At Home with Mr Darcy (8 page)

Dan winced.

‘Dan?’

‘Yes?’

‘You
sure
everything’s okay?’

‘Soup is ready, sir,’ Higgins’s voice carried through to the hall.

‘Is that Higgins?’ Robyn said. ‘What’s he doing there?’

‘Oh, he just made a big vat of soup and brought some over for us. Kind, eh?’

‘Yes,’ Robyn said. ‘Perhaps he thought you’d be lonely.’

‘That’ll be it,’ Dan said.

‘Well, I suppose I’d better get back to it and make sure everyone’s okay,’ she said. ‘I wish you were both here with me.’

‘Me too, Dan said.

‘I’ll see you this evening, okay?’

‘Bye, sweetheart,’ he said. ‘Love you!’

‘Love you too – kiss Cassie for me.’

Dan hung up the phone and returned to the kitchen where Higgins was monitoring Cassie’s progress at the table with her bowl of soup. Her cheeks and chin were orange but her eyes were bright with delight.

Doris Norris was taking a photograph of the front of Lyme Park from across the lake when she saw Melissa approaching.

‘Ah, my dear!’ she called. ‘Are you any good with cameras?’

‘You want me to take a photo of you?’

‘That would be absolutely marvellous,’ Doris said, handing her tiny red camera to Melissa. ‘Get Pemberley – I mean Lyme Park – in the background, won’t you?’ she said, smiling brightly.

Photo taken, Melissa returned the camera to Doris.

‘Would you like me to take one of you?’ Doris asked.

Melissa shook her head. ‘No, thanks.’

Doris peered at her closely. ‘You’ve been crying!’ she said. ‘Oh, my dear girl! Whatever is the matter?’

The tears started again and there was no stopping them this time. Doris took a step closer and hugged her.

‘You just let it all out. Whatever it is. Let it all out.’

Doris wasn’t sure how long she stood there holding Melissa but, when the young woman finally looked up, her face and eyes were red.

‘Come and sit down,’ Doris said and the two of them found a bench together.

‘I’m sorry,’ Melissa said. ‘I’m making a real mess of everything this weekend.’

‘No you’re not,’ Doris said.

‘Everybody hates me, don’t they?’

‘What makes you say that?’

‘I’ve seen the way they look at me when I’m texting. Dame Pamela’s always giving me “the look”.’ Melissa rolled her eyes.

‘Ah, well, that’s just her little way if she thinks you’re not giving Jane Austen one hundred percent of your attention,’ Doris told her.

‘And I haven’t been. I’ve just been going through the motions.’

‘What do you mean?’ Doris asked, her head cocked to one side as she studied the journalist.

Melissa gave a sigh. ‘I wanted to get away from it all,’ she said, and then she told Doris the story she had told Robyn, her eyes misting with tears once more as the words tumbled out of her.

‘Oh, my dear!’ Doris said.

‘So I grabbed this job, you see? And I’ve been rolling out all the awful clichés I could come up with about a bunch of Jane Austen nuts.’ She looked up and caught Doris’s eyes. ‘Sorry,’ she added.

‘You think we’re all nuts?’

Melissa’s face took on a gentle look. ‘No,’ she said. ‘Not anymore. Well, maybe just a little bit.’ A tiny smile tickled the corners of her mouth. ‘But I like you all. I really do and I think I’m slowly coming round to understanding what it is you all like about this writer so much.’

‘Well, that’s
wonderful!
’ Doris said.

‘I don’t think I’m ever going to sit down and watch six episodes of
Pride and Prejudice
back to back or anything–’

‘Now, don’t be too rash,’ Doris said. ‘Give it time.’

Melissa smiled again. ‘But I might give the book another go.’

Doris grabbed Melissa’s hands in hers and squeezed them.

‘And I’m going to rewrite my piece too,’ she said. ‘I’m going to make you all really proud of me.’

‘I am proud of you already,’ Doris said. ‘Now, if we could only sort you out on the man front.’

Melissa shook her head. ‘No, no,’ she said. ‘I think I’m beyond hope there.’

‘What rubbish!’ Doris said. ‘You know, after my Henry died, I never thought of meeting anyone else. I really didn’t want to. Henry and I were soul mates, you see. He was my first love and I was his.’

‘But you did meet someone, didn’t you?’ Melissa said.

Doris gave a little smile. ‘Maybe,’ she said.

‘What do you mean,
maybe
?’ Melissa’s eyes narrowed, her journalistic antennae on alert.

‘Well, it’s early days,’ Doris said.

‘But you’re going to tell me he’s absolutely perfect and that you’re madly in love and that
I
can find true love too, aren’t you?’

‘I’m not going to say that at all,’ Doris said, ‘besides, I can’t possibly tell if he’s absolutely perfect although I very much doubt it. None of us are perfect, are we? Anyway, I only met him yesterday.’

Melissa frowned. ‘Yesterday?’ she said.

‘Yes. At Chatsworth,’ Doris said. ‘In the sculpture gallery.’

A slight twitch pulled at Melissa’s mouth and, suddenly, she was laughing and Doris joined in too, the sound carrying right across the lake.

‘You see,’ Doris said, once they’d managed to control themselves, ‘wonderful things can happen when you’re not looking for them. I wasn’t thinking of meeting somebody when I went to Chatsworth but there he was, waiting for me. We’ve been swapping those text things ever since.’

Melissa’s face settled into seriousness again. ‘But I can’t see
any
thing like that happening to me,’ she said.

‘Why do you say that?’ Doris asked.

‘Because it hasn’t ever happened in the past,’ she said.

‘But don’t you see – that makes it statistically more likely to happen in the future,’ Doris told her. ‘You’ve had all the rubbishy experiences whilst you’re young enough to cope with them and get over them. Heaven only knows what wonderful man fate really has in store for your future!’

‘I wish I had your optimism,’ Melissa said.

‘You don’t need optimism,’ Doris said. ‘You just need a few more Jane Austen novels inside of you and
then
you’ll believe in happy endings.’

‘Ah! Is everybody here?’ Dame Pamela said, clapping her hands and causing several tourists to turn and stare. It was four o’clock and their time at Lyme Park was drawing to a close after a day of delightful walks and a delicious lunch. ‘How about a group photo at the spot where Elizabeth met Mr Darcy after his swim?’

‘What a good idea,’ Doris Norris said, smiling at Melissa who had cheered up immensely since their chat.

‘Excellent,’ Roberta agreed and she and Rose got into place.

‘Oh, dear,’ Dame Pamela suddenly said. ‘Who’s going to take the photograph?’

‘Anne will,’ Mrs Soames volunteered. ‘Get hold of the camera, Anne. Don’t stand there gormless and useless.’

Dame Pamela looked outraged on behalf of Annie. ‘Mrs Soames,’ she cried, ‘I insist that Annie is actually
in
the photograph – not behind the camera taking it!’ She then spotted a passer-by. ‘Would you do the honours?’ she asked, flinging the camera at the gentleman before he had a chance to protest.

All the gang were there. Katherine and Warwick had returned from their romantic walk up to Darcy’s lake. Robyn, who was still getting over her earlier encounter with Melissa, had noticed that the journalist was smiling now and seemed to be very chummy with Doris.

They all jostled together with the grand face of Lyme Park behind them.

‘Everybody say "Darcy"!’ Dame Pamela sang and the photo was taken. ‘I shall make sure everybody receives a copy and I’m sure Ms Berry would like one for her article, wouldn’t you?’

Melissa nodded politely. ‘Thank you.’

‘Is that it, then?’ Roberta asked, looking woeful.

‘I’m afraid so,’ Robyn said, ‘although we’ll be taking a look at the beautiful Derbyshire countryside on the way back to the hotel and we’ve got a wonderful tea to look forward to before heading home.’

‘I don’t want to leave,’ Roberta said. ‘I wonder if anybody would notice if I moved into a very small room in the house.’

‘What a
silly
thing to say,’ Mrs Soames said. ‘Now, can you all get out of the way so I can get a photo of the house? I don’t want you all in it.’

‘Charming!’ Rose said.

‘
So
rude!’ Roberta said. Nevertheless, the group and other tourists moved aside so that the formidable Mrs Soames could get her perfect shot.

Doris shook her head but she was smiling. ‘For a reader of Jane Austen, she hasn’t really got a great command of the English language, has she? You’d think she’d have learned a few words that would make her more affable, wouldn’t you?’

‘And amiable,’ Robyn said, relishing the use of one of her favourite Austen words.

Melissa, who was listening and watching intently, smiled at the exchanges and everybody watched as Mrs Soames walked backwards across the lawn to enable her tiny camera to get all of the house in.

‘She’s getting a bit close to the water, isn’t she?’ Rose said. ‘Shouldn’t somebody warn–’

But it was too late. Mrs Soames, her camera pressed up against her face, took one step back too many and, with an almighty splash, landed in the lake, her huge bottom and bosom sending a gallon of water up into the air.

Screams and cries came from the crowd gathered which had swollen far beyond the Purley Hall holidaymakers now.

‘Somebody
do
something!’ Dame Pamela cried, clutching her hands in front of her as Mrs Soames continued to splash in the shallows. Dame Pamela caught Warwick’s eyes but he didn’t need to be asked because he’d already kicked his boots off and was heading towards the water, leaping straight in.

It wasn’t deep but Mrs Soames was flailing around so much that Warwick was soon fully immersed himself.

‘Get me out of here, you stupid man!’ Mrs Soames cried and Warwick grabbed her round her substantial middle and did his best to shift her onto dry land where Annie and Robyn helped to pull her out.

‘Oh, Mother!’ Annie said, her expression torn between anxiety and amusement.

‘Warwick!’ Katherine was there to help him out of the water and gasped as she realised that his white shirt was now transparent. He was soon surrounded by a crowd of female tourists who were snapping him with their cameras and filming the moment on their phones.

‘My hero,’ Katherine said.

‘Well, you did say you wanted to see me in a lake,’ he said, shaking his wet hair and they both laughed.

It was a rather subdued Mrs Soames that got into the minibus after drying off as best as she could and getting changed with the help of Robyn. She refused to get out again when they reached the viewpoint for Stanage Edge where Keira Knightley playing Elizabeth Bennet had communed most beautifully with nature.

‘She’s afraid of finding any more water,’ Roberta said with a naughty grin as they all trooped off the bus.

Warwick was bare-chested underneath a jacket which the minibus driver, Mr Allsop, had lent him. It was far too small and afforded the ladies quite a sight.

Katherine teased him about it. ‘You’re lapping up all this attention, aren’t you?’

‘I was just doing my duty. That’s all,’ he said, giving her a wink and grinning as he caught Roberta taking a photo of him with her mobile phone.

Mrs Soames had fared less well in the wardrobe department, wearing a designer raincoat that belonged to Dame Pamela and which had been kept on the bus in case of showers.

‘I do hope she doesn’t stretch it,’ Dame Pamela said to Robyn as she walked across the countryside in the walking boots which Higgins had insisted upon. ‘It’s a limited edition.’

Robyn fought a smile as she remembered the sight of a sopping Mrs Soames emerging from the lake. Of course, she’d been terribly concerned at the time but no harm had come to the older lady. In fact, her cold dunk seemed to have subdued her which was really rather pleasant for everyone else.

All too soon, it was time to return to Bakewell where a sumptuous tea had been laid out for them. There were scones and fruit breads, Bakewell puddings, flapjacks, cakes and an endless supply of tea.

Melissa Berry was sitting next to Robyn and cleared her throat.

‘Robyn?’

‘Yes?’

‘I want to apologise for before,’ she said.

‘Oh?’

Melissa nodded. ‘I was really rude and I know you were only trying to help me.’

‘It’s okay. Don’t mention it.’ Robyn still felt upset about the incident and returned to her scone.

‘No – listen.
Please.
’

Robyn gave Melissa her full attention. ‘What is it?’

‘I want you to help me.’

‘Help you?’ Robyn said. ‘How can I help you?’

‘You’re a Jane Austen fan, right?’

‘Of course,’ she said.

‘Then I need you to help me with this article I’m writing. I’d like to really make an impact with it – use some good quotes, some really emotive stuff that will stir the readers and help spread the word about her to non-believers like me.’

‘Really?’

‘Yes – really,’ Melissa said. ‘Will you help me?’

Robyn bit her lip but she didn’t need to think about it for long and nodded enthusiastically. ‘I’d
love
to help you,’ she said, looking forward to telling her little group the good news.

‘Great!’ Melissa said and the two of them smiled at one another, the beginnings of a friendship blossoming over afternoon tea.

An hour later, Robyn and Dame Pamela waved Katherine and Warwick off for their journey back to Oxfordshire.

‘Come and visit us at Hawk’s Hill soon,’ Katherine called to Robyn.

‘We will!’ she called back.

Then they watched as Mrs Soames levered herself into her car with Doris in the back seat. Annie followed with the bags and, after putting them into the boot, approached Robyn and Dame Pamela.

‘I can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done,’ she said.

‘It’s been a real pleasure to meet you,’ Dame Pamela said, squeezing Annie’s hands in her diamond-clad ones. ‘Now, you will join us at Purley for Christmas, won’t you?’

Annie took a deep breath. ‘Well, I–’

‘Oh,
do
say yes!’ Robyn said. ‘I can’t imagine one of our get-togethers without you now.’

Annie beamed a smile. ‘And I’d hate to miss one,’ she said.

‘Good,’ Robyn said. ‘Take care of yourself.’

Annie nodded just as her mother honked the car horn.

‘We haven’t got all day, Anne!’ she said, poking her head out of the window.

‘She’ll never change, will she?’ Dame Pamela said.

‘I fear not,’ Annie said and they watched as she got into the car beside her mother. Doris blew kisses at them and they began their journey back to the Cotswolds.

It was ten minutes later when Mrs Soames caught sight of a grinning Doris Norris in her rear view mirror.

‘What have
you
got to smile about?’ she asked disgruntled.

‘I’ve met somebody,’ Doris said.

Mrs Soames made a dismissive sound. ‘What are you talking about? We don’t meet people at
our
age.’

‘Well,
I
have,’ Doris said and she stared out of the window, her smile lighting up her face until she reached home.

‘Melissa’s left already, hasn’t she?’ Dame Pamela said, turning to Robyn at the front of the hotel.

‘Her taxi for the station came as soon as soon as tea was over,’ she said.

‘Yes. She said she had to go but I wanted to talk to her some more. She was rather a tricky character, wasn’t she? It’s a shame she didn’t really get into the spirit of the weekend, isn’t it?’

‘Oh, I’m not so sure,’ Robyn said.

‘What do you mean?’ Dame Pamela asked.

‘I think she’s beginning to come round to our way of thinking.’

‘You do?’

‘I really do, and she’s asked for my input with the article she’s writing so I don’t think we’ve got any worries there. She really did like us all.’

Dame Pamela sighed in satisfaction. ‘What a dear girl. I liked her as soon as I saw her, you know.’

Robyn grinned. ‘Come on,’ she said. ‘We’ve got to round up Rose and Roberta and get going ourselves.’

‘Yes,’ Dame Pamela said. ‘Like Elizabeth Bennet I am "wild to be at home", aren’t you?’

Robyn thought of Dan and Cassie and Horseshoe Cottage. ‘Oh, yes!’ she said.