Page 5 of Persuading Penny (Jane Austen Association #4)

A fter spending the day with Keely looking over the budget for Jane Austen’s Persuasion , I wrote up a cost forecast to help guide us along as we worked on the movie.

The budget was tight, but Keely had an ingenious way of saving on costs. The main savings was the location for the shoot. Friends had apparently lent her their property, not only the home, but the grounds and gardens surrounding the home.

While that was a good thing, the largest expense by far had to be the cast’s salary. Though many of the lesser actors were working for scale, it added up.

And then there were the stars of the movie... the big names. A few of them had contracts for several million, but several actors had opted to take a minimal salary plus a percentage of the box office, and that left more money for us to work with in the here and now.

“Are you still counting your nickels and dimes?” Keely said, breaking into my constant recalculation of the costs.

Sitting in the passenger seat of Keely’s sturdy SUV, I looked at her and smiled as she drove us to Tillsbury Estate where the cast and crew of Persuasion were staying.

It was apparently close to the home where the movie would be filmed in, making it easy for cast and crew to go back and forth between the two.

Keely looked at me with that teasing smile. “Or are you looking forward to meeting a particular actor?”

“Oh. Oh, no,” I said, shocked by the very thought. I had never been one to idolize a movie actor or hold a celebrity in adoration.

“I hear that Toby Thomas, the young actor to play Charles Musgrove, is quite the charmer and even better looking in person.”

I shrugged. I’d heard of him and was not in the least impressed. But I said nothing.

“Maybe the older and more mature Anthony Higgins, the very talented actor to play Sir Walter Elliot, is more to your liking.”

I laughed. “I hardly think so.”

We reached the open gate of the estate and drove on to the main house. Dozens of cars and several vans were parked along the wide circular drive that looped around to the main door.

“How many people will be staying here?” I said.

“I’ve lost count,” she said with a laugh. “I think we’re closing in on a hundred. Of course, we have a few more staying in Bath.”

She pulled up to a reserved spot near the door and we got out. While I’d visited the estate a few days earlier with Keely, I was still awed by its enormity. I was accustomed to living in a large house, but nothing like this. I couldn’t even imagine living in a home that was so excessively huge.

Once inside, we followed the loud sounds of dozens speaking all at once.

In a large drawing room, we found them; the stars and starlets that were to take on the roles Jane Austen so brilliantly created hundreds of years ago.

“Oh,” Keely let out as she grabbed my arm. “Come. I’ll introduce you to Bridget Johnson. She’s going to be my Anne Elliot.”

I’d heard the name often. The young actress had made some questionable choices in her career, and it seemed to be what people remembered of her.

Her movies consistently received negative reviews with many citing gratuitous nudity, overly vulgar language and a complete lack of any semblance of a plot.

Despite this, her movies still managed to do decently well at the box office.

All this contributed to her quickly rising star, much to many a critic’s surprise.

“Bridget,” Keely said. “I’m so happy you made it. They told me that your last movie just wrapped up in the States, but that you might not make it in time for tonight.”

The beautiful actress rolled her eyes. “Can you believe the director wanted me to stay another week so that we could reshoot scenes that we shot three months ago? No. I told him I needed to go back home to London. I told him I had a new project to get started on and there was no way I was going to be late for it. This role is just too important.”

“Good. I would have hated to learn that you’d decided to stay there any longer.” Keely turned to me. “This is my production accountant, Penny Copperfield.”

“Ooh,” Bridget cooed. “So you’re the one I need to get a hold of when my pay doesn’t come in.”

“There will be no need to find me,” I said rather matter-of-factly. “You will receive every payment that you are due on the day that it is due. I can assure you of that.”

Bridget cocked a brow. “She’s a serious one, isn’t she.”

“She is rather passionate about numbers and keeping them straight.”

The actress swatted an invisible fly. “Numbers. Me and numbers don’t get along much. I mean, I see the amount that I have in my bank account, and I know I have enough to go shopping. Beyond that, ah... my passion is reserved for more interesting stuff.”

Like what? I wanted to say. Stripping for the camera?

“I know what you’re thinking,” she said, pointing a lazy finger at my eyes.

“I see right through those pretty green eyes. You’ve seen some of those trashy movies I’ve made.

.. or at least you’ve heard of them. Yeah.

All right. I admit it. They weren’t my best work.

I could have chosen something more... well.

.. more sophisticated. But, hey, I was young, and I took whatever work came my way. ”

“Bridget was eager to take on a more serious role,” Keely said. “Anne in Persuasion is the complete opposite of everything she’s done so far.”

“You better believe it,” Bridget said. “This girl is quiet, demure, self-conscious... I’m the complete opposite of that. Geez. It doesn’t get more different to the girl I am than this.”

“You want to prove you can act?” I said.

“Yeah,” she said, surprised by the question. “I guess you could put it that way.”

I looked at her as she stood there and suddenly realized how underdressed I was.

After Keely told me that it was to be a casual affair, a meet and greet followed by a light dinner, I’d chosen a muted mauve skirt and soft brown blouse with a white Peter Pan collar and white cuffs on the short puff sleeves.

But Bridget wore faded blue jeans, artificially tattered at the knee, and a moss green silk shirt with tiny cap sleeves.

Adding more bling to her look were her shimmering green three inch pumps, and the several delicate silver and gold chains around her neck.

She was both casual and approachable, while having a touch of chic elegance.

In her early thirties, she had pretty eyes, smooth, shiny hair and a clear and healthy complexion.

Of average height, she had a curvaceous figure, perfect for the movies that had relied more on her cleavage than her ability to speak eloquently.

But looking at her now, there was no overt sexuality about her that one might expect considering the movies she’d been in.

While not prim and proper by any stretch of the imagination, there was something tamer than I would have anticipated.

“Have you had the chance to meet the rest of the cast?” Keely asked her.

“Not all. I’ve met Nick Farley who’ll be playing Captain Frederick Wentworth; a very handsome man indeed. And I had a lovely little chat with Anthony Higgins. Truly a gentleman.”

“Good. Okay then,” Keely said. “We’ll get everyone together.”

She turned to the crowd who were busily chatting among themselves. Before my very eyes, I saw the professional producer, all business as we talked of budgets and costs, turn into the movie producer and director.

She clapped her hands loudly. “Everyone! Let’s have your attention, everyone.”

The crowd quieted with surprising speed.

“I believe there are a few of you whom I haven’t yet met, so I will introduce myself. I’m Keely Lee and I’ll be producing and directing this movie.”

All heads nodded in greeting.

“In case you don’t know how I work,” she went on, her voice clear and loud. “Once I introduce you as the character that you’ll be playing, I and the crew will subsequently refer to you by that character name. Understood?”

Everyone nodded.

Keely put her arm around Bridget’s shoulders. “The exception is this lovely actress. I’m sure you all recognize Bridget Johnson.”

“Hello, everyone,” Bridget said. “So happy to see you all here and I can’t wait to work with you.”

“But from here on in, I will refer to her as Anne Elliot, the beautiful, quiet and demure Anne Elliot.”

A young man at the back of the room snickered.

Keely’s eagle eye turned to him, her scorn clear. “If I hear so much as a whisper, an insinuation about the capabilities of this beautiful young actress, you will be sent on your way... no matter your part in this movie... no matter the consequences.”

My breath caught in my throat. That was quite the threat.

But the young man at the back of the room offered her a sheepish grin and a silent apology.

Keely cleared her throat and continued. “And I see that we have over there Toby Thomas who’ll be playing Charles Musgrove, Camilla Lane who is our Lady Russell and Clair Palance... our Louisa Musgrove.”

As Keely continued to name actors and their respective roles, they mingled together, most of them coming to get closer to Bridget. Despite her poor choice of movie roles, she’d nonetheless garnered many admirers and fans.

“Oh, my God,” a young actress called out with excitement. “I can’t believe it. A true award-winner.”

Dozens of eyes turned to the newcomer. Through the crowd I tried to get a look at him but could just barely see the top of the man’s head.

“This is the best news,” another actor said, clapping his hands in appreciation. “This guy is a real pro.”

“Yeah, I hear he really knows what he’s doing.”

“Who are they all talking about?” I asked Keely. “I thought Bridget Johnson was the big star. Who could be topping her?”

“That could only be my award-winning cinematographer best known for his work in adventure documentaries. Getting him onboard this project was a real coup. Come on,” Keely said, guiding me through the crowd.

“I’ll introduce you. He is not only excruciatingly gorgeous, but he is one of America’s most eligible bachelor. ”

Documentaries? Adventure? Award-winning?

Why did my heart race all of a sudden? Why did I feel like something major was about to change my life?

Then I saw why. Following Keely, every step in slow motion, the sound of my pounding heart blocking out all other sounds, I saw him.

I wanted to stop. I wanted to turn around and run away.

Don’t be silly, I told myself. I’m an adult. This is just one of those things adults must go through; just one of those uncomfortable encounters that leaves both parties stammering for lack of anything intelligent to say.

But as we got closer, and just as he brought his gaze to me, the little girl in me won. I turned and walked away.

No. Now wasn’t the time to see him again. This wasn’t the place. Not like this. Not in front of everyone.

And not before I’ve had a moment to collect myself.