Chapter 7
Darcy was looking forward to meeting with Miss Bennet again today. She intrigued him. He met her in the car park and offered her a ride up to the house. She seemed to be in a very good mood this morning and he wondered if she had talked to her sister.
"How are things going with your sister? Is she still upset?" he asked.
"Oh, she called me this morning. Charles called her last night and they had a long heart to heart. They will be moving in together next week. He told her that he wasn't going to let his sister or his friend William influence him anymore. She is over the moon. I wonder what made him change his mind? I hope he keeps up his persistence. I hope he is not just blowing in the wind. Moving in together is a big step. I would like to see my sister happy, and I hope he is the one to make her so.
"Oh, enough of my rambling. What made you meet me here this morning? I expected to see Richard or Georgie at the ticket booth."
"I just thought I would save you the walk, although it is a beautiful walk through the country lanes when the weather is like this. I have meetings later today, so I just wanted to make sure I would get a chance to see you today." Elizabeth was trying to parse his meaning as they pulled up to the employee entrance. "Richard should be in the conference room. Do you need me to show you the way?"
"No, I think I can find it on my own, it's just up the servant's stairway and to the left, correct?" He nodded. "I can imagine getting lost here pretty easily."
"Yeah, we used to play hide and seek when the house was not open for tours. Drove my parents nuts. Richard and I hid once when tours were being conducted and surprised a group. That did not go over well with my parents."
"William, are you saying you were a naughty boy? Shame on you. You should be a good influence on your sister."
"Oh, she could get into enough mischief all by herself, she didn't need my help for that." He paused and had a genuine smile on his face. "Well, I should get going, I hope you have a good day Miss Bennet and I hope to see you later." With that he took off in the little runabout and she headed upstairs to meet Richard.
She wasn't sure what the look that Richard shot at her meant. She assumed he knew that Mr. Darcy had taken her out to dinner last night. Was that a problem? She decided to ignore the subject for now; they had work to do. They spent the morning going over the rest of the script. There were a few times when they went to specific rooms in the house to see if the wording was just what she wanted. She changed a few more phrases, but generally kept to the original script. She hoped William wouldn't be put out by the changes she suggested. He of course could override her, but she didn't think he would in most of the cases.
She was disappointed that he did not join them for lunch. They had lunch in the snack shop. Georgie joined them after lunch and they worked on the technical aspects of the project. She mentioned that her brother had several meetings lined up for today with various vendors or contractors. It seemed like the work was never ending to keep up an estate this size. It was near the end of the day when she saw Mr. Darcy again. He came into the conference room as she was packing up to go. She didn't notice Richard and Georgie slipping out of the room.
"I hope your day has been as productive as mine, Miss Bennet. Richard says the script is coming along well."
"Did you get your hour with spreadsheets today?" she said playfully and winked at him. He merely nodded. She continued. "Yes, I think we are nearly done with the script. It was pretty simple when we had such a good starting point. I usually have to spend hours in the archives to find the missing information that I need. Thank you for doing all the leg work. I just want to verify a few of the dates we have and then all we have to do is a final read through, walking through the house and then decide on the voice actor you want to use. We should have it wrapped up tomorrow and I can book the studio for next week, once you approve the script and the actor."
"Well, unfortunately I have several more meetings tomorrow, so I would have to miss that," he paused to think. "Unless, would you be interested in joining Georgie, Richard, Anne and I for dinner here tomorrow night? Once the tourists have left, we could do a walk through with the finished script. I am interested in seeing who you want to hire to do the narration. You mentioned that you had recently met someone you thought would do it for a reasonable fee. I admit, I have no idea what a job like that would cost. What do you look for when selecting a voice actor?"
"Once you realize that the guest will not see the actor, but will inscribe their own attributes to the voice they hear, you want a soothing, usually male voice. As sexist as that sounds, we have just had better results using deep toned male voice actors. I have several who have worked for me before, and would be reasonably priced. You could go overboard and pay a lot to get a well known actor, say Colin Firth or Matthew Macfayden, but I don't think that is necessary here. The story is fascinating enough, no need to gild the lily." She looked around and noticed that they were alone in the conference room. "It's getting late, I should get back to my hotel. I have to call my sister."
"Let me give you a ride to your car. I've got the runabout out back." As they headed down the servant's stairs, Elizabeth wondered where Richard and Georgie had gone. It seemed strange that they would disappear when Mr. Darcy showed up. They discussed the estate and the project as they slowly went down the service road to the car park.
Their conversation was comfortable. Elizabeth wasn't sure what to make of it. She had never been treated so friendly when she worked on any of the other projects. Maybe Mr. Darcy was really just a friendly guy, despite his stated unease in social situations. She got a vibe from him that was not strictly business. She had enjoyed their little interludes but thought that maybe she should keep it strictly business, for now; although, dinner last night did not feel like any business dinner she had attended. They talked about their families and their college years, topics that generally did not come up at business dinners.
When they got back to her car, he did not get out of the runabout. They kept talking comfortably for a bit. Looking back, she could not explain why she said what she said next.
"You know William, it is usually the vendor who takes the client out to dinner, to schmooze them you know. With tomorrow's plans, I owe you two dinners already, three if I am to even the score. Do you know of any other nice little restaurants near here? My treat."
William just sat and stared at her. Could he be hearing her correctly? She was asking him out to dinner? It's not the 1900s anymore, ladies could invite gentlemen out these days, but why was she doing that? Could he hope that it meant more than her stated business quid pro quo?
"I'm sorry, Mr. Darcy, I should not have asked. I will see you tomorrow," she said as she got out of the runabout.
"No!" he nearly shouted as he got out of the runabout. "No, I'm sorry, I was just surprised by your invitation. I would love to go out to dinner with you. I know a nice little place in town, a little pub that's been there since Fitzwilliam Darcy was master here. We can walk there from Chatterley House. Shall I meet you there at seven?" She could not miss the look of anticipation on his face.
"Very well Mr. Darcy, I will see you at seven." He opened her car door and watched as she drove away. It then dawned on him that she had reverted to calling him Mr. Darcy. That would not do, no that would not do at all.
"You're going out to dinner with her again?" nearly screeched Georgie. "I didn't expect that. Where are you taking her?"
"She is taking me. She said that it is usually the vendor who takes the client out to dinner to schmooze them. I suggested the Rooster and Crown, very historic; she is into history." He left his sister with her mouth hanging open as he went to get ready for his date.
She was waiting in the hotel lobby for him when he arrived. "No crises with your sister?" he asked saucily.
"No, she is happy as a clam. I hope his regard is for real. If he is playing with her emotions, I swear I will kill him. His sister is bad enough to have to deal with." William couldn't agree with her out loud, he was well familiar with Caroline Bingley, but since Elizabeth didn't know that he knew her sister's beau, he figured he best not say anything at all.
They talked about the history of Lambton as they strolled to the Rooster and Crown which opened in 1795. "Do you know if Fitzwilliam Darcy actually ever ate here? It does not seem like the type of establishment the lord of the manor would frequent."
"There is an interesting story in his journal where he had been out helping some of his tenants repair a drainage ditch and the men were going to head to the pub after a long day. One of his tenants chided him, 'You'd be welcome too m'lord.' Fitzwilliam decided to join them and had a jolly old time. His wife Elizabeth was less than pleased with him when he came back hours later, smelling of ale and tobacco and a bit tap hackled. The emerald parure on display in the mistress's quarters is the gift he gave her to make up for it." Elizabeth whistled. She had been very impressed with that set of jewelry. It consisted of a necklace, bracelet, ring, ear bobs and hair ornaments that today was worth over 50,000 pounds.
"Goodness, and I thought being taken out to dinner to make up for a faux pas was pretty good." She stopped when she realized how that might be construed. She quickly changed the subject back to the project.
William asked her, "So who is this voice actor you recently met that you think would work well for the Audiotour?"
"Well, he isn't technically a voice actor, at least I don't think he has done anything professionally, but I enjoy listening to his voice and he certainly is knowledgeable about the topic." William waited for her to reveal her mystery man. He knew he had no reason to feel jealous about what she said, but still there was a little unease in his stomach.
"What's his name? Have I ever heard of him?"
"You." She paused. "I think you should narrate the Audiotour." He continued to stare at her. She continued. "The first time you spoke to me, in the library, before I knew who you were, I was trying to decide on who should read the script, fantasizing about Colin Firth, Matthew Macfayden, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jude Law, you know the typical British voice, that the budget would never stretch to. But when you oh so politely reminded me of the closing time, I thought your voice was perfect for the job. I heard you reading the rest of the script to me. The rest of our conversations have only convinced me further of your suitability for the task. It certainly would add an air of authenticity, as well as save you money. I can tell you the other owners I have worked with certainly would never have been suitable to read their own scripts. Nice gentleman, every one of them, but they didn't have the tone and timber required for the job."
"You want me to read my own script? That's bonkers. I've never done any public speaking since college, and that was only under duress. I hated the public speaking class I was forced to take."
"Well, obviously you learned a thing or two in that class. You did fine when you gave me a private tour, this would be the same. Only the audio technician and I would be in the studio, no audience for you to worry about. Why don't we give it a test, and if you don't like the results, we will hire a voice actor. Although I will warn you, no one likes what they hear on a recording of their own voice. You're used to hearing it through bone conduction and what the microphone picks up is quite different. Believe me, I have produced a dozen Audiotours and I really think you could do a great job of it." She stopped and winked. "Is my schmoozing working?"
"So that's why you asked me out to dinner. But you're serious? You want me to read my own Audiotour? I mean, I did read the script outloud before I sent it to your company, but still. Really?"
"Yes, really. I think you would do a marvelous job. Just pretend you are giving me the tour, one on one, just us. You did just fine the first time. I remember thinking, as I was sitting in my hotel room reading the rest of the script that night, that it was just like being on the tour with you. Isn't that after all what we are trying to recreate here, a private tour that anyone can afford? Please say yes." She looked at him expectantly, trying to influence his answer. His mind was elsewhere for a moment. He pictured her sitting in her hotel room, reading his script. To him. He shook his head and brought his mind back to the present.
"Okay, I'll try it. But," he looked pointedly at her, "if I don't like it, we will hire out the job."
"Deal." They shook hands. "But, I promise you it will be great. Who else knows the estate like you do William? Hmm?" He was glad she was back to calling him William.
The rest of their evening was pleasant. They strolled around the town for a bit before she said she needed to get some rest for tomorrow. He walked her to the hotel and left her in the lobby. "Good night Miss Bennet, I will see you in the morning." He wanted to kiss her hand, or something, but thought better of it.
"Good night William. See you then." and she turned and headed down the hallway to her room. He watched her go. The night clerk was watching him. He nodded then turned around and left, trying to understand the feeling in his chest at that moment.