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
‘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
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