The Making of…
Chapter 40
Mr Darcy
One afternoon, I was lying on my bed in my trailer, engrossed in one of my favourite books that wasn’twritten by J.R.R. Tolkien – Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. I must have read it more than a hundred times, and it never failed to amuse me. That was what I loved about literary classics like this – they never get old. However my copy was old. Its spine was creased to the point that pages were on the verge of falling out, and the pages themselves were slightly yellowed. If I glanced to the side slightly from where I was lying, I could see my stack of Tolkien’s books – which were all in virtually the same condition. Well-worn and well-loved. I sat up and pulled off my hoodie, straightening my plain green t-shirt before lying back down again. The sun that was spilling in through my open window warmed my fingers and they turned page after page.
“Good afternoon.” My reading was interrupted by a familiar voice and I rolled onto my side so I could look out the window, smiling as I saw Viggo leaning on the window frame.
“Afternoon.” I greeted him in return as he left the window, and seconds later walked through my door.
“What are you reading?” He asked as I sat up and he sat at the end of the bed.
“Pride and Prejudice.” I answered, glancing back down at the pages.
“Ah, ‘It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.’” He quoted the famous first line with a smile as I glanced up at him. “Are you also one of the young ladies who immediately falls for Mr Darcy for reasons that I don’t understand?” He smirked as my cheeks coloured slightly and I looked back down at the book.
“Of course.” I answered, a smile playing on my lips, “Who can resist his charm?” I began reading again, until I felt Viggo’s fingertips tilt my chin upwards and I blushed as I found myself face-to-face with him.
“‘In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.’” He murmured softly, and I felt my cheeks flush an embarrassing shade of red as he once again quoted from the book I was holding. A part of me wished in vain for the words he spoke to be true, but it was no different from acting. Just like each time he tenderly whispered ‘Le melon’ in my ear, we both knew that the words were empty, and once the cameras had stopped rolling, it was just another line.
“I had no idea that you knew the book so well.” I said softly, looking back down as his hand slipped away from my face. I acted nonchalant, but inside I longed to pull him closer and confess how I really felt.
“Everyone should read it at least once in their lifetime, I just happen to have read it more than once.” He shrugged, as if he had no idea of the effect he had on me. “Although I still don’t understand what it is about Mr Darcy that makes every woman fall in love with him.” I glanced up and raised an eyebrow, he was clearly asking for my opinion on the subject.
“I suppose it was his ability to push past his pride, and admit his true feelings to Elizabeth, and after her rejection of him, he realised that he loved her so much that he took it upon himself to change his character for the better, to prove to her how much she meant to him. In the end that’s what made her fall for him, and at the same time it seems to have worked on everyone else who reads the story.”
“So it has nothing to do with the fact that he’s a handsome devil?” Viggo smirked as I finished.
“That too.” I nodded with a slight smile. We were doing something that I’d never done with a man before – discussing literature.
