TWO

“ A yra and I used to go to school together,” Keely informed Jai. “We immediately hit it off and we’ve been friends since then.”

He once again wiped his hand on a cleaner part of his jeans and held it out for a shake. “Any friend of Keely’s is most certainly worth knowing, I must say.”

I grasped his hand, instantly in love with his delightful British accent.

“Forgive my soiled hands, but that dying bush needed some loving care.”

With my hand in the warmth and strength of his, I didn’t give a flying flute about the dirt.

“She’ll be staying here at the Manor,” Keely interjected.

“Oh,” he said, his hand still holding mine. “You’ll be working on the movie you people are making?”

I nodded. “I’ll be arranging the musical score.”

“Music. How interesting.”

Keely’s phone rang breaking the magic of the moment.

“Yes,” she barked into her phone. “Oh, darn it. Are you serious? Okay. I’ll be right there.”

“What is it?” I said as she ended the call.

She looked apologetically at me. “Just one of the hundred emergencies I have to deal with every day. I’m so sorry, but I really do have to go take care of this.” She looked to Jai. “Would you have time to show Ayra around? I really want her to get a feel of the entire place before we start shooting.”

“Absolutely,” he said with a pleased smile. “It would be my pleasure.”

She looked to me. “I have no doubt that you have a wonderful vision of what this movie should look like. If you see anything that should be changed, or that you believe would be suitable for a particular scene, let me know. I trust your judgement.”

“Will do.”

“Great. Perfect.” With a quick wave, she ran off.

“Let me get my hands properly cleaned before we head off.” Jai turned to dip his hands in the huge water fountain, rubbed them together, then shook off the excess water. Wiping them on his shirt, he turned to me. “The grounds here are quite expansive. We could go down to the lake if you’d like.”

I gestured to the path. “I’ll follow your lead. I’m sure no matter where you take me it will be fascinating.”

We strolled slowly down the winding path, returning to the outer portion of the rose garden.

“We have an impressive collection of world-famous roses here at Moon Manor,” he said as he pointed some of them out. “Of course, you can’t have a rose garden in England without the Royal Jubilee.”

The huge, bright pink roses were spectacular.

“And here we have the Golden Celebration. I think this is a close to a gold colored rose as you’ll ever find.”

“So beautiful.”

“My favorite, however, is this one - Rhapsody in Blue.”

“That is quite stunning.”

“Yes, they certainly are.”

“The fragrance that fills the air is simply divine... heavenly. I should like to set up a cot and sleep right here among them.”

He laughed. “You might find yourself with a few uninvited guests come morning.”

I laughed along with him. He was charming and witty and so easy to be with. It already felt like we’d known one another for ages.

“Is this your first time in England?” he asked. He turned away from the rose garden and headed to the woodlands.

I nodded. “I’ve travelled quite a bit in the States... you know, the Grand Canyon, Vegas, New York... that sort of thing. But outside of that... not really.”

“Well then, you’re in for a treat,” he said. “The previous owner built a thirty-foot tower that gives you a view over these here treetops. You can clearly see the entirety of Derby from there.”

“I’m eager to see it. So far, it seems like everything about England is like a fairy tale. I mean, I’ve been enamored with the thought of England since I was a little girl, so I guess I’m sold on the idea of loving this place no matter what. But so far, England is living up to all the hype I’d imagined for myself.”

“What happened as a little girl to have you fall in love with a place you don’t know?”

“Jane Austen,” I said with a smile. “ Pride and Prejudice , to be more precise.”

“Ah, yes. The eighteenth-century writer with a flair for creating the twentieth century heroines.”

I looked at him with surprise. “You know Jane Austen?”

“No Brit worth his salt doesn’t know her. I guess much like you Americans know...” He shrugged as he sought an American author. “I don’t know... Dr. Seuss?”

I burst out laughing. “I like your comparison. Your Jane Austen to my Dr. Seuss. Makes sense.”

“Okay, on a more serious note, there’s William Shakespeare.”

“But he’s a Brit,” I argued.

“Oh, right you are. Born in Stratford, I believe.” He thought a moment. “What about Charles Dickens?”

“Um, I do believe he’s a Brit as well.”

“There’s that woman who wrote Wuthering Heights. What was her name?”

“Bronte? Jai, she’s British, too.”

“Oh. Okay, okay. I know. The woman who wrote that horror story.”

“That would be Shelley, and she, too, was a Brit. Can you honestly not name one American author?”

“Alright. Alright. Now that I’ve shown off what great talents we have here in Great Britain... what about Ernest Hemingway?”

“Now that’s more like it. A Farewell to Arms ... a must read.”

“Never heard of it.”

I gasped and looked at him. “What about The Sun Also Rises .”

He shrugged. “I guess with all the great writers that we have here in Great Britain, there was never a need to read any American offering.” He looked at me with a good-humored grin.

I couldn’t help but laugh as I slapped his arm. After the playful slap, my hand rested on the warm and irresistible skin for a prolonged moment.

He was muscular, much more than what his loose-fitting red plaid shirt let on. In addition to his gorgeous smile, he had warm, puppy dog eyes that were a rich brown, almost black. His jaw was strong and masculine, and his dark hair beckoned fingers to run through it.

We reached the lake and Jai stopped at the shore.

“I’ve been told that there have been times when we’ve had ducks and geese here, but a while back someone brought a few swans.”

“Oh, how lovely. Swans are beautiful. So elegant and regal.”

“Yes, perhaps. But those elegant and regal creatures are ferocious. Pretty soon the ducks and geese stopped coming around.”

“Oh. That’s too bad.”

“Come on,” he said as he grabbed my hand and led me to the far side of the lake. “Under that forest of...”

I heard nothing of his description of the various trees that made up the surrounding woodland. All I could think of was the grasp of his strong hand over mine. He wasn’t the type of guy I usually went for, the work-with-your-hands type, but there was something about him that so readily drew me in.

We reached the tower, and he released my hand.

“Think you can make it to the top?”

“Make it?” I shot back. “I’ll beat you to the top.” And before he could take a step, I took off and ran up the fifty or so steps to the top. Breathless, I waited for him.

Beet red, he finally made it and faced me with a sheepish grin. “You beat me this time, but I assure you, this is the one and only time I will allow that to happen.”

I grunted. “You didn’t allow it to happen. I beat you fair and square.”

Breathing heavily, he leaned back against the guardrail. “You’re pretty fast for a... you know... a...”

“A girl?” I said as my brow indignantly shot up.

“No. No. You’re fast for a... you know... a musical person.”

I threw my head back to let out a loud and not at all elegant guffaw.

Sobering up, he turned around to lean his forearms against the railing and look out into the distance. “Now that we’ve gotten our breathing back to normal, take a look at that view.”

I hadn’t even taken a glimpse. I immediately turned and let out a surprised gasp. Just as he’d promised, we could see well above the treetops and down into the valley for miles and miles. While I had a great view from my bedroom window, the view here was in the opposite direction and seemed to go on forever.

“Do you know where Jane Austen was born?” Jai quietly said.

“Yeah. Isn’t it Steventon, Hampshire?”

“Right you are. And would you happen to know what direction that would be?”

“I looked around. I have no idea.” I pointed in a random direction. “Over there?”

“Actually,” he said as he came up behind me and turned my head slightly to the left. Leaning in over my shoulder, he reached over me to point to a particular spot. “See that church steeple way over there... that is Steventon, Hampshire, the birthplace of England’s most beloved author.”

The heat of his chest pressing against my shoulder blade was insanely distracting. I had to swallow deeply before finding my voice to speak again. “You mean just down there in the next village?”

He nodded.

“But aren’t we towards the north of England and I thought Steventon was farther... much farther south.”

His sudden laughter was explosive. He backed away and came to stand beside me. “You got me there. You really know your stuff.”

“Were you trying to trick me?”

“Perhaps just a wee bit.”

Giggling, I leaned playfully into him. “So, you’re a prankster, are you?”

“I have my moments.”

I’m sure you do, I wanted to say. I was enjoying myself immensely and didn’t want the day to end. “Thank you so very much for taking the time to show me around. I’m sure you must have a hundred and one other things you need to tend to.”

“That I do,” he admitted. “That I do. But this is far more enjoyable than the hundreds of other tasks that await me. I have three windows to repair on the upper level. Several faucets in the various bathrooms are leaking. Then there is the orchard to tend to, the flower garden, as well as the vegetable garden. And there are the bees to contend with.”

“Bees?” Suddenly alarmed. “Do you have an infestation of bees in your rose garden?”

“No. No. I have an apiary.”

“I’m sorry... a what? Is that some sort of allergy or something?

“Oh, no. It’s simply well... beehives. Dozens of beehives. It is enough to supply us with the most delicious honey you’ve ever tasted... and that... for the entire year.”

Allergic to bee stings, I looked around, suddenly fearful of a bee attack.

“No need to fret about it. The hives are clear on the other side of the property. Just close enough to the flower garden to come collect their precious nectar, but far enough to not be a nuisance.”

I let out a sigh of relief. “I do apologize for fretting somewhat.”

He looked at me funny.

“What? What it is? Did I say something wrong?”

He smiled. “Do I detect the sudden appearance of a British accent... in particular on the word ‘somewhat’. I thought you were an American.”

The heat of the blush that took over my cheeks was overwhelming. I knew it was a horrible, horrible habit, but I just couldn’t rid myself of it. “Sorry,” I said with a deliberate American accent. “I think they call it linguistic convergence... or something like that. I tend to adopt the accent of the person I’m speaking with, and... well... your accent is so lovely and so prominent. I certainly didn’t mean any offense by it.”

Laughing, he put his arm around my shoulder. “I’m not in the least bit offended. I’m rather flattered that you would take on this lousy and thick Manchester accent.”

“Lousy? It’s not lousy at all. It’s positively charming.”

“You Americans. You love every British accent, no matter what corner of the United Kingdom the accent is from.” With his hand still on my shoulder, he turned me toward the stairs. “I think it’s time we continued on with our visit.”

We slowly made our way down then circled back around the lake, then took the stone path back to the gardens.

“Have you been working here long?” I said when the fragrance of roses reached my nostrils.

“I’ve been the caretaker of this place for a few months now,” he said. “I can tell you that it’s quite a handful.”

“Have you had many productions use this location for their movies?”

“You guys are the first.”

“Oh. How nice.”

We crossed through the garden and entered the manor through a different door than Keely and I had exited from.

“I think the feel of the place is the perfect setting for you,” he went on. “Of course, some of the artwork will have to be changed. A lot of it already has, but there is still so much to do.”

Walking down the hall, I looked at the strange array of modern artwork on the walls, once again struck by the anachronism of it all. “How did such an old place come to have such modern art?”

“The previous owner,” he said. “He thought the classics were a little too... stodgy. He wanted to brighten up the place, hence some of the very colorful abstracts that I actually think are quite nice, just not in keeping with the old-world charm of the place.”

“I agree,” I said. “Some of these are spectacular. What are you going to do with the abstracts?”

He shrugged. “Probably auction them off.” We arrived at the kitchen. “While the whole of the kitchen is original, as you can see, modern appliances have been brought in over the years.”

“I’m sure Keely has thought of a way of working around that.”

We moved on to the formal dining room.

“Oh, my. Look at that table. It must seat thirty people,” I said.

“Actually, it seats forty-six.”

“I see that the artwork here has already been changed to better suit the film which is set in the early 1800s.”

“Yes,” he said with a touch of embarrassment. “I’d originally purchased replicas of Monet, Renoir and Degas, only to find out that they were all born a little too late to have painted something appropriate for the late 1800s. I had to go back and find paintings from artists I’d never heard of before.”

I walked around looking at the paintings. Most were portraits. I stopped before one painted by Joshua Reynolds. The portrait’s background was dark and gloomy as was the subject’s attire. I walked on to the next portrait by the same artist; a white-haired woman once again before a dark background and dark attire.

“I think I’m going to have to agree with the previous owner of the manor. This is all pretty gloomy.” I walked on and came to a lovely piece. “Now this is more like it.”

A lovely lady in pale, pale blue stood beside her suitor in front of a country field. “Thomas Gainsborough. Isn’t he the one who painted Blue Boy?”

“You’re asking the wrong guy. But, you seem to know a lot about this kind of thing,” Jai said. “Maybe you could come shop with me for more artwork.”

I smiled. “I could. But then again, you shouldn’t worry yourself too much about that. The production with take care of it. Chances are, no matter what you purchase, it’s not going to suit them and they’re going to change it anyway.”

He chuckled. “Thanks for letting me know. I’ve been going crazy trying to make sure everything looks right. You know, this place has really been struggling lately. It’s a good thing the production of this film ended up here.”

“Is the manor facing financial troubles?”

“Let’s just say that we’re not swimming in money.”

“Well, I’d be willing to bet that it will all turn around once this movie comes out. When people see this place on the screen, and when they find out where it is, they will be flocking to the setting of their beloved Pride and Prejudice .”

“I certainly hope you’re right.”

We walked the length of the endless dining room, analyzing and criticizing each piece of art along the way. When we emerged from the other entrance at the far end, we moved into the huge ballroom. The vast space was well lit by the huge chandeliers overhead. Light from the setting sun also flooded in through the tall windows, adding a dramatic feel to the room. The wood flooring was of a pale shade with darker inlay set in an open and uncomplicated pattern.

“This is going to be perfect,” I said as I envisioned the various ballroom scenes at Bingley’s home. “This is where Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy will dance for the very first time. Imagine that. Can’t you just see them gliding across this floor. Magnificent. It will truly be unforgettable.”

“If you say so,” he said with a chuckle.

As a sudden yawn took over me, I set my hand on Jai’s arm. “I’ve had a lovely visit, Jai, but I must say, I’m exhausted.”

“Of course. How foolish of me to keep you so long.”

“Nonsense. I’ve enjoyed every minute. But I think it’s time I returned to my room.” I looked around. “Then again, I have no idea how to get to my room from here. This place is so incredibly huge.”

He chuckled as he started down the hall. “Yes. The wealthy of the day certainly did have an obscene need to be ostentatious.” He led the way to a narrow stairwell tucked away in an unobtrusive corner. The narrow door led one to believe they were entering a broom closet. “We’ll take the servant’s stairs up. I believe the production staff is housed in the upper right wing, is it not.”

I shrugged. “To tell you the truth, I followed Keely to my room without paying any attention at all. All I can tell you is that I have a lovely, bright yellow room.”

He smiled and raised a finger. “I know just the one. Follow me.”

We climbed the narrow and winding stairs to the upper level where Jai opened a door onto the hallway.

“I do believe the yellow room is just down here.”

We reached the door, and he opened it for me, gesturing for me to enter. He barely stepped in behind me. “I do hope it’s not too bright. There was a lot of hesitation about putting so much yellow.”

“It’s adorable and I love it.”

“England being the place of sun scarcity, I didn’t know if we’d succeed in livening it up enough.”

“You’ve succeeded with this one, I assure you. Are all the rooms as pretty?”

“Some are smaller, less ornate. Others are larger, twice as large in fact, with decors more fitting to the original time period.” His smile faded and he suddenly seemed preoccupied. “Regardless of the size and color of the rooms, I do hope business picks up soon. I’m forever grateful for the money being brought in by your production company, but...”

I set my hand on his shoulder. “I promise you,” I said, feeling the need to repeat my earlier promise. “Once word gets out that a Jane Austen novel was brought to life in this very manor, you’ll be turning people away due to such a full house.”

Unconvinced, he smiled. “Indeed. Well then, my dear lady, I’ll leave you to rest and do hope to see you again.”

“I’m sure our paths will cross before filming ends. Thank you again for such a lovely visit.”

He backed out of the room and closed the door behind him.