THREE

I woke up groggy and confused. It took a few moments for my eyes to focus on the unfamiliar curtains, the strange furniture and even the bedcover spread over me. After a few minutes, I realized I wasn’t in my bed, then with a start, it hit me. I was in England, Derbyshire... Jane Austen... Pride and Prejudice. Oh my! Was I late for the first film call?

I scrambled out of bed, jumped into a pair of khaki’s, flip flops and white shirt, then hurried out of the room. The moment I stepped out into the hall I could hear the distant cacophony of voices. As I neared the stairs, the voices grew louder and increasingly lively.

Damn. My first day on set and I was going to miss it.

I followed the sounds that led me to a good-sized sitting room. Camera and sound technicians were already set up and ready to go. The walls were a pale cream color with ornamental stenciling where the walls met the ceiling. The tall, slender windows were draped in white as was the small table in the corner. Numerous chairs boasted cushioned seats embroidered with large roses - yellow, red, rose and lavender.

“Ayra,” Keely called. “Over here. I’d like you to meet some of the actors.”

I joined her and the group of women she stood with. The women were already dressed for a scene. Simple, empire-waist gowns adorned with large sashes tied at the back. Their hair curled and pulled up, gave them an immediate air of a time long past.”

“We have all five Bennet sisters here ready for the first scene we’re going to shoot,” Keely said, clearly proud of her cast. “Florence Sullivan will be playing the eldest daughter... our lovely Jane.”

“Hello,” she said.

“Then we have Rhonda Clairborne to play Elizabeth.”

“Nice to meet you,” she said, her heaving bosom barely contained by her gown.

“Then Carrie O’Reilly to play Mary.”

“Always a pleasure being cast as the homely one,” she said with smile that showed no resentment despite her words.

“And finally, Hannah and Clara Beale; twins who will play the adorable if not immature Catherine and Lydia.”

“Happy to meet you all,” I said. I casually looked around and noticed that the one person I would have liked to see that morning was missing. Barnaby Darcy was nowhere to be seen.

“Mr. and Mrs. Bennet are played by two brilliant Shakespearean actors: Margeret Worthing and Emile Hill. They’re in the room preparing.”

I nodded my understanding.

As the girls set up on the various chairs and sofas, Keely turned slightly to me. “They are all quite splendid but wait until you see Rhonda in action. She was born to play Lizzy. She’s been acting since she was six, and even trained at Shakespeare’s Theatre as a teen.”

She abruptly turned her attention to the scene. “Okay, everybody. We’re ready to shoot.”

“Quiet on the set,” a man with a megaphone shouted out.

I quietly stepped back and out of the way to let Keely do her magic.

“Cut!” she called out after only a few lines. “Hannah and Clara, you’re doing great. Just be careful you don’t get too whiny. I don’t want any nasally whining... at least not in this scene. You’re immature and bickering, but don’t whine.”

They nodded and the scene was shot again.

I backed farther away until I was at the breakfast spread where I sneaked a bagel and spread a healthy dollop of cream cheese over it. I silently munched on my breakfast as Keely guided the Bennets through one scene after another.

“We’ll break for ten minutes as the girls go get changed for the next scene,” Keely said.

When the girls returned with Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, filming continued.

“Okay,” Keely said two hours later. “I think we’ve gotten all we can out of this room. We’ll break for lunch then set up in the breakfast room.”

Everyone dispersed while Keely made a beeline for me.

“How do you like it so far?” she said.

“You’re a real pro, and I think all the girls are doing a great job... and Mr. Bennet, too. Like you said... that Rhonda is Lizzy. I love her.”

“What about the score?”

“Bertrand sent me a few things last night, but I also have a few other composers working on this; mostly transitions. So far, nothing that strikes me as the overall score,” I said.

“I told you that I wanted to stay away from any horned instruments.”

“Yes. Don’t worry. No matter the melody, there will be no horns. What I have in mind so far is very soft... violin, dramatic cello, and some somber piano.”

“What about the ballroom scenes? I told you I wanted original music, right? I don’t want to use classics from the time period.”

“Yes, and I know just the composer for those particular pieces.”

We headed to a room that had probably once been a large pantry. We grabbed a few sandwiches from the lunch spread and took a seat at a small table by the door to the next setting: the breakfast room.

“I see that the screenwriter made some significant changes to the original book,” I ventured. I knew it was a touchy subject.

Keely shrugged. “They always do. It’s part of the game. I know people are disappointed when a movie isn’t exactly like the book, but... hey, that’s the way it is.”

“Yes, I know. But I couldn’t help but notice changes to some pretty pivotal scenes.”

“Like what?” she said absentmindedly, as she scanned her surroundings.

I could tell that she was barely listening to me. Her mind was already elsewhere, probably on the next scenes.

“Mr. Darcy’s refusal to dance.”

A tall redhead walked up to the lunch spread then spotted Keely. With a stern and unhappy look on her face, she turned away from the food offering and made her way to our table.

“I need to talk to you, Keely.”

Keely glanced at her watch. “You have five minutes. We start shooting in the breakfast room soon.”

The redhead glanced at me as if I were an intruder.

“Blythe, this is Ayra, a good friend who will be arranging the music for Pride and Prejudice . Ayra, this is Blythe Danner who is, among other things, in charge of the budget for our movie.”

“Exactly, and I do need to speak with you... in private.”

Well, that was clear enough. I stood up and tried to hide how flustered I was. “I was finished eating anyway.” I looked to Keely. “I’ll catch you later.”

Before I could make it past the lunch spread, Blythe and Keely’s exchange grew loud enough for all to hear.

“Blythe, be reasonable,” Keely called out as the redhead walked past me. “You need to explain yourself.”

“You’re nothing without me, Keely,” Blythe shouted. “Nothing! This film is going to shut down without me.”

“The way you’re running things, it was destined to shut down no matter what,” Keely shouted in anger. “We’ll find a way to finish this, and it will be better without you.”

The redhead disappeared and everyone jumped at the sound of the slamming door in the distant.

“Well, that didn’t go too well,” Keely said.

“What’s going on?” I said, almost afraid to ask.

“We have a number of investors... you know, people who put up the money for this film,” she said as she marched out into the hall, her heels clipping loudly on the hardwood floor. “Blythe has been in charge of managing all that. She’s convinced a number of small investors so far and she’s in charge of all the expenses. Last week she told me that she had lined up three investors, big investors with deep pockets. It would be enough to really make the movie that we want to make.”

She walked so fast; I had trouble keeping up with her. And as she took to the stairs, I wanted to ask where she was going, but didn’t get the chance.

“Since the very moment I started working on this, I’ve dreamed of doing a few scenes at one particular manor that is just so splendid. She swore it was out of the question and there simply wasn’t the budget to do it. But with these new investors... I thought I would be able to film the sequence.”

Breathless, I stopped a moment and quickly resumed chasing after her.

“But, wouldn’t you know it...” she went on as she continued her long strides down the hall. “She claims that she lost it. She lost it! How the hell do you lose a few million dollars? Was she carrying it around in her purse!? Did she leave it in the pockets of her other slack? Dang! How do you lose investments like this?”

She reached the narrow doorway Jai and I had emerged from the day before and pulled the door back so violently, it slammed into the wall behind it. Maintaining the speedy pace, she went down the spiral staircase. Three times I almost tripped as I rushed to keep up.

“Lose it? No. Blythe stole it. I’m sure she did. So handy being the one in charge of finances.”

“Keely,” I finally said, still a little breathless. “Where are you going?”

We emerged from the narrow door downstairs and headed back toward the breakfast room.

“Nowhere. I just need to burn off some of this nervous energy before we start up again. Can you imagine me directing those girls while I’m in such a state?” She huffed as she marched on. “On top of it all, we no longer have a producer. Blythe was also our producer. What am I supposed to do now? I’m already putting out more fires than I can handle. I need someone to handle all the administrative and producer stuff, on top of the investors!”