Ten Days with Mr Darcy (on hold)

Chapter twelve - The Green Man

A little after half past six, Jess met Sebastian at the bottom of the main staircase. He offered her a gentlemanly bow before taking her hand and escorting her to the Exley Hall staff car park. "Your carriage awaits, my lady."

Sebastian's 'carriage' was an old two-seat sports car, which he laughingly described as white with a hint of rust. Jess didn't know a lot about cars but knew enough to recognise the Alfa Romeo badge on the front. It was almost old enough to be called a classic, but Jess thought the vehicle suited its owner as they bowled along the narrow lanes towards Lambley. The Alfa was sporty enough to turn heads, yet she felt safe and comfortable as they sped between the hedgerows

It took less than ten minutes to reach the Green Man, a traditional country pub built from weathered grey stone, with a dark slate roof and small, square windows. When he escorted her into the bar he had to duck beneath a low beam before steering her to a small table in a cosy nook. Once they'd dealt with the business of ordering their food, Sebastian sat back in his chair, his long legs crossed at the ankles. "Well, here we are."

Jess knew exactly what he meant. A romantic meal for two, while tucked in an intimate corner of a nice restaurant, was a different experience for both of them. It felt nothing like two work colleagues eating together. Yet they'd spent so much time swapping stories, either in the green room or while walking around the gardens, that Jess wasn't sure what else they would find to talk about.

"This reminds me of an old pub we used to visit when I worked in Stratford," he said. "Have you ever been there?"

"No, I've I never had the chance, but I'd love to see it."

"The theatre is incredible. Right by the river...a beautiful location. If we'd been working there this week I would have taken you for a walk along the riverside. It's almost as serene as the Exley Hall gardens, or it would be if there weren't quite so many tourists. They have ghost walks as well, although I don't think it would be quite the same in daylight. You need a dark autumn evening to really appreciate the spooky atmosphere." He reached over to take her hand in his. "Although that's not to say we won't get the chance to see it later in the year."

Was he really talking about them being together in three or four months? Or longer? Jess hadn't allowed herself the luxury of thinking too far ahead. She was happy to live in the here and now and see where life took them. As they ate, Sebastian offered anecdotes about the older, more experienced actors he'd worked with at the Royal Shakespeare Company, and how seriously they'd taken their work.

"Not that I wouldn't have been serious if I'd been on stage with them. It's hard to be an understudy and watch everyone else perform, night after night. I thought they might give me one or two matinees, but someone enjoyed their job too much to take a day off, and they were never ill. It reminded me of being back in stage school, where certain kids always ended up drawing the short straw."

"You mean the back half of a pantomime cow?"

He laughed. "Yeah, that's the one. I enjoyed my time there, don't get me wrong, but there's always somebody there who seems to get out more than they put in." He sighed. "Gareth Jones was one of those people."

"I had no idea that you two knew each other until you mentioned it this afternoon."

"You could say we have a mutual antipathy. I try to pretend he doesn't exist, and he does the same with me. Jones and I were studying at the same time, although we never socialised and rarely shared classes together."

"Gareth has always seemed so friendly. Why don't you like him?"

He dropped his fork onto his plate. "We're very different people. I worked really hard to earn my place, and a lot of equally hard working people weren't so lucky. So you could say I have a problem with anyone who can walk into a spot on a very popular performing arts course just because he knows the right people."