The Girl from Summer Hill (35 page)

Onstage, with the curtain drawn, all the actors took their places. In spite of her lovely clothes, Olivia looked haggard, torn up by the events of the last few days. Sitting in a chair by the fake fireplace was Dr. Kyle. There were circles under his eyes that makeup couldn't cover. He looked as if he hadn't slept in days.

Gizzy, as Jane, was so pretty in her pink-and-white dress that she fairly sparkled—but her eyes were haunted. To one side of Olivia was Nina. She was subbing for Lydia, but she was too old for the role. From the grim expression on her face, she wasn't going to be able to play a frivolous young girl who cared only about men in uniform.

The only people who didn't seem miserable were the two high school girls playing Mary and Kitty. They were tapping away on their phones, oblivious.

All in all, it was not a happy atmosphere. There was an overriding sense of gloom—and of having lost. They had gambled and lost everything.

It was eight
P.M
., music was playing from the small orchestra Kit had hired, but the curtain didn't go up.

The stage manager ran to Dr. Kyle and whispered to him. He stood up. “Sorry,” he said. “Medical emergency.” As he hurried off the stage, everyone slumped in place. Now what?

In the next minute, they heard Josh speaking to the audience. As always, his easy way with people came through. He made some jokes about Dr. Kyle having to rush off to save lives, so they'd be a few minutes late.

Behind the curtain, Kit came onto the stage dressed as Mr. Bennet. But his waistcoat was misbuttoned, and the tie at his neck was askew. Nina and Casey hurried forward to straighten him, but the costume was intricate and they couldn't quite figure it out.

“Let me,” Olivia said, and brushed them away. Deftly, she fixed Kit's costume. “You always were worthless,” she whispered.

Kit started to say something, but instead he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. It was a kiss of such passion, such longing—and apology—that everyone felt it. Even the teenagers quit tapping. They all stared at the couple.

When Olivia began to return Kit's passion with enthusiasm, eyes widened. One of the girls whispered, “I didn't know old people still did that.”

“Nobody's ever done that to
me,
” the other one replied.

Everyone was so transfixed, frozen, in watching the kissing couple that they didn't see who walked onto the stage.

The voice of the girl playing Kitty broke the trance. “Lori! You're back!”

Nina and Casey turned to see Lori, in costume as Lydia, taking her place onstage. Their first reaction was to run to her with hugs and tears of joy. But Jack and Tate were at the side and waving their arms no. They'd worked hard to keep the real reason for the disappearance quiet, and they couldn't blow it now.

Casey had to get herself under control and go back to her place. Josh was waiting in the wings, and when Nina ran to him, she released tears of relief and he led her away.

Kit and Olivia broke apart, and for a moment they stood together, holding hands and staring at Lori, who was smoothing her hair and dress. This tall, pretty young woman was their granddaughter, and it was the first time they were seeing her with this new knowledge.

As the director, it was Kit's job to be sure that they got into their places before the curtain went up, but he couldn't take his eyes off Lori or leave Olivia's side.

“Places!” the stage manager said loudly, then had to repeat it twice before everyone obeyed.

Casey looked toward the side and saw Tate, and he gave her a thumbs-up. Haines was there.

When the curtain went up, the audience saw a happy family at home. Olivia, as Mrs. Bennet, was complaining that her daughters would never get married because her husband refused to visit Mr. Bingley.

Kit played the role of Olivia's husband with great fondness. His line about her nerves having been his concern for so many years was said with such affectionate teasing that Olivia blushed.

Casey delivered the very famous line that “a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” When the audience laughed, she was startled. She'd worked to try not to remember that she was being watched by what could be hundreds of people. But the laughter at a line
she
had delivered felt very good.

While Olivia and Kit batted lines back and forth, Casey glanced offstage and saw Tate. The way he smiled at her said he knew how she felt. The laughter and applause were a heady experience.

He winked at her, and Casey gave her attention back to the play.

The next scene was at the assembly hall, where the Bennets were to meet Darcy and Bingley and their entourage.

In the quick interlude, while Josh and his crew changed sets, Tate stopped by Casey's dressing room. He fastened the Velcro under the line of buttons down the back of her pale-blue ball gown, which had been made by Stacy's mother. “By the way,” he said as he kissed her neck, “I met a beautiful lawyer and I asked her on a date. She's impressed that I'm a movie star.”

It was a ridiculous statement, but it was just enough that when she got onstage, Casey was ready to let him know she thought he was a snob.

They all had to pause for the deafening applause that greeted the sight of
both
Tate Landers and Jack Worth. Kit had prepared them for this, and they knew exactly how long to wait. Tate had his back so straight and looked so arrogant that Casey had no problem believing he was eaten up with pride.

Next came a scene in the Bennet parlor, then one at Mr. Bingley's house, Netherfield. They went well.

In the fifth scene, Mr. Collins showed up. The trainer overplayed his role by half. He was so sleazy, so unctuous, and fawned so heavily over Lady Catherine de Bourgh that the audience loved him.

Casey was truly repulsed. When he put his hand on her forearm, her whole body recoiled. The doors to the theater were open, and while the audience inside behaved itself, many people outside hissed loudly. It felt as if at any moment they might start throwing rotten tomatoes.

At the end of the scene, Wickham was to arrive, and Casey did her best to calm her nervousness. When Devlin Haines stepped onto the stage, the crowd roared with yells and applause.

Casey had no doubt that Tate had arranged these accolades. When she glanced offstage, she saw Rowan, flanked by three men in suits. They were just waiting. But from the radiant smile on Devlin's handsome face, he had no idea what was about to happen to him.

While Jane was exchanging small talk with Bingley, Casey watched Devlin moving about the stage. Kit's direction had been that Wickham was to show his attraction to the pretty young Lydia, and she was to return it.

Casey was curious as to what had gone on between the two of them. They'd been away for days. But what had happened? Was Lori's crush still strong?

The girl played her part perfectly. Lydia looked Wickham up and down in the age-old way of attraction, and he gave it back to her. It was perfect—except that when Devlin walked past Lori, she moved her skirt aside so it didn't touch him.

In that small gesture, Casey felt that she'd seen everything. Whatever had happened, that poor child had hated it.

Casey looked offstage to Rowan. Had he seen the subtle gesture? When he gave a curt nod, she was relieved that, yes, he'd seen and understood. She knew all too well how slick and convincing Devlin's lies could be. She didn't want him talking his way out of what he'd done.

Mr. Collins returned to Lizzy, then at last Casey was confronted by Devlin. It took all her inner strength, but she smiled at him in welcome.

Her attitude caused a flash of surprise, but then he returned her smile with a hint of secrecy. It was as though he thought she was genuinely glad to see him.

The scene where Wickham tells Lizzy how horrible Darcy is seemed to go on forever. Casey had to fake her look of shock, had to pretend to believe him. Worse, she had to cover her anger at her character for taking this man's word without proof.

She couldn't help remembering that it was exactly what she'd done to Tate. One time he'd said to her, “Some people want to believe that the only difference between achievement and failure is luck. They like to sit on their couches and say that some sort of predetermined fate was why others made it and they didn't. They never want to admit that hard work did it.” Unfortunately, she had experienced the truth of that.

When Wickham glanced at pretty Lydia, who was standing just a few feet away, a knot rose in Casey's throat. She wanted to slap him. What had he done to that poor child?

When the long scene finally ended and the stage darkened, emotion so overcame her that she had trouble standing upright. Tate's strong arm caught her. “You did well. Perfectly. Hold it together now,” he whispered as he led her offstage and down to her dressing room.

“What about Lori?”

“Kit and Olivia have her. Some of Kit's friends got Estelle out of bed, and she's in the front row drinking gallons of black coffee to counteract whatever your dad gave her. She is a very happy woman.”

While they were talking, he'd peeled the everyday dress off her and helped her step into the ball gown.

“Thank you,” she said. “You're the best dresser anyone ever had.”

“That's what the lady lawyer said too.”

“You touch her and I'll throw a pot of boiling sugar on you.”

Laughing, he took her hand and they ran up to the stage. “That's the spirit! When you bawl me out, pretend I'm Haines and let me have it. But then, I've been on the receiving end of your temper, so maybe you should soften your blows. Have pity on poor me.”

He had succeeded in making her smile. “Go on, get out of here,” she said. “And thanks.”

The next scene was the ball at Netherfield, which Wickham didn't attend. It wasn't easy for Casey to run lines with Tate and act disdainful of him, but he kept looking down his nose at her in such an arrogant way that she hardly recognized him. The scene ended with Mary singing very badly—which was why Kit had cast the girl, saying she was a natural.

There was another quick costume change, then Lizzy had to turn down Mr. Collins's marriage proposal. Casey's revulsion was so real that the audience felt it right along with her.

Olivia's hysteria over Elizabeth's refusal of Mr. Collins was loud and desperate. Kit played the scene with regret in his voice. It seemed to hurt him to go against his beloved wife.

Next came another scene between Lizzy and Wickham. At the end, Lydia spoke to him and, per Kit's direction, there was a definite flirtation in her voice. They walked offstage together.

When Mrs. Bennet heard that their neighbors' daughter Charlotte was to marry Mr. Collins, Olivia tongue-lashed Lizzy so hard that Casey almost started crying.

For the sake of fewer sets and a shorter play, Kit had combined some scenes. Charlotte—played by a young woman Casey didn't really know—and Lizzy were shown on a dark stage with a spotlight on just them. Behind them, Josh and his men, wearing soft slippers, silently changed the set to become a drawing room at Rosings.

When the lights came up, Hildy, as Lady Catherine de Bourgh, was fabulous. She was haughty, disdainful, and utterly perfect. She was so good that Casey had difficulty delivering her lines as though she wasn't intimidated by the woman.

When Hildy said that if she'd ever learned how to play the piano she would have been a great proficient, Casey believed her.

In the scene, Lizzy was to play the piano. Since Casey didn't know one key from another, Kit had set up a tape recording that she was to pantomime. But it didn't work. She pressed on the keys of the fake piano Josh had built, but there was no music.

The audience moved restlessly. Outside were some jeering calls from hecklers.

With panic on her face, she looked at Tate. What should she do?

He stepped forward and calmly said, “May I assist?” He then began to sing in a truly beautiful voice. If not a song of Jane Austen's time, it was close. It was about love that had been found, then lost. A young man had to watch the woman he loved be taken from him by death.