The Perfect Hero

by Victoria Connelly

  Marlcombe Manor was a Grade I listed Jacobean house which sprawled across an immaculate lawn like a sleeping dragon. It was built in glorious honey-coloured stone and looked as if it housed at least three ghosts with its enormous mullioned windows and barley-twist chimneys. There were swallows swooping across the lawn and a po-faced peacock was making its sedate way up the driveway.

  ‘Here we are,’ Oli announced. ‘Home sweet home.’

  * * *

  Adam’s phone beeped as they were at a quiet junction by a village pub and he took the opportunity to read the text.

  ‘It’s from Gemma, my spy,’ he said. ‘They’ve reached Marlcombe Manor.’

  ‘Is it far?’

  ‘No,’ Adam said. ‘Just a couple of miles.’ His phone beeped again. ‘Right,’ he said as he read the text.

  ‘Everything okay?’

  He sighed. ‘Just something else to worry about, I’m afraid.’

  ‘The life of a producer?’

  ‘Yes,’ Adam said. ‘Nobody seems to know what a producer does but, if I didn’t do it the whole film would fall apart.’

  Kay nodded and then started rooting around in her handbag.

  ‘You okay?’ Adam asked.

  ‘Just checking I’ve got my camera. I’m sure I put it in but I’d hate to be without it.’

  They followed a high hedgerow along a country lane which seemed to stretch for miles without any traffic on it at all.

  ‘This is all so beautiful,’ Kay said.

  Adam glanced quickly at her as she gazed out of the window. ‘I couldn’t live anywhere else,’ he said.

  ‘Doesn’t Jane Austen mention this countryside in Persuasion?’

  ‘She certainly does,’ Adam said. ‘She says “a very strange stranger it must be, who does not see charms in the immediate environs of Lyme, to make him wish to know it better”.’

  ‘Maybe I should take up hiking or something,’ Kay said. ‘You know – really get to know the area.’

  ‘Well, it is the best way to see the countryside.’

  ‘Maybe we could go together,’ Kay said. ‘You could show me around.’

  Adam almost choked in surprise.

  ‘I mean, when you’re not too busy.’

  ‘I’d be very happy to show you around,’ Adam said.

  Kay smiled and her face lit up. Adam did his best to focus on the road ahead. He wasn’t going to think of romantic footpaths that led far from the madding crowd. He wasn’t going to think of getting Kay alone on the side of some windswept hill or in the seclusion of a glorious beech wood full of bluebells. He must keep his eyes on the road and remain in the present.

  They were just driving down a hill into a sweep of valley when he heard Kay gasp. Ahead of them, a little ford had turned into a swollen river.

  ‘I didn’t realise there’d been so much rain,’ Kay said.

  ‘Mostly in the night,’ Adam said. ‘The last few have been very wet and it doesn’t take much to flood these lanes.’

  ‘Will we be able to get through?’

  ‘Well, this car’s older than the Jurassic coast but it’s got me through worse than that before.’ Adam slowed and wound down his window as he approached the flood. ‘It’s not too bad,’ he said.

  ‘Famous last words,’ Kay said as the car neared the water. Kay held her breath as they approached, anxious as to how deep it was. The last thing she wanted was to be stranded in the middle of nowhere when she could be in Oli’s company on the film set.

  ‘Well, here we go,’ Adam said, and the car splashed through the water. Kay closed her eyes for a moment but she needn’t have worried because they made it safely through to the other side.

  Kay smiled in relief.

  ‘Soon be there,’ Adam said. Kay nodded and he watched as she opened her handbag and took out a lipstick, unfolding the car mirror and applying a thick slick of pink gloss. Adam sighed. He had the feeling that she wasn’t doing that for his benefit.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Gemma was beginning to think that her wishing for a delay had actually worked because something mysterious was happening with the lighting department. It had been decided that they’d shoot one of the indoor scenes with Sir Walter Elliot and it was to take place in one of the upstairs rooms as agreed with the owners. It was a beautiful room overlooking the gardens but the stormy skies had made it almost pitch black.

  ‘Are they ever going to need us today?’ Beth complained as she mooched about on the lawn, moaning to anyone who would listen. Gemma had done her best to avoid her and had managed to fit in a bit of private time with her script and was now feeling a little bit more confident about her Kellynch and Uppercross scenes.

  Walking across the lawn now, she took some deep breaths, inhaling the sweet rain-washed air. It was then that she saw one of the technicians had set up a laptop at the back of one of the vans and a crowd had gathered round him.

  ‘What are you watching?’ Gemma asked, daring to squeeze in next to Oli to see what was going on.

  ‘Killer Zombies Take Manhattan,’ Sophie said. ‘It’s horrible blood-spurting, mind-numbing violence!’

  ‘It’s brilliant!’ Oli said, obviously engrossed.

  Gemma looked up at him. How could he go from zombie fan to sophisticated hero in just a few minutes? He really was a great actor, wasn’t he? If only his fans could see him now with his smile as wide as a child’s as he watched a zombie ripping the arm off a poor taxi driver in Times Square.

  ‘Gross!’ Sophie shouted.

  ‘There’s that book out, isn’t there?’ Gemma said. ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.’

  ‘Cool!’ Oli said.

  Gemma grimaced, her romantic illusions of Oli fast disintegrating.

  Kay didn’t like to keep checking her reflection in Adam’s mirror but she wanted to make quite sure that her hair hadn’t gone flyaway and that nothing had smudged. It was strange. She’d already spent a whole night under the same roof as Oli and had shared breakfast with him. Well, she’d served him breakfast, anyway. Yet this trip to see him filming was beginning to feel more and more like a first date.

  As Adam turned into a long driveway lined with trees, the anticipation was almost too much for Kay as she unwound her window and peered out, desperate for the first glimpse of the house and of the actors.

  ‘It’s one of the loveliest houses in Dorset,’ Adam said.

  Kay nodded. She liked a beautiful house as much as the next Jane Austen fan but she was far more interested in seeing Oli again and, as the car drove round the final bend and came to a standstill alongside the actors’ minibus, she caught sight of them all across the lawn.

  Leaving Adam to lock up, she got out of the car and walked across the driveway and stared at the group of actors. They hadn’t seen her and she took advantage to sneak a hand into her bag and find her camera.

  It was so thoughtful of Adam to bring her here. She turned round to smile at him and saw that he was looking at Gemma, and then Kay realised that that was why he’d been so keen to come out to the Uppercross shoot. He’d wanted to see Gemma just as she had wanted to see Oli. They did make a lovely couple too – or rather, they would once things were sorted out between them. The trouble was that they were both as shy as each other and Kay doubted that either of them would dare to make the first move.

  But maybe that’s where she could help. Perhaps she could get them together? She smiled as her mind wandered over the possibilities. Gemma was staying at the B & B and Adam was forever dropping by. Maybe she could make them a meal. The next time the cast went out to the pub, she could ask Gemma if she’d like to join her for dinner. But she wouldn’t be joining Gemma, of course – Adam would, because she’d have invited him too.

  She’d buy some candles – pretty red ones. Flowers too. She’d transform the dining room so that it became the perfect setting for romance. It would be wonderful. She’d serve them dinner and they’d have no choice but to talk to each other. Their shyness would fall away and they
’d discover just how much they had in common and fall madly in love.

  A summer wedding wouldn’t be out of the question if they got a move on too, Kay thought. And how beautiful Gemma would look in a frothy lace dress and Adam would wear something smart and understated, his hair newly cut and not quite as tousled as normal. She’d have to buy herself a new dress for that and how wonderful it would be to sit at the front of the church, knowing that the bride and groom were there because of her. They’d thank her in the speeches too and Kay would blush at the top table, saying that it was nothing really – that you can’t stop romance.

  And then there’d be dancing – just like in Jane Austen’s time. Oli would be there, of course, and he’d lead Kay on to the dance floor, telling her how beautiful she looked and how he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her since filming had stopped. He had been mad to leave her behind in Lyme. What had he been thinking of? Could she forgive him?

  ‘Of course I can, Oli,’ Kay said. Only she said it out loud in the here and now and Oli heard his name and turned around. He’d been half-hidden amongst the group crowding round the back of one of the vans but suddenly the group had dispersed and there he was.

  ‘Hey, you!’ he said as he strode across the lawn towards her. Kay gulped. He did that so well. Maybe it was the boots he was wearing. Maybe they had the effect of making him stride like a fine pair of heels will add that extra little something to the way a woman walked.

  ‘Hello,’ she squeaked. She swallowed. What had happened to her voice?

  He smiled. ‘You come out to see us lot, then?’

  ‘Yes,’ she said, her voice seeming to return to normal. ‘Adam brought me.’

  ‘Adam?’

  Kay pointed to where Adam was standing with a polystyrene mug in his hands.

  ‘Oh!’ Oli said. ‘Him.’

  ‘He’s the writer and producer,’ Kay explained, in case he didn’t know.

  ‘Yes, I know. Doesn’t have much to say, does he?’

  Kay thought that was a little unkind. Maybe poor Adam didn’t get a chance to say much when surrounded by verbose actors.

  ‘Coming out here was his idea,’ she said. ‘It was kind of him to bring me.’

  ‘Well, I’m glad he did,’ Oli said. ‘Fancy a walk?’

  ‘Aren’t you needed on set?’ Kay asked.

  ‘Nah. Not for ages. They’re about to film the retrenching scene – you know, the one with Sir Walter Elliot?’

  Kay nodded, remembering the scene from the book.

  ‘Come on,’ he said.

  They left the noise of the cast and crew behind them and skirted round the side of the house, through two tall hedgerows that led into a secluded knot garden.

  ‘It’s lovely,’ Kay said, reaching out and pinching a lemon balm leaf between her fingers before sniffing it appreciatively. ‘How old’s the house?’ she asked him.

  ‘Marlcombe Manor?’ Oli said, seeming surprised by her question. ‘Oh, it’s old. Very old. Stone Age or Roman or something like that.’

  Kay laughed.

  ‘And these gardens,’ he continued. ‘Very fine gardens, I’m led to believe. They were designed and everything.’

  She laughed again. ‘You don’t know very much about Marlcombe, do you?’

  ‘Nope,’ he said. ‘I’m just an actor. I go where they tell me and I attach myself to the locations with great aptitude but I rarely get to know them at all.’

  ‘That’s a shame.’

  ‘That’s the life of an actor. You can’t get too attached to anything because you’re always moving on.’

  Kay wondered if his comment was a veiled warning to her. You can’t get too attached to anything. But maybe she was reading too much into it. Anyway, who was to say that he had any notion of attaching himself to her? She must stop thinking like that.

  ‘So, what’s it been like for you with us all invading?’ he asked.

  ‘Wonderful,’ Kay said, the word slipping out before she had a chance to rein herself in and appear cool and aloof. ‘I mean, I’ve just opened so it’s wonderful to have all the rooms full.’

  They walked in silence for a moment, their feet crunching lightly on the gravelled pathways. Kay could hardly believe it. She was walking in a beautiful English country garden with the most handsome actor in the world and he was dressed as one of her favourite heroes from literature.

  ‘You look happy,’ Oli suddenly said.

  Kay looked up and, for a moment, she really did see Frederick Wentworth standing there.

  ‘What were you thinking of?’ he asked.

  She looked away, distracting herself by plucking a leaf from a peppermint plant. ‘Just thinking,’ she said.

  ‘Tell me.’

  ‘You’ll laugh.’

  ‘No I won’t,’ he said.

  Kay took a deep breath and turned to look at him. ‘I was just wondering what it would be like to be Anne Elliot and live in a place like this with – with Captain Wentworth.’

  ‘Ah,’ Oli said.

  ‘What?’

  ‘You have Captain Wentworth fever!’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘It’s like Mr Darcy fever only slightly less acute and that’s only because poor old Wentworth’s never had a wet shirt moment. Not yet, anyway.’

  ‘You’re teasing me!’ Kay said.

  Oli nodded. ‘I’m merely making an observation. As an actor, one has to be aware that some roles come loaded with expectation and I think all the Austen heroes fall into that category.’

  ‘But you weren’t put off by that?’

  ‘Are you kidding? It’s a dream come true,’ Oli said. ‘Think about it – I’ll be forever associated with one of the sexiest heroes of all time! Women will throw themselves at me even when I’m an old man and have lost all my hair. What actor could possibly say no to such a role?’

  Kay grinned.

  ‘I know I’ll never reach the heights of Colin Firth but I like to think that I’ll earn my place in the hero hall of fame. I mean, I might not have the wet shirt but Wentworth does have the advantage of a uniform, doesn’t he?’

  Kay nodded, eyeing up the very handsome uniform before her. ‘I’m illustrating all of Austen’s stories,’ she told him.

  Oli’s eyebrows rose. ‘Really? You’re published?’

  ‘Oh, no!’ she said. ‘Not yet. I’d like to be but it’s just something I do for myself at the moment.’

  ‘And is that what you were doing this morning – drawing me?’

  Kay nodded. She could feel a blush creeping up her cheeks. ‘I didn’t mean to stare. Only, well, I suppose I was, wasn’t I?’

  ‘Looking at a person through binoculars is usually construed as staring,’ Oli said.

  Kay hid her hands in her face for a moment. ‘I’m so sorry. You must have thought I was so rude.’

  ‘Not at all,’ he said. ‘I’m used to being stared at. Comes with the territory.’

  ‘Of being handsome?’ she said and then bit her lip. What a thing to say.

  ‘Of being an actor,’ he said with a little smile. ‘And I suppose there’s a certain amount of staring to be done in your line of work.’

  ‘Running a bed and breakfast?’ Kay said.

  ‘No!’ he said with a laugh. ‘Illustrating!’

  Kay laughed too. ‘Yes. I suppose so. I mean, it’s what I have to do – if I want to capture a face.’

  Oli looked at her. It felt strange having those piercing blue eyes fixed on her. How many times had she gazed at them within the safe confines of her television set? And now here they were – just a couple of feet away – staring at her.

  ‘I’ve never been drawn before,’ he said. ‘It must be a rather intimate experience.’ He held her gaze and Kay felt riveted to the spot, believing that a tornado wouldn’t have the power to move her if it struck at that very moment.

  ‘Intimate,’ she said and the whole world seemed focused on that one word, its three syllables vibrating on her lips.

&
nbsp; Oli nodded and took a step towards her. ‘Perhaps I could sit for you some time.’

  Kay frowned. Had she heard him right? ‘Really? You would? I mean, would you?’

  ‘I would be honoured,’ he said.

  She smiled and felt as if her face would break in two from the very width of it.

  ‘Oli!’ a voice suddenly called from the other side of the hedge. It was Beth and she wasn’t looking very happy as she entered the knot garden and saw them standing there. ‘There you are,’ she said as she approached them, looking down her perfect nose at Kay. ‘You’re wanted.’

  ‘Already?’

  ‘Not by Teresa – by us,’ Beth said, slipping an arm through his. ‘We want your opinion on a scene from the zombie film.’

  Oli turned to look at Kay as he was marched away and gave her a wink. Kay blushed and couldn’t help smiling as Beth turned round to give her a Medusa-like glare. Her moment of magic was over but Kay felt as if she could feed off it for decades. She’d walked in a beautiful garden with Oli Wade Owen and they’d talked about heroes and he’d promised to sit for her! And he’d looked at her. He’d really looked at her.

  She wrapped her arms around her body and looked up into the sky. The darkest of the clouds had passed and there were patches of blue promising kinder weather. Kay inhaled deeply and all seemed well with the world. Oli Wade Owen was going to sit for her.

  But you mustn’t think any more of it, a little voice told her. You know what you’re like – you always get carried away.

  ‘I’m not going to get carried away,’ she said. ‘He just wants his portrait done – that’s all. How can anyone possibly read more into it than that?’

  But Kay was already imagining. She’d be sitting there drawing him. He’d be wearing a white shirt, unbuttoned at the top, his blond hair flopping over his face. They’d have been sitting together in silence for a few minutes when, suddenly, Oli would get up and stride across the room.

  ‘I can’t stand it any longer!’ he’d say.

  ‘What?’ Kay would ask, her eyes wide.

  ‘You staring at me like that – with those huge eyes of yours and that perfect mouth that I just want to kiss.’

  ‘Oh, Oli!’ she’d say before his mouth came crashing down on to hers, her paintbrushes rolling to the floor in abandon.