Ten Days with Mr Darcy (on hold)

Chapter fourteen - Obstinate, headstrong girl

As they lounged around the green room after lunch, Jess sensed a general lack of energy among their small group. Bubbles of conversation and laughter had accompanied previous mealtimes, but now the grey skies outside left everyone subdued, the silence broken only by occasional stilted questions and even briefer answers.

She wasn't sure what to say to Sebastian. She still couldn't bring herself to agree with his interpretation of Darcy and Elizabeth's relationship. However, even if he'd never labelled Mr. Darcy as a gentleman, he'd still been playing the character exactly as she'd always imagined him.

Well, except for the kiss at the end of the final scene. She'd never pictured anything like that kiss when Elizabeth accepted his proposal.

Her gaze drifted back to Sebastian. With head bowed and shoulders hunched, his posture was the opposite of the way he held himself while playing the proud Mr. Darcy. Had the real Mr. Darcy picked up a bug from questionable mussels, he would've been hunched over and miserable as well. He must have been feeling awful all day. Maybe that was why his thoughts about Darcy and Elizabeth's relationship had sounded so cynical.

She moved closer, resting her hand on top of his. "How are you doing?"

"Okay now. I didn't have much of an appetite earlier, but my stomach seems to be calming down." He shared a tired smile as he sandwiched her smaller hand between his. "Just having you here makes me feel ten times better."

That smile made her melt a little inside. Despite the grey, dreary skies, nothing could dampen her feelings for him.

Mandy arrived in the doorway wearing a smile of her own, this time one of relief. "The weather forecast is much improved for this afternoon, and we have some visitors who've bought timed tickets to view the house. Can you be ready to start the afternoon session in ten minutes?"

Her question electrified the group, re-energising them where before there had been only lethargy. Finally, they would get to do the work they came here for; to entertain, and maybe educate those visitors who had not yet been captured by the charms of Miss Austen's works.

They made their way to the card room, located behind the entrance hall, and facing the garden at the back of the house. The wood panelled room was neither so highly decorated nor as comfortably furnished as some of the other parlours within Exley Hall. They'd moved the tables covered in green baize cloth to one side, providing a suitable space for Elizabeth and Aunt Gardiner to visit Georgiana and Miss Bingley at Pemberley.

A motley collection of colourful raincoats and umbrellas watched the scene unfold from behind the red rope as they observed the subtle nuances of early nineteenth-century society. Caroline Bingley's comments to Elizabeth that afternoon seemed particularly sharp and unfriendly. No doubt the gloomy weather had left them all feeling low, but Jess wasn't sorry to slip out of the card room when her part in the scene was complete.

She listened on the other side of the door as Ruth Swale continued to dwell on Miss Bennet's deficiencies for Mr. Darcy's benefit. Jess knew the criticisms were directed from one character to another, but Caroline's acidic comments seemed more personal than mere dialogue on a page. Apart from refusing to rise to Ruth's snide remarks about Sebastian that morning, Jess couldn't imagine what else she'd done to annoy her.

As the afternoon session progressed, the weather brightened and the waterproof coats were less prevalent among the audience. The penultimate scene would start in ten minutes, and Mrs Reynolds arrived outside the library door, fresh from wardrobe and ready to go.

Whenever Mrs Green stepped into the costume of Lady Catherine de Bourgh, she transformed her personality to match. Where Mrs Reynolds was a mixture of quiet confidence and the natural deference of a housekeeper, Lady Catherine exuded a brusque self-assurance and determined poise.