of tea and quickly focussed on making Beth's instead.

‘You seem to think you know me so well,' Adam said. ‘But there's one important thing you've overlooked. Something you're forgetting.'

‘What's that?' Kay asked.

‘You're still wearing my jacket.'

‘Oh!' Kay gasped. ‘I am!' She laughed, taking off the jacket quickly and returning it to him. ‘You're so sweet, Adam. Have I told you that?'

‘You have,' he said.

‘Owwwwwwwch!' came a cry from the living room.

‘Ah, your patient calls,' Adam said. ‘I'll leave you to it.'

Kay smiled and grabbed the pretty china cup and saucer and headed towards her patient in double quick time.

Other than Beth's topple from the Cobb, everything seemed to be going well that morning, and Teresa was pleased with the scenes they shot. The crew were going to take a break for lunch and then move on to some interiors at Marlcombe Manor.

Even Gemma was happy with the way the morning's shoot had gone. She had been the only one not to fluff her lines, and her new friend, Rob, had told her how brilliant she'd been. She turned to look at him as he helped pack up the equipment, his broad shoulders and strong arms straining under the weight.

‘Gemma!' a voice shouted over to her, and Gemma saw a girl with a pretty face running along the Lower Cobb towards her, a notepad and pen in her hands. ‘Will you sign this for me?'

Gemma smiled. She hadn't signed many autographs yet and was always surprised that anyone would value her loopy scrawl.

‘What's your name?' she asked the young girl.

‘Emily—but don't put my name on it,' she hurriedly added. ‘I'm going to sell it on eBay.'

‘Oh,' Gemma said, disappointed by this bit of news.

‘Where's Oli?'

‘I think he went off for lunch,' Gemma said.

‘Will he be coming back?' Emily asked, her face eager for information.

‘Are you hoping for his autograph to sell?' Gemma asked, knowing it was mean, but unable to resist.

‘Oh, no,' Emily said. ‘I'll keep his autograph. What about Beth Jenkins? Is she around?'

‘I'm afraid she twisted her ankle and won't be filming again today.'

‘Oh,' Emily said. ‘I really wanted her autograph too. She's really famous, isn't she?' She turned and left, making Gemma feel like a very poor substitute indeed.

As Gemma stood, trying not to feel too sorry for herself, she felt a hand land on her shoulder, and she spun around.

‘Nice work, Gemma,' Les Miserable said with something that almost approached a smile but wasn't quite.

‘Thank you. I thought it w—' she didn't get a chance to finish her sentence, because he was walking away in search of lunch, but she was grateful for having had anything remotely approaching a compliment from Les Miserable.

‘You want some lunch, then?' Sophie asked, coming out of the costume trailer wearing a duffle coat over her Regency dress.

‘I'd love some,' Gemma said, and the two of them walked along the Lower Cobb together.

‘Poor old Beth,' Sophie said. ‘I mean, she's not my favourite person in the world, but I hope she's not done anything too nasty.'

Gemma nodded. ‘She really threw herself from those steps, didn't she?'

‘I think she only did it to impress Oli.'

‘I think it worked.'

‘Do you?' Sophie said.

‘He swooped her up, didn't he?'

‘But he would have done that for anyone. Even if Les Miserable had taken a tumble.'

Gemma laughed. ‘But the way they looked at each other,' she said, ‘there's got to be something going on.'

‘It's only Beth who gives the looks,' Sophie said. ‘I've not seen Oli show any interest in her.'

‘Haven't you?'

Sophie shook her head. ‘I think he's got his eye on somebody else.'

‘Who?'

Sophie pursed her lips. ‘I think—' she stopped.

‘What?'

‘Oh, my God!' Sophie suddenly exclaimed. ‘Is that who I think it is?'

‘Who?'

‘Wow!' Sophie's eyes went wide with excitement. ‘I mean—blimey!'

‘Who are you looking at?' Gemma asked. She had taken out her contact lenses for filming, and her long-distance vision wasn't good.

‘And she's still so stunning. Not that she's old or anything,' Sophie said, grabbing Gemma's arm. ‘But she doesn't look a day over forty, does she?'

Gemma looked around, and her sight landed on a figure she hadn't expected to be there. Even without her contact lenses, there was no mistaking her or the work she'd had done to keep the ageing process at bay.

‘Gemma!' the woman with the sleek black bob called, a manicured hand waving in the air.

Gemma walked towards her and was instantly enclosed in a heavily perfumed embrace.

‘Hello, Mum,' she said.

***

Kay watched Beth being examined by Dr Floyd, a portly gentleman whose fat hands were holding Beth's ankle oh, so gently.

‘There are no bones broken,' he said with a smile. ‘But it's a very nasty sprain.'

‘Nothing broken?' Beth groaned. ‘Then why does it hurt so much?'

‘You put the entire weight of your body on this little ankle,' Dr Floyd said, using the excuse to stroke it again. ‘You're very lucky it's only a sprain.'

Beth grimaced, and Kay bet she wished it was Oli's hands that were touching her and not an overweight GP's.

‘I'm glad to see you're already doing all the right things. Plenty of rest, try to keep the foot elevated, and ice is an excellent idea to prevent swelling.'

‘Have you got any painkillers?' Beth asked in a girly voice, her eyes suddenly looking twice their normal size.

‘I really wouldn't recommend them,' Dr Floyd said. ‘Pain is nature's way of reminding us to take things easy, and my guess is, if you think the pain's gone, you'll be up and around, jumping off Cobbs again. Am I right?' He smiled, but Beth didn't smile back at him.

‘Sadist!' she said as he left the bed and breakfast.

‘Can I get you anything?' Kay asked. ‘Another cup of tea?'

‘God! I've got more tea swirling around my system than blood.'

‘Any magazines to read? Or a book? I've got all the Jane Austens,' Kay said.

‘A sprained ankle
and
Jane Austen—could the day get any worse?'

Kay frowned. She always made the mistake of assuming that everyone loved Jane Austen as much as she did. ‘I'll leave you to have a little rest, then.'

‘
Kay!
' Beth called. ‘Don't leave me, will you?'

‘I'll only be upstairs or in the kitchen.'

Beth pouted. ‘Nobody cares! Everyone's forgotten about me.'

‘No we haven't,' Kay said. ‘But I've got baths and sinks to scrub, that's all.'

‘Will you come and talk to me later?'

‘Of course I will.'

Beth nodded. ‘Maybe I'd better have a book—just for company.'

Kay smiled. ‘I know just the remedy,' she said. ‘Wait here.' She returned seconds later with an old paperback copy of
Pride
and
Prejudice
. ‘It's the best medicine there is.'

Beth gave a little smile, not looking totally convinced. ‘Seeing as there isn't a single glossy magazine in this establishment, I'll give it a go.'

***

Kim Reilly's arrival in Lyme caused no end of excitement, and Gemma was soon forgotten in the general scrum to get close to the famous actress. Hot dogs by the harbour were abandoned, and a sit-down meal in The Harbour Inn was demanded by the cast and crew as Kim regaled them with stories of her career.

‘Take after take in that jumpsuit,' Kim said, sipping a lunchtime martini. ‘I tell you, I lost a stone in weight that day.'

‘You didn't need to,' Oli said. ‘You were always the perfect shape. If you don't mind my saying so.'

‘Honey, I don't mind your saying so,' Kim said, batting enormous eyelashes at Oli.

‘Do you still have the jumpsuit?' Sophie asked. Gemma rolled her eyes. Her mother's famous jumpsuit had been regularly wheeled out at parties over the years as guests harangued her until she put it on, posing and pouting for photographs in the iconic outfit.

Kim waved a hand in the air as if batting the question away in embarrassment. ‘I think I may still have it somewhere.'

‘And I bet it still fits you like a glove,' Oli said.

Gemma groaned. She wished Oli wouldn't encourage her mother, not that she needed any encouragement. She always had the knack of steering the conversation around to whatever she wanted to talk about, and sooner or later, the famous black jumpsuit would be the topic of conversation.

‘I'm just going to make a call,' Gemma said, getting up from the table in the corner of the pub.

Gemma wasn't going to make a call. She needed to get away for a moment. Goodness, her mother had been in Lyme Regis for less than half an hour, and she was already driving Gemma nuts.

What
is
it
about
Mother
that
upsets
you
so
much?
she asked herself, looking in the mirror of the ladies' toilets, where she'd taken refuge.

‘She always—always upstages me,' she said to her reflection.

But doesn't everyone? That's one of the downsides of being shy.

It was also, perhaps, one of the reasons Gemma had become an actress. A part of her wanted to shine as brightly as her mother. She wanted people to see that she counted too. She wasn't just Kim Reilly's daughter; she was a person in her own right, and she didn't need a black jumpsuit, either. She had as much talent as her mother ever had.

Competing with your mother was exhausting sometimes, and Gemma wondered why she even tried to bother, because it was always going to be a losing battle that she didn't really want to win anyway.

‘Not
really
,' she said to herself. Because she knew she wouldn't be happy being the centre of attention. As much as she'd love Oli to look at her the way he was looking at her mother and pay her that sort of attention, she knew it wasn't in her to command such interest.

She'd rather be sitting in a nice comfy room somewhere with a cup of tea and her knitting. She laughed at the image. She sounded ancient before her time, didn't she?

She fished in her handbag for her lip gloss, covering her lips with a nice red coat. It looked funny, with her Anne Elliot hair and her Regency costume, but it made her feel a little less invisible.

The door to the ladies' opened and her mother stepped inside.

‘There you are!'

‘Mum!'

‘I thought you were making a call. Where've you been?' She looked annoyed, and Gemma guessed that she'd missed her mother recounting some scintillating anecdote that Gemma had heard a hundred times. ‘And why aren't you out there flirting with that gorgeous man?'

‘Oli?'

‘Of course Oli. Who else?'

For a moment, the face of Rob floated before Gemma's eyes.

‘Because if you don't make a move on him, I will!' her mother said with a lascivious wink.

‘Oh, Mother!'

‘Don't
oh, Mother
me!' she said, nudging her daughter out of the way so she could get to the mirror. Gemma watched as Kim brought out her own lipstick. It was called Red Vamp, and her mother had been wearing it for about twenty years longer than she should. Next came the powder—a dab here and a dab there. Gemma knew the routine so well. Then the perfume. Three liberal squirts of Lady of the Night. Gemma grimaced. She'd never liked the perfume, finding it heavy and cloying, but her mother never travelled anywhere without it.

‘Will I do?' she asked, her fingers pulling her dark hair until it was just right.

‘You'll do,' Gemma said, and they left the ladies' room together.

‘Just one thing, darling,' her mother said, stopping before they got back to their table.

‘What?'

‘Try and make an effort with everyone. You were sitting at the table like a stuffed doll before. You can be quite the sparkling personality when you want to, except I get the feeling you never want to.'

Gemma sighed. At least her mother understood one thing about her.